The best time of day to eat your carbs… and the answer may surprise you
LOVE a pasta dinner but worry that a late-night carb fest might make you gain weight?
Well, get the ragu ready because you might actually be better off eating carbs towards the end of the day.
For years, the dieting industry has told us that carbs make us fat - that pasta is bad for us, potatoes make us pile on the pounds, and bread is the devil.
But recent research has proved that eating carbs can actually help you to live longer.
Those who follow low-carb regimes tend to consume less healthy fruit, veg and grains and all that can lead to a loss of nutrients, harmful inflammation and biological ageing.
But if you do want to lose weight, sleep better and reduce bloating, then you might want to consider when you consume carbs.
Having them at night - contrary to popular belief - may well be the best time.
Yep, that means risotto and jacket potatoes are back on the dinner menu.
"Carb backloading"; is where you eat carbs when your body is most likely to store them as glycogen (sugar) in the muscles - later in the day post-work out- rather than at a time when the body stores them as fat - in the morning.
It's something that bodybuilders have been doing for some time and Made in Chelsea-turned-fitness-gurus, Louise Thompson and her PT boyfriend Ryan, are big fans.
Backloading doesn't mean chowing down on a load of pizza at night - it just means consuming the right kinds of carbs, think wholegrain pasta, lentils, sweet potato in the evening so that your body doesn't rely on them to function during the day.
In other words, we're trying to push our bodies to enter ketosis, the state of using our fat reserves for energy.
FIND OUT MORE Eat PASTA to live longer! Cutting carbs ‘increases risk of early death’, experts warn
Our bodies love using glucose as the first point of energy because it's so easy to break down.
Take that away by consuming mainly fats and protein, and our bodies start to burn the fat already stored up.
So for breakfast, that'd mean replacing your cereal or porridge with something like avocado and eggs on seed bread, or a protein-rich chia pudding.
"By taking away carbs during the day, you’ve got a more effective release of catecholamines (hormones including adrenaline). That means that you decrease blood sugars and set the body up for lipolysis - pulling out fat from fat cells," he said.
By limiting your carb intake during the day, you're keeping your blood sugar low.
And that's going to make your more sympathetic nervous system-dominant, the part of your nervous system responsible for your fight or flight mode.
"That promotes catabolism (the breakdown of mass), but in the evening you want to be more anabolism (the storing of energy) - bringing down the nervous system to put you in more a parasympathetic state, so taking you out for fight or flight," Laurence explained.
Circadian rhythm dieting - eating around your natural biological clock - helps you to produce serotonin, the happy hormone.
TEST YOURSELF How well do you know your good carbohydrates from the bad?
"Most natural sources of carbs will contain glucose-disposal agents - minerals that will lower and control blood sugar which is really essential for not being too stimulated at night," Laurence added.
"They also replenish muscle glycogen stores, especially if you've worked out during the day."
So that means going to bed feeling happier, more satisfied and more relaxed.
We need carbs to function - our brains and bodies rely on the glucose that comes from carbs.
Cutting all carbs out can leave you feeling tired and moody.
When we're low on glucose, that's when our bodies go into fight or flight mode (those catecholamines again!).
That state can be useful in getting us moving in the morning and feeling more alert - and we could probably all do with feeling more alert in the mornings.
If you do want to eat carbs for breakfast, try to make sure that you're adding fat and protein to the mix in order to remain fuller for longer.
But if fat burning - and maintaining that level of alertness throughout your day - is your aim, you might be better off leaving the oats until later in the day.
You've never really lived until you've had an 8pm bowl of chocolate porridge.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours