You read right: Eating carbs can help you lose weight. But they need to be the right kind of carbs. Eating carbs that cause your blood sugar to spike and crash will leave you feeling tired and hungry. But some carbs will give you energy and help you burn fat quicker. These carbs are harder for your system to digest so they digest much slower than refined starches. Thus their name: resistant carbs. What does that mean for your weight loss goals? Read on!
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Anytime you feel full longer you're going to eat less. Resistant carbs act as an appetite suppressant. You won't feel hungry and deprived all the time like you do with many low carb diets. Resistant carbs send signals of "fullness" to your body and your brain. Researchers found that when low carb dieters were taken off their carb free diets and fed resistant carbs, their cravings stopped. They started feeling satisfied after eating.
The right carbs will release satiety hormones that tell your brain you're not hungry. You'll burn more calories. The right kind of carbs keeps your metabolism going strong and burning fat. Resistant carbs burn fat while maintaining muscle mass.
Resistant carbs help keep your energy level high so you'll be able to attain your exercise goals. You won't feel tired and stressed all the time. Recent studies show that participants getting 64 percent of their calories from carbs stayed thin over longer periods of time. Those that ate few carbs were more apt to be overweight.
Here is probably the best news you've heard all year: Resistant carbs help you lose belly fat faster. If you're like most women, this is one of those places that fat loves to gather. It's also one of the most dangerous places to carry extra weight. A diet that's filled with resistant carbs increases fat-burning enzymes and decreases the activity of fat storing enzymes. This will help you burn off belly fat quicker.
The right carbs can also help to control your blood sugar levels. By eating resistant carbs–which include sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta, barley, whole grain bread, beans, lentils, oats, brown rice, sprouted grain bread, oatmeal, peas, peanuts, apples, broccoli, quinoa, and cucumbers–you'll keep your glucose at a more consistent level. These types of carbs also help your body become more insulin sensitive which also helps control your sugar levels. When you avoid the spikes and drops in your sugar you not only improve your odds of losing weight, but you decrease your risk of diabetes.
I've talked to so many women who want to lose weight but they try to do so by trendy diets. They're hungry and irritated a lot of the time. It's no wonder their families beg them not to diet. But by eating a healthy diet that includes resistant carbs you can obtain your weight loss goals and feel better at the same time! You won't feel hungry or deprived and you won't have to constantly fight cravings.
Once you realize you can eat many of the foods you love and still lose weight, you'll be encouraged to continue this method of eating for life.
This post was originally published on October 31, 2013.
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