When to eat (or not eat) junk foods?

While it makes sense that eating more calories than you burn will result in weight (and fat) gains, does it really matter when you get your calories? Yes! Especially when it comes to sugar rich "junk food"!

Ingesting too many carbohydrates in one sitting (especially simple carbs i.e. sugar, which can absorb within 5 minutes) will result in a insulin spike. This insulin spike will ultimately result in fat retention if those calories are not used within a certain time frame.

When you speak of "junk food" such as donuts and how they affect your metabolism think about what they are in larger terms. So lets forget about your vitamins and minerals and just talk about the macronutrients in foods. Everybody has heard of them: Fats, Protein, Carbs. If you know how they work and what they do you know when you can afford to eat them!

Fats - Function: Buffer organs, heat insulation, Energy etc.; 9 calories per gram; Unsaturated (healthy) and saturated (unhealthy although they still have purposes; keep in mind that saturated and trans fats are essentially the same); fats (even when stored as adipose tissue in your body) break down very slow and yield little energy, therefore when you do intense exercise (i.e. running) you don't actually use fat as a source of energy but rather carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates - Function: Energry (our bodies' primary source); 4 calories per gram; simple (sugars) and complex (whole grain); simple carbs break down faster (insulin spikes and drops) while complex carbs take longer to absorb (more even levels of insulin); only fuel your brain can use.

Protein - Function: Tissue repair (Energy - body only draws about 5% of daily energy consumption from protein); 4 calories per gram; essential amino acids (body can not make) and non-essential amino acids (body can synthesize); relatively short life in system (kidneys flush excess usually within 24 hours).

So back to WHEN you should definitely NOT eat junk food!

High sugar "junk foods": Sugar is energy and when do you need most and least? You need most early in the day (have the whole day ahead) and least late in the day (don't need much to rest). I only "allow" my clients to drink sugared drinks (such as gatorade) before or after exercise when the sugar is used or glycogen stores have to be replaced (we store glycogen in our muscles and liver for "ready energy").

What about high fat "junk food"? You should definitely moderate these ANY time of day, especially if they contain alot of saturated of trans fats (Be warned: if a label says "no saturated fat" it usually contains trans fats and vice versa).

What about protein? Think again about what it does. It repairs tissue and you repair most of your tissues when you sleep. So get a moderate amount throughout the day and make sure at least your dinner has an adequate amount. Daily recommended amounts of protein are between 0.8 and 1.8 grams per kg of body weight. Do your research to see how much you need (your kidneys will thank you for not getting too much).

If you want to know more details about any of these topics, leave a comment!