Dietary Deficiencies and Consequences--Carbohydrate

Actually, a lack of carbohydrate in the diet is extremely rare, even among the impoverished. This condition should be non-existent among any who call themselves preppers, because carbohydrate sources are the least expensive foods. Grains store for twenty to thirty or more years, even without oxygen absorbers.   Fruit and vegetable carbohydrate sources grow rather easily in gardens.
Carbohydrates are the high octane fuel that the central nervous system wants for optimal performance. Carbohydrates, like protein, have four calories per gram.  However, unlike protein, carbohydrates are needed to digest fat completely. In the absence of carbohydrates, fat breakdown is incomplete, and the waste product is ketones. This causes a condition called ketosis, which can cause nausea among other things. Carbohydrates play a valuable role in sparing protein and preventing ketosis.  Furthermore, a low carbohydrate diet may make people fatigued, irritable, and lethargic.

What carbohydrate does is to protect protein so that it is available for building tissue. When carbohydrate intake is insufficient, protein gets broken down and used in its place, and nowhere near as efficiently. Why is this? Because protein can serve as a source of carbohydrate if carbohydrate intake is too low.

Carbohydrates should comprise 50% of the diet for most people. The best healthy carbohydrate sources are whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.  Whole grains (and enriched white rice) are the staff of life.  They're so cheap right now (though the prices are rising) and so easily produced by farmers, and so very difficult to grow ourselves in the quantities needed by a family to sustain themselves, that we should not skimp on storage space for these items.  Remember, 400 pounds per person per year is the minimum recommended amount for surviving.  Add another 50-100 pounds if you want to be satisfied, and not hungry.

Of course, really good sources of carbohydrate are most fruits and many vegetables.  Vegetables and berries are fairly easy to grow, but trees take time to start producing.  Less healthy sources of carbohydrate are sugars like sugar (granulated, brown, powdered), honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, Jell-O, drink mix, and hot chocolate mix.  They add variety to the diet and aren't generally too expensive.  They're simple to stockpile now, and with the exception of honey and maple syrup, a whole lot more difficult to produce later.  The minimum amount of sugar to store per person per year is sixty pounds, and again, that's for someone who will be alive, but always hungry.

Related posts:
Dietary Deficiency--Fat 
Dietary Imbalance--Fiber
Dietary Deficiency--Protein 

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5 march 2023