Carbophobia. Just type it in Google to see that it is something that there are athletes who consider low-carbohydrate diets. The fear of gaining weight and gaining body fat is undoubtedly one of the great concerns of athletes based on their performance. This, added to new trends in diets such as protein, make some people feel the rejection of carbohydrates and bet on diets that affect their performance. And that is a serious mistake. Carbohydrates are the gasoline our body needs to move. So, eliminating them is not a good idea if we want to play sports.
You've probably heard of the ketogenic diet or other low-carb and high-fat diets (you might be familiar with the acronym LCHF, which stands for Low Carbohydrate, High Fat). Influencers on social media talk about these diets. I'm going to technically explain what they consist of:
The LCHF diet
Is defined as a dietary plan in which carbohydrate availability must be below muscle requirements. In other words, the consumption of bread, pasta, rice, legumes, quinoa or potato should be relatively low: around 15-20% of the diet. On the contrary, the content of fats such as olive oil, olives, avocado, nuts and oily fish should be high: 60-65% of the diet. Finally, protein consumption usually represents 15-20%. Scientific evidence shows that this type of diet can produce higher rates of lipolysis (fat catabolism) and higher concentrations of circulating fatty acids, which can lead to weight loss.
The ketogenic diet
Is similar to the LCHFbut it is taken to the extreme, since the maximum carbohydrate consumption is limited to less than 20 grams per day, which would correspond to the approximate intake of a ripe banana. These restrictions will force the synthesis and use of ketone bodies (from fat) as the main source of energy. In addition, the amounts of proteins cannot exceed 15-20% of the total diet, since ketosis would be broken. Letting fat consumption be 75-80% of the diet. This type of diet is increasingly used in cancer patients, since scientific evidence describes a better response of cancer cells when they receive radiotherapy and conventional chemotherapy in conjunction with this type of diet.
But believe me, they are not for those who like to play sports and even less if we are talking about a sport like cycling, whose energy demand is high. You should not reject white paste. This type of pasta is suitable the night before the test or to recover after exercise since it is better assimilated than the integral one. I recommend wholemeal pasta to take when you are not in an intense or competitive period since it is richer in fiber and helps to have a good functioning of the intestinal system.
Grilled Chickpeas
Ingredients:
- 200gr of cooked chickpeas
- 1c / s olive oil
- Spices to taste: 1c / p salt, oregano, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, nutmeg
Instructions:
- Wash and drain the cooked chickpeas, which are very dry
- Mix with the olive oil and spices
- Place the mixture on the oven tray, I recommend covering the surface of the tray with greaseproof paper.
- Bake 35 minutes at 200 degrees
