Easy Cinnamon Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Cinnamon Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is probably one of the best zucchini cakes I have ever had. It is so moist and wonderfully paired with our perfect cream cheese frosting. The cinnamon even gives that nice kick of flavor that pulls it all together. If you haven’t tried zucchini in a.. >> Read More

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Why are carbs always the bad guys in the food ?

 

January slope, time to go on a diet if we have made excesses in the Christmas holidays … As we want to return to weight as soon as possible, we go to the fad diet that promises results without effort and in a jiffy. The vast majority of these diets – if not all – have the common point of being very low in carbohydrates or carbohydrates (CH). Thanks to this, it seems that these are always detrimental to health and weight control. But are carbohydrates as bad as they paint us? Should they really be removed?

TYPES OF CARBON HYDRATES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
Let’s start by explaining the types of carbohydrates that exist in order to better understand the reason for all the fuss.

Simple carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates are an immediate source of energy. They are found naturally in sugar, honey, fruit and dairy products and as an added ingredient in pastries, pastries, juices with sugar, sweets, soft drinks, jams, commercial sauces, etc.

Complex carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates with energy function
Sugar is in structures that need greater digestion to be absorbed, so it provides energy more slowly and for a longer time. Here we find legumes, tubers, cereals, wheat or derivatives, such as pasta, bread …

Complex carbohydrates with regulatory function
Fiber gives structure to vegetables and has a regulatory function in our body. Among the CH with a regulatory function are vegetables, whole fruits, legumes, nuts and whole grains and their derivatives.

WHAT ARE THE CARBOHYDRATES FOR?
We have seen that there are different types of carbohydrates and that, therefore, we cannot put them in the same bag of “harmful to health”. We just saw that vegetables and fruits, well known for being healthy, would also be classified as CH, to the surprise of many. Likewise, it is necessary to know that glucose, the energetic substance in which these foods are converted in our body, is the preferred nutrient of neurons and that all cells of the body are able to take advantage of them, such as, for example, muscle cells. In other words, our body uses this sugar to perform both mental and physical activities.

In addition, if we consume unrefined carbohydrates, the fiber content of these foods helps us regulate blood sugar. This means that the stool rhythm does not suddenly increase, avoiding constipation and “feeding” the digestive microbiota (intestinal microorganisms to which more and more positive functions are attributed). And we do not stop there, since, along with the energy and / or fiber content, there are also vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which participate in multiple organic reactions and prevent cellular aging.

CARBOHYDRATES ARE NECESSARY
Perhaps, after seeing what carbohydrates are for, doubts about their beneficial properties will be cleared up. However, there are more ways to justify your benefits. A little over a year ago, a prospective study and meta-analysis (review of all the studies carried out on the subject) was carried out. In it, they observed that both very high and very low carbohydrate consumption are detrimental to health1.

There are very specific situations where a strict diet with a minimum intake of CH has more benefit than harm. This therapeutic diet is the so-called ketogenic diet, which has shown very positive results in treating refractory epilepsy and some rare diseases. Even so, it is good to remember that this diet will always be accompanied by monitoring by health and nutrition professionals, as well as vitamin and mineral supplementation because it is unbalanced and deficient in micronutrients.