Yes to the Good Carbs
added 08/07/10
by Mary Saucier Choate, M.S., R.D., L.D.
Carbohydrates (“carbs”) are not evil and are not poison, in fact, they are the staple of most diets in the world –rice and other grains, corn, and pasta are the base of many native diets. Some kinds promote health, others, when eaten in excess, can increase risk for diabetes and coronary heart disease.
The following eleven questions and answers provide some helpful facts about carbohydrates in your healthful eating plan.
1. Why are carbs important to health?
Carbohydrates provide the body and in particular, the brain, with the fuel it needs.
2. What is the problem with eating carbs?
Eating excessive amounts of refined carbohydrates such as bread made with refined flour, or added sugars like those in pastries, cookies and regular soda add a lot of calories without a lot of nutrition that carbs from whole foods provide. These refined carbs are very easy to overeat.
3. Who gave carbs a bad name?
Atkins, South Beach, and other low-carbohydrate diets led many to believe that carbohydrates are “bad,” and cause obesity. The good thing about these diets is that folks following them learn to look for high fiber foods, but implying carbs are bad and unhealthy is as wrong as saying all fat is bad.
What kinds of carbs are best?
There are better carbs such as whole grains, oatmeal brown rice, beans, fruits, vegetables, lowfat milk and yogurt which are proven to promote good health. They deliver essential vitamins and minerals, fiber (except for dairy), and a host of important phytonutrients- naturally occurring compounds in plant foods that protect health in different ways.
What kind should we avoid?
Carbs such as white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed foods are easy to overeat, low in nutrients, and so can contribute to weight gain.
Regular sodas are the leading source of added sugars in Americans’ diets –33%
That’s two times the added sugars we get from the sugars and sweets we eat –16 percent, sweetened grains, such as pastries and cookies, add 13 percent, fruit-ades/drinks –10 percent, sweetened dairy –9 percent, and breakfast cereals and other grains –10 percent.
How many carbs should we eat?
A minimum of 45-50% of total calories up to 65% should be from good whole food carbohydrates. The RDA of 130 grams of carbohydrates a day is the absolute minimum based on its role as energy for the brain.
What are carbohydrates?
Starch and sugar are the major types of digestible carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are grouped into three main categories: starches or complex carbohydrates, simple sugars, and fiber. Grains and certain vegetables (corn, pasta, rice, potatoes, breads) are starches. Natural simple sugars are found in fruits and juices. Sources of added sugars are soft drinks, candy, fruit drinks, cookies, donuts, and pastries.
Simple carbohydrates included sugars such as fruit sugar (fructose), table sugar (sucrose), honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, and brown sugar.
Complex carbohydrates, aka starches, are best from whole foods: beans and legumes such as pinto and kidney beans and lentils and peas; whole grains and foods made from them such as oatmeal and brown rice and whole grain breads and pastas.
Fiber is a form of carbohydrate that is not broken down during digestion, unlike starches and sugars. Fiber comes in two varieties: soluble fiber dissolves in water, while insoluble fiber does not.
Soluble fiber dissolves when mixed with water and becomes a gel-like substance, think the slippery liquid in oatmeal or a can of beans) that slows down the movement of food through the small intestine. It can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream and lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol). It also helps to keep hunger in check.
Insoluble fiber helps push food through the intestinal tract, promoting regularity and helping prevent constipation.
8. Are carbs digested differently depending on what kind they are?
Carbohydrates except fiber are broken down to glucose or other simple sugars and used for energy. Glucose is the main energy source of brain, nervous tissue, retina, kidney, and red blood cells.
9. What about the Glycemic Index?
Some studies show that foods with a low glycemic index help control type 2 diabetes and improve weight loss. Other studies, though, have found that
the glycemic index has little effect on weight or health. Until we understand this better, eating whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables—all foods with a low glycemic index—is still the best choice for healthy eating.
10. What are ways to add Good Carbohydrates to my diet?
Step 1– Include these in your diet:
- Fruits: 2 cups a day
- Vegetables: 3 cups daily
- Whole grain: breads, English muffins, mini-bagels, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal, and brown rice: 6 servings a day
- Legumes, beans and peas: 3 cups over the course of the week
- Low-fat and non-fat dairy products: 3 servings daily
Step 2–Limit these:
- Fruit Juice
- Refined and processed white flour products (bread, muffins, bagels, rolls, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal)
- White rice
- French fries/Fried vegetables
Step 3– Eat only on occasion:
- Sugary desserts, cookies, cakes, pies, candies
Doughnuts and pastries - Chips, cola and carbonated beverages
- Sugar, honey, syrup, jam, jelly, molasses
11. How can you read a label to find added sugars? To figure out if a packaged food contains added sugars, and how much, you have to be a bit of a detective. On the Nutrition Facts panel, the line for sugars contains both the natural and added types as total grams of sugar.
In the list of ingredients, sugar has many names. Besides those ending in “ose,” such as maltose or sucrose, other names for sugar include high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
