Carbs tend to get a bad rap.
I just need to cut back on carbs… is something we hear almost every time we discuss nutrition with someone.
You’ve probably heard things like carbs spike your blood sugar or sugars and grains cause inflammation or even that paleolithic humans didn’t eat carbs, so neither should we.
And, as simple and logical as those statements sound, they tend to be oversimplifications of biological reality and the more nuanced bigger picture of an individual’s life and diet.
So, let’s take a moment to clarify some things.
Clarifying ‘Carbs’
Are you ready for a fun little High School Biology review?
“Carb” is short for carbohydrate.
Carbohydrates are organic molecules. Based on the structure of these molecules, we can classify carbohydrates as either simple or complex.
Each subtype has different effects on the body, based on its molecular structure and/or its food source.
All carbohydrates—whether it’s a sugar cube or a high-fiber bowl of oatmeal—are digested (broken down) into simple sugar molecules (specifically, glucose) before they are absorbed into the body. From there, they go to the liver where they fill energy stores. And then they are released into the bloodstream, primarily for use as a source of immediate energy for every cell in your body.
The hormone insulin is released to help the body handle the sugar load in your bloodstream. It’s insulin that facilitates the glucose entering body cells where it gets used for energy.
Simple sugars and refined carbohydrates are broken down relatively quickly whereas carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables are digested and absorbed more slowly.
Wait just one second… Fruits and vegetables are carbohydrates?
Yup.
In popular culture and media, when people say ‘carbs’, they are usually referring to bread and pasta and rice. And sometimes sugar.
(Sugar isn’t always thought of as a carbohydrate. It’s usually thought of as an evil all unto itself. For the record, sugar is a carbohydrate, and it is not evil).
Fruits contain fructose—a type of sugar. And fiber, a type of complex carbohydrate.
Vegetables contain cellulose—a type of complex carbohydrate.
So… are some carbs good and others are bad?
In a word, no.
Using more words… like many things, it’s more nuanced than that.
Let’s talk first about tendencies.
We know that if a person’s diet consists of mainly simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, they may end up with elevated blood triglyceride levels, more bad cholesterol (yes, there is ‘bad’ cholesterol) and insulin resistance.
[Insulin resistance means that the body’s cells don’t respond as well to the hormone, insulin, making it harder for sugar to get from the bloodstream into the cells. This can lead to type 2 diabetes.]
We also know that if a person’s diet consists of mainly carbohydrates that are digested and absorbed slowly—such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables—they will likely experience more even energy levels and their body will have a better insulin response. They may also see reduced blood triglyceride levels, improved cholesterol profile and improved vitamin and mineral intake.
However, none of this makes simple sugars or refined carbohydrates inherently bad.
Different types of carbohydrates have different impacts on the body. Those impacts can be acute or chronic, depending on how much and how often.
Once again, this nutrition thing tends to be a matter of making conscious choices and finding the right balance for you…on an ongoing basis.
As with so many elements of nutrition, the goal is never perfection. What matters—where your goals, preferences and unique physiology are concerned—is the overall trend.
A Starting Point for Carbs In Your Meals
If you’ve been following along, we started by looking at protein, followed by veggies. Our starting point for carbs is generally two (2) cupped hands of carbs at most meals. (This could also be framed as about six cupped hands of carbs per day).
As a reminder, we usually don’t just launch into two cupped hands of carbs (along with your 1-2 palms of protein and 2-3 fists of veggies) in most meals right away. We usually frame this nutrition adventure in terms of conducting ongoing experiments. For example, it might be the smartest and most accessible move to start with one particular meal out of your day (where where maybe you haven’t been eating quite as many carbs) and working to improve that one. We would try that for a week or two, troubleshooting along the way, and then build from there. (By ‘build from there’, I mean, once you feel confident in your ability to consistently get the carbs you need into one meal, we can move on to a different meal in your day or week and see how that goes).
Along the way, we would ask you to observe things like your energy levels, feelings of satiety, etc. as a way to gauge whether it may serve to increase or decrease your daily carb serving sizes. For reference, the more active you are, the more you’re likely to benefit from having some carbs in your diet.
But which carbs?
To some extent, it’s hard to get this wrong. However, you could prioritize your carb-consumption as follows:
Aim to make more of your carbs like…
- Beans and lentils
- Steel-cut, rolled or old-fashioned oats
- Quinoa
- Whole-grain, black or wild rice
- Potatoes (of any type)
- Plain non-Greek yogurt
- Fruits
- Whole or sprouted grain bagels, breads, pastas, etc.
And some of your carbs like…
- Couscous
- White rice
- Granola
- Instant or flavored oats
- Milk
- Vegetable juices
- Whole-grain crackers
- Oat-based granola bars
- Canned, dried, or pureed unsweetened fruit
- White bagels, breads, pastas, etc.
While fewer of your carbs look like…
- Cereal bars
- Fruit juices
- Honey, syrups, jams, etc.
- Canned, dried or pureed fruit with added sugar
- Crackers and pretzels
- Anything with 10+ grams of added sugar
- Chips, fries, candy bars, donuts and cookies*
* These ones are also rich sources of fats, so they kind of count as both carbs and fats. We’ll cover fats next (two months from now).
Note that fruits—simple carbohydrates—fall into the eat more category. This serves as a great example of how the simple vs. complex distinction doesn’t map well to a bad vs. good binary view of carbohydrates.
The key, as with so many things, is balance.
Low-Carb/No Carb/Keto/Paleo
Stay tuned. We’re going to cover all of these (briefly—because books can be written on each sub-topic within the ‘low carb’ sphere) in a future blog post.
In the meantime, if you’re curious, I invite you to have a look at how much carbohydrate is making it into your meals on a typical day and then use the strategies here to create an experiment for yourself. Alternatively, feel free to reach out and we’ll see if we can troubleshoot together.