You can ask them to leave the rice out, but then your "burrito" bowl is going to be some meat, beans, salsa and cheese ... which isn't really a meal at all. I think most people get burrito bowls because it's much more convenient to carry around a sealable container, than to carry around a wrapped burrito which can start to leak etc.
The very simplified explanation, as I understand it, is if you eat simple carbs, such as refined sugar, HFCS, white flour etc, your body breaks them down into sugar very quickly. that is why they are "simple" because it doesn't take many steps to convert them into the kind of sugar your body can use. So you eat some simple carbs (a can of Pepsi, a cookie, white bread) and then a bunch of sugar hits your blood stream very quickly. This gives you a "sugar rush" but because all of the sugar hit your blood stream at once, you use it up very fast. Then you get a "sugar crash," which you probably know what that feels like. Suddenly you have no energy and you feel like shit.
If you eat complex carbs, like whole grains or things with lots of fiber, it takes the body longer to break them down into sugar because they are more "complex." Thus sugar gets released into the blood stream more gradually, and continues to be released for a longer time, as your body continues to break down the food. You don't get the same "sugar high" that you get from something like a high-refined sugar food like a cookie or a Pepsi, but you also don't get a "crash" either.
Here is a pretty long article that explains what carbs are and how your body uses them. I think it's worth reading because it explains the science of what a carb actually is, and how you digest it and use the energy. It has a lot of scientific terms and stuff, which aren't my favorite, but I think if you get a good understanding of how your body converts food into the energy you need, it will help you make better food choices. It might take you a couple sittings to read the whole thing (at least I know I couldn't read the entire thing in one go!) but I think it's worth it to read all the way to the very end.
if everyone agrees, it's a good bet it's probably true. Good rule of thumb, but not always the case! Have to be careful about that.
This is very true! 15-20 years ago, nearly everyone agreed that fat was bad bad bad, but now we know certain kinds of fat are very good for us.
I know the thing about simple vs complex carbs is true tho, because my mom is a type 1 diabetic (her body doesn't produce insulin so she has to give herself insulin shots). So she has to watch how many simple carbs vs complex carbs she eats carefully, because they require her to take different amounts of insulin. Sher has to be very educated about how her body digests food to stay healthy.
Here's another link about carbs and whole grains you might find informative too.
Re: OMNOMNOM
Date: 2012-03-15 08:53 pm (UTC)The very simplified explanation, as I understand it, is if you eat simple carbs, such as refined sugar, HFCS, white flour etc, your body breaks them down into sugar very quickly. that is why they are "simple" because it doesn't take many steps to convert them into the kind of sugar your body can use. So you eat some simple carbs (a can of Pepsi, a cookie, white bread) and then a bunch of sugar hits your blood stream very quickly. This gives you a "sugar rush" but because all of the sugar hit your blood stream at once, you use it up very fast. Then you get a "sugar crash," which you probably know what that feels like. Suddenly you have no energy and you feel like shit.
If you eat complex carbs, like whole grains or things with lots of fiber, it takes the body longer to break them down into sugar because they are more "complex." Thus sugar gets released into the blood stream more gradually, and continues to be released for a longer time, as your body continues to break down the food. You don't get the same "sugar high" that you get from something like a high-refined sugar food like a cookie or a Pepsi, but you also don't get a "crash" either.
Here is a pretty long article that explains what carbs are and how your body uses them. I think it's worth reading because it explains the science of what a carb actually is, and how you digest it and use the energy. It has a lot of scientific terms and stuff, which aren't my favorite, but I think if you get a good understanding of how your body converts food into the energy you need, it will help you make better food choices. It might take you a couple sittings to read the whole thing (at least I know I couldn't read the entire thing in one go!) but I think it's worth it to read all the way to the very end.
if everyone agrees, it's a good bet it's probably true.
Good rule of thumb, but not always the case! Have to be careful about that.
This is very true! 15-20 years ago, nearly everyone agreed that fat was bad bad bad, but now we know certain kinds of fat are very good for us.
I know the thing about simple vs complex carbs is true tho, because my mom is a type 1 diabetic (her body doesn't produce insulin so she has to give herself insulin shots). So she has to watch how many simple carbs vs complex carbs she eats carefully, because they require her to take different amounts of insulin. Sher has to be very educated about how her body digests food to stay healthy.
Here's another link about carbs and whole grains you might find informative too.