Why are starchy foods a point of contention in the world of “eating well” and overall in fitness and bodybuilding? Why when we talk about weight loss and starches the conflicting opinions raining?
So do starches make you fat? Info or Intox?
Let’s start with a little anecdote, which I find perfectly reflects weight loss in general.
If you follow me on Snapchat (mazgaux) you’ve heard this story before.
You probably know Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande. No political debate here (whatever…).
It must be recognized that these two men (with a big H siouplé) have very different styles and rather opposite ideas. You just have to look at them side by side (or face to face in this case) to see that the two birds are super different.
Good.
Yet both were President of the Republic.
Everyone will give you different advice, opinions and arguments. And you know what ? Everyone will be persuaded to be right because they will have lived it, felt it, succeeded.
And there you say to yourself but damn life is too hard. KESKE I MUST DO?
Rest assured, life is super cool when you realize that there are different ways of doing things. While there is no BETTER way for everyone, there is only a BETTER way for a particular individual.
Before going into philosophical delusions, what I want to tell you here is that to get to what you want, there are several roads. Several methods, several states of mind.
You have several routes to lose weight.
Here you are on the road to fitness, which means that here we share a very specific state of mind.
To lose weight, I want to make you understand that you don’t need to starve yourself, to starve yourself, to eat weird powders instead of your meals. I want to help you understand that you are strong, that you are capable of anything and that in the end everything is easy when you know what to do.
I know full well that you can get lost in the conflicting information about weight loss. I myself struggled to come to terms with my body for years. And then one day I decided to really understand what I was eating and started questioning what we had been telling us for years.
That’s how I found out the truth about starches.
And I can tell you that the hell it changed my life (and especially my body, my weight, my sleep and my stomach).
To find out more, I invite you to watch this video. Besides learning a lot, you’ll have a blast.
As I tell you in this video, I understand that it is a complex process to question what you have been told about starches for years.
I invite you to dig deeper into the subject. And to get started, here are some details on starchy foods. Even though I say so in the video, here is the Latin etymology of the word starchy, which you can find on Wikipedia:
“The term ‘starchy’, attested since the xvi th century, derives from the Latin faeculentus (full of lees, silt, mud) 1 which itself derives from faex, faecis , deposit, sediment, faeces 2 . Its initial meaning was a thick liquid, loaded with impurities. ”
Yeah, I know, it’s scary.
As you will see in the video there are several types of starchy foods and not all are created equal. (We recommend to real athletes cabergolin preis ) You will also learn the list of starches, we are talking about fast sugars, slow sugars and the list of legumes.
The ones I have removed from my diet are industrial starches, which are processed and are not natural.
Why are starchy foods a point of contention in the world of “eating well” and overall in fitness and bodybuilding?
To paint you a picture of the situation, overall, there are those who will tell you to eat starchy foods, then there are those who will tell you that you can do without starchy foods and be happy anyway and finally there are those who will tell you “yeah, eat a bit”.
Basically, it’s up to you. It’s up to you to choose your Team. Like in politics or in Twilight. Vampire or Werewolf. Either way, both are cool.
Personally, I chose the Starch Free Team and I’m doing very well! Here’s why.
Before that, we have to talk about something. Do starches make you fat? Info or Intox?
I’m not going to go there by 4 ways. Starches by themselves do not make you fat. Finally Yes. In fact no. Let’s explain.
Starchy foods, like all the foods we eat, have a caloric load (and a glycemic load, but we already talk about that in this article).
A calorie load = calories = energy
The more calories you consume, the more energy you have. So far, everything is fine.
Now.
The more calories you consume, the more energy you have, the more you have to spend to balance your energy balance.
- If you use too much energy and you don’t: you get fat.
- If you spend more energy than you consume: you lose weight.
- If your energetic balance is balanced: you maintain yourself.
In addition to energy, you have to take into account macro-nutrients. Yep, it would be too easy otherwise.
Your consumed energy (therefore calories) must be divided between carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
I explain this mechanism in detail in my book, which helps in understanding how to lose weight without feeling lost.
Which brings us to starches.
Processed industrial starches are loaded with carbohydrates and sugar (among other things). So it gives you a LOT of energy all at once. I invite you to look at the nutritional intakes for 100G of pasta and 100G of green beans. You will see that the rate of carbohydrates and the calorie load are how to say … very different!
So, do starches make you fat?
No if you eat very little OR spend LOTS of energy.
Yes they make you fat if you eat TOO MUCH OR don’t spend ENOUGH energy.
Now why did I stop consuming starchy foods?
First of all, because they are full of starches, a substance that sticks to the stomach and therefore slows down digestion and comfort (I’ll pass you the details)
Second, because nutritionally they provide nothing that other natural foods such as vegetables or legumes (for example) cannot provide
Third, because I am a heavy eater = I need to eat large amounts to feel full. So vegetables are my friends. And sometimes I like to associate them with the miracle food I tell you about in the video.
Fourth, because I prefer to maintain a diet that is as natural as possible, with foods that grow by themselves in nature. And this long before the arrival of humans and laboratories where food is made in tubes.
Which means I continue to consume rice every now and then, pulses occasionally and potatoes with some of my pleasure meals.
As I say on the video, you can continue to eat starchy foods, we will remain friends and I will continue to love you very much.
I made this choice because I noticed that by reducing starchy foods you feel better, you lose weight and also it allows you to sleep better, to no longer feel the bar after eating, have a drawn belly and continue to indulge yourself with chocolate.