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Get Your Carbs from Fruits and Veggies.

May 3, 2009 By

Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of fitness.  Monica and I started doing P90X in 2005, but overlooked nutrition.  We were able to achieve certain goals, but could not bridge the final gap to get the results we really wanted.  Earlier this year I resolved to start another round of P90X and learn about nutrition.  The results have been amazing.  

The P90X Nutrition plan starts with high doses of lean protein, and gradually adds carbohydrates back into the diet.  I am currently on Phase III (Endurance Maximizer).  What I am learning is that all carbs are not created equally.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to ride with Joel Friel (www.trainingbible.com).  Joel was recently featured in an article in Bicycling Magazine, on this very topic.  His theory is that when we get our carbs from starchy foods (pasta, bread, etc.), we teach our bodies to burn sugar.  What we really want to do is to teach our bodies to burn fat.  One way to help that effort is to get your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.  Here are a few examples of the carbs available in fruits and vegatables from the Bicycling article.

1/4 cup Rasins – 32g

1/2 cup Brussels Sprouts – 7g

1 cup Peas – 25g

1 cup Strawberries – 11g

1 cup Spinach – 7g

1/2 cup Carrots – 8g

1 Orange – 14g

1 cup Collard Greens – 12g

1 ounce Corn – 7g

1 cup Cantaloupe – 15g

1 cup Squash – 30g

1 Sweet Potato – 44g

1 Artichoke – 13g

1 cup Watermelon – 11g

1 cup Green Pepper – 10g

1 cup Broccoli – 4g

1 Peach – 17g

1 Banana – 30g

In contrast, 1 cup of spaghetti has about 40 carbs, so you can see how easy it is to get your carbs from fruits and vegetables.   In addition, fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that are not found in starchy carbs.  

Here is a short video post explaining this theory a bit more.  Eat your fruits and veggies and pack in the carbs.  It will do you a world of good.

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  • rstehwien

    I’m trying to understand how eating complex carbs make you a “sugar burner” and fruits a “fat burner”. The carbs in fruits are mostly a sugar while complex carbs are turned into a sugar. Seems it should be 6 of one half-dozen of another.

    Not saying I don’t believe in eating more fruits than grain (not doing so right now as I’m in phase I of P90x) since fruits were more of a staple to our ancestors than grain. Many of the diet related diseases started after we changed to a agrarian society and grains became the staple rather than something really annoying to harvest and prepare when compared to fruits.

    The grains I do eat, I try to keep as unprocessed as possible – rolled or steel cut oatmeal, wild rice, etc.

    • Dave

      I’m not a Registered Dietitian, so I’d suggest a trip to the store and pick up the May 2009 edition of Bicycling Magazine. It may do a better job of explaining the theory than I did. Here is what Joel Friel had to say.

      “Your brain operates on sugar, and when you eat bagels or potatoes, your body turns them into sugar and delivers them to your cells quickly, which makes your brain happy and leaves you wanting more”. He goes on to theorize that this is why people will generally overeat pasta, but don’t generally overeat veggies. Continuing, “When I see someone who has started eating lots of starch, they not only have gained fat, they’ve also changed their metabolism from fat-burning to sugar-burning. It doesn’t happen over one plate of pasta, but the body is adaptable. Over the course of a few months, it will switch over to burn whatever you’re feeding it most.”

      Even assuming that Friel is wrong about this, it seems that focusing on getting carbs from fruits and veggies is desirable due to their micronutrient rich nature. I’m at a point where my diet is probably 55 to 60% carbs, but I’m trying to get as many of them as I can from fruits and veggies rather than pasta and bread. When I do eat pasta or bread I also focus on whole wheat based foods. I also get them from things like the P90X Peak Performance bars and oatmeal. After reading this article, I’m going to try and see how using fruits and vegetables will impact my body composition and my training. I’m currently using the Bod Pod for evaluation, so I can test out theories like this one, which is kind of fun.

      Thanks for the comment.

      Dave

  • rstehwien

    I’ll see if I can find the article. Reducing grain consumption makes some sense to me, I just don’t get how complex carbs encourage sugar burning more than simple carbs but then I’m not a nutritionist ;) .

    Interesting there was a similar discussion on a P90X nutrition fanatics discussion:
    http://forums.teambeachbody.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5082996357/m/9231030041/p/9

    • Dave

      You might check out http://www.trainingbible.com as well. The article doesn’t go into a lot of detail about why starchy carbs can turn your body into a sugar burning machine. Joel’s site may have more information. I have not researched this completely either. I own a couple of Joel’s triathlon training DVD’s. When it comes to advice like this, which makes sense to me, from a guy like Joel, who I trust and respect, I tend to take it on face value.

      If you do find out what the theory is behind the “sugar burning” aspects of this, I’d love it if you would share that. I’m very interested.

      Dave

  • sharkbait32

    I have a question. I just started P90X and I’m fiding it really difficult to hit the 50% protein mark and stay at 30% carbs. My body just can’t handle that much meat and dairy needed to get the protein without the carbs of beans and nuts. Also, along the lines of this article, I love my fruits and veggies but they are making my carb intake skyrocket. Do I have to sacrifice them during phase 1 or because of their relative low GI, are they ok? Anyone have experience with this?

    Thanks! Love the site and all the great info, keep up the good work!

    • Dave

      Tough one here, because my thoughts about the P90X nutrition plan have changed over the years. In years past, I would tell you to avoid the fruits and stick with heavy duty protein. Get it from whey shakes and protein bars if you have to. I still do feel that the diet will accomplish the goal of jump starting the metabolism by using protein. With that said, I have been encouraging more people to shift to Phase II sooner to get past this issue. If you can sustain this for at least 2 weeks, you will probably find that you will lose some weight and your body will process carbs (particularly low GI carbs) much more efficiently. I’d much rather see someone shift to Phase II early than stop the plan due to the frustration that centers around getting this much protein in. Look over the word documents in the P90X Nutrition Guide Made Easy post. http://bit.ly/XrUfS. They have a lot of ideas where you can get proteins. Monica has figured out a lot of ways to mix in legumes as she has been on her 30 day vegan cleanse. I’m trying to get her to post some of those recipies. Good luck and stick with it!