Do you have questions about nutrition? Send them to us at comer@lavanguardia.es, our nutritionist Aitor Sánchez will answer all your questions.
Can I get fatigue from not eating enough carbs? (Urko, reader)
Hello Urko, yes, it is possible.
Carbohydrates play a primary role in performance and especially sports performance. Our body uses them as the main energy source because it is very simple, efficient and fast to obtain energy from them. If we have also been accustomed our entire lives to following a diet that has a normal amount of these carbohydrates, especially quickly absorbed carbohydrates as usually happens in a Westernized diet that has sweets in our environment. It is normal for our body to notice their absence.
However, our body has a great capacity to adapt and we can perform quite decently with low-carbohydrate and even ketogenic diets (practically without carbohydrates in it). This adaptation can take time and it is important to hydrate ourselves well and keep our diet healthy.
Even so, today it is not justified to generically recommend this type of diet because we restrict healthy foods such as whole grains, legumes and fruits unnecessarily.
It makes much more sense to continue having these sources of carbohydrates that allow us to perform well and also practice physical activity on a regular basis.
Are fruit juices good or bad? (Luciana Rios, reader)
Hello Luciana,
Fruit juices are not the ideal way to include fruit consumption in our diet. It is important to remember that they are not equivalent to taking a piece of fresh fruit, since we would lack a large part of the nutrients that we find in the pulp (mostly fiber), and also because our body’s response will not be the same (especially everything in terms of glycemia and satiety).
That does not mean that we can never include fruit juice, we just have to keep in mind that it should not be the regular way of consuming it.
If we are very active people, juices could be interesting for recovery from the most intense workouts, but we would be in an example of sports nutrition, not for a sedentary population.
In short, enjoy fruit juices occasionally, but try to make your regular hydration drink water, and make your desserts fresh fruit.
