With the Feel Great System, our goals is to improve your Metabolic Health. To do that, we have a goal here to improve your Metabolic Health by finding the right amount (and kind) of carbohydrates that you can reach your optimal metabolic health.

In this blog post article we will discuss carbohydrates and diets, like the popular Ketogenic (Keto) diet.

Essential Nutrients

We have often heard the term Essential Fatty Acids and Essential Amino Acids. But have you ever heard the term Essential Carbohydrates? No, we have not. That’s because carbohydrates are not an essential nutrient, however carbs are still found in healthy foods that bring tremendous value to our metabolic health.

Different Kinds of Carbs

Keep in mind that carbs raise your blood sugar, which is measured in the Glycemic Index (GI). The low glycemic carbs have much less effect on blood sugar. It is important to choose high quality complex carbs instead of the low quality simple carbs with your meals along with protein (30g/meal) and healthy fats. This is where the Food Guide is such a handy reference as it easily guides you to pick from the Foods to Enjoy list.

No Carb Diets

So why do these No Carb diets work so well at shedding pounds fast? No Carb diets are nothing new and have been used for a variety of purposes. As an example, the Ketogenic (Keto) diet is one that is very popular and has been well-documented for its benefits.

A traditional ketogenic diet is focused on eating about 5% carbohydrates, 20% protein and 75% fat. The famous Atkins diet was focused on eating as much fat and protein as possible while avoiding carbs as much as possible. Often times, these dietary regimes are adopted strictly for short-term weight loss intentions without considering the other health factors.

What I have experienced with many who often adopt the ketogenic diet, they do so because of their desire for the high fat intake and ability to lose weight quickly. The issue that is often overlooked is that not all fats are alike and many people find themselves consuming mostly unhealthy fats, offering very little of the healthy essential fatty acids.

Eating a diet high in processed fatty foods without understanding the differences in fat will bring an “outer appearance” of a weight loss result, however it does put these individuals in harms way of many conditions connected to metabolic syndrome. We just can’t expect to live on these highly processed fatty foods (often high in sodium) without it affecting our metabolic health long term.

The goal here with improving your Metabolic Health is simply to focus on eliminating major sources of grains, refined and processed sugar and high GI carbohydrate foods, Many of these foods are manufactured in factories, packaged in boxes with bar code labels.
We want to be moving our meals towards more complex carbohydrates (fresh raw or steamed vegetables), health fats and quality lean proteins, as listed in the Food to Enjoy category on the Food Guide.

Tracking Your Food Intake

If you really wanted to track and measure your intake of Carbs, Fats and Protein I would highly recommend using MyFitnessPal. It's a great free tool!

I've had this on my phone for many years and have used it throughout my own health journey of losing 100 lbs. It has been my tool for dialing in the foods that optimize my results and allowed me to find consistency. I have developed an ability to better understand my meals for the amounts of Carbs, Fats and Protein I am consuming.

This becomes the key when you begin to have the self-knowledge of what it takes to optimize your meals and be able to eat large meals to reach your health and fitness goals.

For more information health articles, visit:

• Glycemic Index: What Is It and How Can It Improve
• Why The Glycemic Index & The Feel Great System Can Help You Get Healthy
• Modern Food Environment Causing Diabetes Crisis