Carbs - The Good, The Bad And The Other

Carbs - They're Not All The Same

There’s lots of confusion about carbs and the papers don’t help with stories about carbs this and carbs that as if they’re all the same.

They’re not.

The Good – Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy so we need them. In fact, most of our calories should come from carbs, but from good complex, unrefined slow-to-digest carbs. These include wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, oats, etc. These are good for us, help to keep our energy levels up and keep our blood sugar levels stable.

The Bad – However, the world we live in today is awash with bad carbs – white bread, white pasta, white rice and sugar. They’re all carbohydrates that have been refined to make them more appealing, but the process takes all the goodness away, much of the flavour and leaves behind simple sugar and starch that causes our energy levels to rise sharply and then fall just as sharply – and, unfortunately, leaves us wanting more.

The Other - Ultra low carb diets that you’ve probably heard of only work if you keep your carb intake really low – that doesn’t mean carbs are bad just bad for this particular diet.

Although carbohydrates are our bodies' preferred source of energy the body has a plan B – if there’s not enough carbohydrate in the diet the body will start digesting what else it can. Whether this is a good approach or not is hotly debated and I’m not going to wade in to that. What I will tell you is that if you’re on one of those diets you need to do it properly or not at all. You must read the books and follow the instructions.

If you’re not on an ultra low carb diet then get a good helping of good carbs with each meal and snack.

If you’re interested in reading more take a look at these excellent books by Tim Shaw.