It's all about how they're packaged.
Carbs get a bad rap. They really do.
Especially in the wellness space, being “low carb” is seen as the healthy alternative to our modern Standard American Diet.
But what are carbs, and why do people hate on them so much?
What is a carb?
First off, let’s define what we are talking about here, and why not all carbs are created equal.
Carbohydrates are one of the 3 main macronutrients along with Protein and Fat.
Carbs are what our body converts into glucose (blood sugar) to be used as energy or stored as fat (to be used as energy later).
Carbohydrates are primarily derived from plant sources. Think vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, leafy greens, legumes, and tubers like potatoes.
In their whole form, these foods come packed with all sorts of beneficial nutrients: Fiber, polyphenols, fats, minerals and other vitamins.
But what also gets lumped into the carbohydrate “bucket” are all the sweetened and packaged goods made from things like wheat, corn and soy. Think chips, crackers, cookies, bread and pasta, tortillas, muffins, bagels, and even your favorite flavored drinks.
These food products once started as whole foods, but have been processed, refined and artificially flavored and sweetened to become something else.
Refined vs. whole-food carbohydrates
Your whole-food sources of carbs have a distinct advantage over their refined counterparts: they come naturally packaged with (more or less) the balance of sugars, fiber, minerals and other nutrients nature intended.
Refined and processed foods, on the other hand, have been created for things like shelf stability, mouthfeel and hyper-palatability. The proportions of fats, sodium and sugars to other nutrients like fiber or protein, much less minerals like magnesium are way out of whack.
Many of these ultra-processed foods have been designed to keep you craving wanting more by short-circuiting your fullness triggers to keep you snacking.
What’s more, refining products breaks apart the “cellular matrix” of the food, destroying the indigestible fiber, releasing all the nutrients in between to be quickly and easily absorbed into your blood.
Take bread for example. A whole grain contains fat, fiber, protein and carbohydrates all packed into a little seed. When you eat a whole grain, like barley, you break it down into smaller pieces so some but not all of those nutrients and carbohydrates are released.
To make bread, you grind up the fiber and other nutrients into a fine flour, which destroys the structure of the fiber and makes all those sugars very easy for your body to absorb.
Fruits are the same. You can be satisfied by eating one apple, but you could drink glass after glass of apple juice and never be full, because there is no fiber to slow the digestion and absorption of the sugar and other nutrients.
All carbs are not created equal
So clearly, not all carbs are the same.
Carbohydrates from fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes provide much more than just sugar.
These foods help support a healthy gut biome and keep blood sugar in balance.
Refined and processed foods, especially artificially sweetened ones, do the opposite.
These foods disrupt your gut microbiome, cause leaky gut and chronic inflammation, and throw your blood sugar way out of whack. They’re almost impossible to stop eating, leading to way higher calorie intake than you realize.
Should I be “low carb”?
The problem with all of these highly-refined processed foods is that they are designed to make you want to keep eating them. According to one study, over 60% of total calories and 90% of added sugar come from processed foods.
When someone tells you that they follow a “low carb” diet, what they likely mean is that they only get their carbohydrates from whole food sources. Some may avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes or may not go crazy with fruit, but mostly they’re avoiding refined and processed foods.
But, they still eat carbs. So go ahead and eat carbs, just not ones from a package.
Here are some practical tips for eating the most nutritious carbs you can:
Eat whole, unpackaged foods as often as you can. This includes veggies, fruit, meat, eggs, fish, dairy, honey and nuts.
You can’t avoid packaged foods 100% of the time. Look for less-processed foods with ingredients you can pronounce, avoid added sugars as much as you can, particularly high-fructose corn syrup.
Swap out sugar sweetened drinks for bubbly waters, teas or water infused with fruit.
If you can, make your bread or pasta from scratch. It’s a lot of fun, and can be very rewarding!
Cooking vegetables with healthy fats like olive oil helps to bring out more of the beneficial nutrients in the veggies.
Are you looking for more help with getting your diet dialed in? Are you wondering how what you eat can help improve how you look, think and feel every day?
Ready? Let’s go!
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