Read – 7 Lies You Have Been Told About Carbohydrates.
As low-carbohydrate diets have gained popularity, we have been inundated with claims that “carbs are the enemy.”
Yes, many companies add extra sugar to their products to make them taste better so we buy more, but here we aren’t just talking about added sugars.
Rather, we are talking about all carbohydrates. Are they bad, good, or “the devil”?
Many of us are more confused about carbohydrates than we even realize – often using “carbs” to refer to foods that can have nearly as many calories from fat as from carbohydrates, like pizza or French fries.
Let’s take a dive into some of the lies we’ve been told about carbohydrates that might be causing this confusion:
1. There Are “Good” Carbs and “Bad” Carbs
While there are different types of carbohydrates, and these different types can affect us in different ways, to claim that carbohydrates can be “good” or “bad” implies that some are inherently beneficial and some are inherently harmful. This is simply not the case.
Including apples (or quinoa or kale or bread) in your diet will not make you healthy or unhealthy. Your entire dietary pattern and total caloric intake are what can be “good” or “bad” for you.
2. Carbs Make You Fat
A macronutrient cannot cause any weight gain, let alone fat gain, unless overall caloric intake is greater than overall caloric expenditure.
This means that yes, carbs, protein, and fat can each technically “make you fat,” but only if they make up excess calories that you are consuming.
3. Vegetables Don’t Count
Vegetables contain calories and consist of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds. The confusion about vegetables may come from the fact that many of them have a high water and fibre content.
The high water content of vegetables contributes to their high nutrient density (meaning low calorie content per serving size). For example, 3 cups of raw broccoli shrink down to a smaller size after being roasted and will have a similar carbohydrate content to many popular brands of bread.
The raw broccoli is just more filling because of the high water content. Despite the high nutrient density of vegetables, they do indeed have calories, carbohydrates, protein, and even some fat. We can overeat vegetables just like we can overeat any other food.
Vegetables Count as Carbohydrates!
4. Fruit Has Too Much Sugar
Many think that fruit is too high in sugar – specifically fructose – to include in one’s diet. Although fructose has different metabolic effects on the body, there is no clear reason to swap fructose for glucose.
Furthermore, there is a difference between eating pure fructose and fruit. Fruit also contains fibre, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds. A common mistake when dieting is to cut out fruit without getting enough vegetables and resort to nutrient-poor sources of carbohydrates, like rice cakes.
This can contribute to low intake of key nutrients and potentially even nutrient deficiencies. Especially when in a caloric deficit, it is crucial to ensure that one’s diet is high in nutrient-dense foods like fruit and vegetables.
Fruit Sugar or Fructose is Healthy.
5. You Don’t Need Carbohydrates
One common claim by many who advocate for low-carbohydrate diets is that carbohydrates are not necessary – not just for fuelling workouts, but in general. However, carbohydrates are used during high and moderate intensity exercise and as our preferred fuel source in everyday life.
The exception to this is when individuals choose to follow a ketogenic diet, through which the body switches to ketones – a type of fat – for fuel instead of carbohydrates.
6. You Shouldn’t Eat Carbs at Night
Avoiding carbohydrates at night does little to nothing for weight loss (or weight gain) efforts. While exercise has implications for nutrient timing, there is limited impact of any meal timing on weight loss or body composition.
However, when it comes to short-term effects, like raising insulin levels or impacting one’s sleep quality, carbohydrate timing does matter.
7. White Bread Is Worse Than Whole-Grain Bread
Generally, all types of bread have similar long-term effects on the body. Highly processed grain products, like white bread, are often fortified with vitamins and minerals, so the only notable difference is the typically higher fibre content in the less-processed grains.
This can change how the food affects our blood sugar levels, but when we compare white and whole-grain bread consumption as part of a balanced diet with overall caloric intake set for goals (e.g. a caloric deficit for weight loss), there is no notable difference.
Highly-refined types of bread can increase blood sugar levels more than less-refined types of bread, which matters for those of us with diagnoses such as diabetes.
Final Take Away
It is important to remember that single foods and macronutrients can have short-term effects on our bodies but cannot cause any long-term harm (or benefit) on their own. The entire dietary pattern and caloric intake must be taken into account when it comes to long-term effects of diet on our bodies.
Additionally, it is important to pay attention to your own body and mind in addition to the scientific evidence. You might sleep better or worse after a high-carbohydrate bedtime meal. You may never or always experience digestive discomfort after eating a bowl of broccoli. It is the impact of diet on your body that truly matters.
Many “health food” bloggers love to post meals full of vegetables and fatty foods, like avocado, nuts, seeds, eggs, and salmon. Not just refined grains, but often whole grains, may be missing from these “healthy” meal posts. These photos are not representative of the USDA guidelines that suggest filling half our plate with fruit and vegetables and the other half with grains and protein5.
Most of our calories should come from carbohydrates, so don’t fear this misunderstood macro!
We Hope you have learned more about the benefits of carbohydrates in this article. If you think we have missed anything or you have any specific questions about carbs, leave a comment below.
