Understanding Starch for Energy and Genetic Programming: A Guide to Conscious Eating and Physical Activity

Importance of Starch for Energy

Starch from grains is an important energy food for growing children as well as active adults. They need to eat significant amounts to maintain their activities. Yet excessive grain consumption can lead to problems.

Genetic Programming and Overeating

Why do we eat more than what we need? It is not because we are "greedy." Instead, we are genetically programmed to build up reserves in case of future food shortages. Our thrifty genes were crucial in the past, when food supplies were uncertain. Today, we no longer need to do this, but our body continues to be driven by our thrifty genes to save. As the saying goes, "old habits die hard," especially if they are 200 million-year-old habits!

Conscious Eating

To reverse this process, we have to be conscious eaters. There is wisdom in those pieces of advice that say we should only "eat till 80 percent full" or "eat till we feel satisfied but not full." This is particularly true when it comes to eating starchy carbohydrates.

Eating According to Energy Needs

If we were to eat according to our energy needs, would it be better to eat more and burn more? Or eat less and burn less?

Labourers who perform hard physical work, as well as endurance athletes and active children, can eat four to eight times more starchy carbohydrates daily than an average adult. Yet they remain trim and healthy. At the same time, there are those who become overweight, obese, diabetic and develop other health problems related to "overeating" even though they don't eat all that much. It is just that they are a lot less physically active.

The Role of Physical Activity

The vast difference lies in the way energy is burned. For those who are active, the muscles continue to burn calories throughout the day, long after they stop their physical activity. At the end of the day, they burn off the energy from their larger food intake. For those who are inactive, the amount of calories burned to supply their basal metabolic needs is little. The extra calories are stored.

Key Lessons

The two key lessons are that we should eat enough just for our needs and stay active to stay healthy. So eat. And get moving.