Carbs- good, bad and ugly

Carbs get a bad rap in our current diet culture.  With low carb diets and especially the popularity and success with keto diets, many are jumping on the low carb bandwagon.  But what is meant by low carb?

There are many ways people do low carb.  Some plans are just naturally low carb by the composition of foods that are included in the plan.  The Mediterranean diet, whole 30, and weight watchers would be an example of these types of plans.   Then there are stricter carb diets like Keto where people set a number of carbs they eat each day- some more strict and others less strict. 

Many people with the Western diet seem to do well with these plans- why?  Because by and large we over eat these foods and they cause a great amount of inflammation in our bodies.  Bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, sweets- processed and refined sugars especially- are very simple carbs and I would take a guess that Americans generally eat 2-3 times a serving at each MEAL.   For example- each slice of bread is generally a serving size.  We have 2 with a sandwich, right?  So 2 servings.  Then add some French fries on the side- a serving would typically be 10-11 fries.  Most people I know will eat at least double that.  So we have 4 servings of simple carbohydrates for one meal and no other nutritional value except whatever is on the sandwich.  But we call that a meal. 

So what happens when we cut the bread and the fries?  We’re still hungry, and if we replace them with things like veggies then we can get all sorts of nutrients that we need and lose weight in the process. 

We can talk all day about these things- but my main reason for sharing with you today is that NOT ALL CARBS ARE BAD.  I said it!  This is why while I tend to follow a low carb lifestyle I will never cut out all carbs.  

Carbohydrates break down to simple sugars that our brains NEED for fuel.  The rest of our bodies can use any other source of fuel but the brain HAS to have carbs.  But we can make smarter choices.

The smarter choices we can make are things like complex carbs instead of simple carbs. 

Potatoes are a great examples.  White potatoes don’t have much fiber in them and break down straight to sugar in our blood stream and spike our insulin levels (which can lead to insulin resistance, extra belly fat, and diabetes).  They also don’t have many nutrients in them.  Sweet potatoes have a ton of fiber which make them take longer to break down which makes your insulin curve longer (which is the goal with sugar balance) and has extra nutrients also compared to white potatoes.  This makes sweet potatoes a better choice (unless you’re like my husband and eat them with marshmallows on them). 

A fruit example would be Apples vs. Peaches.  Apples are fiber filled along with sugar filled- so especially if you combine it with a protein that will keep the insulin curve long!

My suggestion is to follow a health plan that is just naturally lower carb, or do low carb smart by paying attention to the choices you make.   Don’t count yourself as a total failure if you have any carbs, just keep it reasonable and make the best carb choices.  And at times give yourself a break.  If your holidays aren’t every day then you can have a few fun times. 

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Blessings in health and happiness!