It seems like everyone points to carbs for their dietary problems- myself included. This is for good reason! To put it simply, carbohydrates are our main source of energy and consist of sugars, starches, and fibers. They are actually pretty simple to control once you arm yourself with some knowledge, and today Healthy Couch Potatoes, I will be your arms dealer for healthy carb consumption.
Which types of carbs should we be consuming?
1) Sugars
Sugars get a lot of misinformed hate. The reason they are avoided is because they are digested quickly and can spike our blood-sugar levels extremely high. Since they are digested quickly, they are also do not satiate us very well (we stay hungry), thus increasing our overall consumption to unhealthy levels. Too much of them will cause inflammation and may lead to diabetes, and even heart disease and cancer. That said, they are simply an energy source and consuming a proper amount of them will be perfectly fine.
Sugars are found naturally in fruits, honey, and dairy products. These are touted as good sources because those foods typically come with other nutrients to compliment the sugar.
What about added sugars, those are the worst, right? Well, kind of. The thing is that they are usually found in non-nutritious products such as soft drinks and desserts and can be addicting. They are bad because they encourage us to overconsume and are typically presented in outrageous amounts to begin with.
2) Starches
Starches, also known as complex carbohydrates, are strings of simple sugars linked together. The key difference between starch and sugar is that it takes longer to digest, which is very preferable over sugars. Our blood-sugar levels will be more temperate with their spike and we will not over-consume. Because of this, we should prioritize starches in our diet over sugars in general.
We can find starches in pasta, rice, bread, and many vegetables such as corn and potatoes. Here’s a longer list you can check out from Healthline. Note that pretzels are actually an insanely great source of starches and made it to number 3 on the list.
CAUTION: Be weary of refined carbs and starches. Sometimes they can masquerade around as healthier options, but in reality they can be as quickly digested and nutrient-lacking as added sugars! This is why it is so important to consume whole grain foods! Whole grain foods also retain much more nutrients since the refining process strips them of many.
Are there problems with whole grain?
In recent years, there has been a fad denouncing whole grain foods. Let’s quickly go over why, so you can decide for yourself. I’ve found two main arguments against them. 1) they contain antinutrients, namely phytic acids and lectins. The former can bind minerals together, making them unable to be absorbed. The latter may simply cause damage to the gut. Many healthy foods contain small amounts of these and unless your consumption of carbs is made almost entirely of whole grain foods, this will never even be noticeable for you (though it is an issue in certain underdeveloped countries with less sources of food). 2) They spike your blood-sugar levels. Of course they do, they are carbs. It is still considerably less so than refined grains and the only way to avoid them altogether is to embrace some sort of super intense keto diet.
3) Fibers
Fiber is a plant-based carb that actually cannot be broken down into digestible sugar. Instead, it is more of a supplement to our carb intake with numerous health benefits. Fiber is mostly known for benefiting our digestion. It passes through us mostly intact and helps keep up the size of our stool (poop) as well as its consistency. This prevents constipation, promotes colorectal health, and generally makes are trips to the bathroom more pleasant. Due to its resistance to digestion, it also forces us to produce more bile acids, which is great because our bad cholesterol is used to make bile acid. Let me say this again: consuming fiber will lower your bad cholesterol. Here is a link that I found quite thoroughly explained fiber and had great references to scientific articles.
Fiber is found in some berries (blackberries and raspberries), the skin of some fruits (apples, pears), and beans. My trick to maintaining my fiber and starches is to have brown rice and beans about 4 times per week in my meal prep.
How many carbs should we consume to maintain good health?
There is no blanket right answer to this question. It’s similar to asking how many gallons of gasoline we should put in our vehicles per week. Obviously it depends on how active we are, how effective our metabolisms are, and what our goals are. What I always recommend is to find the amount of carbs and proteins you want in your diet, as well as your desired caloric daily limit and fill the remainder with carbs (4 calories per gram). I will use myself as an example. I know that I need about 80 grams of fat (720 calories) and 170 grams of protein (680 calories per day) and I try to maintain at least a 3,000 calorie diet. This means that I need about 1600 calories of carbs (400g) per day.
Quality of our carbs
We should pay serious attention to the quality of our carbs. We should aim as high as possible in our starches, and try to get 20-25 grams of fiber for women, 30-35 grams for men per day. If you have a particularly low intake of fiber, try not to go up more than 5 grams per day within a week as your body will need to adjust. If you go up in fiber too quickly, you risk inflammation and certain bowel issues such as diarrhea.
In general it is not wise to consume more than 10% of your caloric intake from refined carbohydrates, but as long as you do it responsibly: you are aware of all the nutrients you need and not at risk of diabetes… then you may go past this limit. I personally have to sometimes to consume enough calories without getting too full. Time to fuel up, aspiring Healthy Couch Potatoes!
Afterthought: The other macronutrients
If you enjoyed learning about carbs, you’re likely wanting to be cognizant of of fats and proteins as well. Learning about only one of the macronutrients is selling yourself short! Here is a link to my article about protein, and here is a link to my article about fats.
