Good health is less about avoiding carbohydrates and more about choosing carbohydrate-containing foods wisely. Photo / Getty Images
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As well as Jennifer Bowden’s writings in the NZ Listener and here listener.co.nzsubscribers have access to her bi-weekly column, “Mythbusters,” where she explores myths about food and nutrition. This week he looks at whether a low-carb lifestyle is as good as it sounds
to be.
Carbohydrates have gotten a pretty shady reputation in recent years, thanks in large part to the proliferation of high-carb ultra-processed foods, confusing health headlines, and a culture of online influencers peddling stories of miraculous low-carb lives.
From trendy low-carb plans to widespread fears of weight gain, the idea that carbohydrates are inherently bad has led to confusion about their role in nutrition. In reality, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Moral decadence of our lives aside, proper carbohydrates are essential to provide energy, support brain function, and improve overall well-being. So it’s time to reclaim carbohydrates as a vital player in a balanced, healthy diet.
Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients in food that fuel our bodies. The others are protein and fat. Carbohydrates contain building blocks called saccharides or sugars joined in short or long chains.
The simplest forms are single saccharide units, such as fructose, which occurs naturally in fruit, or two interconnected saccharide units, such as sucrose, which is found in sugar cane and consists of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule linked together. Sucrose is refined from sugar cane or sugar beets to produce white refined sugar, which is added to many processed foods, coffee, and pastries.
When many saccharide units are linked together in a chain, they are called polysaccharides. These carbohydrates are found in overly processed foods like instant noodles and french fries (which scientists recommend we avoid) and everyday foods like pasta, bread and potatoes.
But polysaccharides, which include many forms of dietary fiber, are also found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes; These are nutritious foods that we encourage to consume for good health. So how can polysaccharides be harmful in one food and good in another?
“People don’t eat food; They eat,” was the sage advice of my nutrition teacher decades ago. None of us go to the supermarket to buy a loaf of carbohydrates or a bottle of calcium for our breakfast.
Instead we grab a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk, then top our white toast with jam or pour milk over our oat-based muesli. Both breakfasts contain carbohydrates, but one is more nutritious than the other.
“Leave aside the black-and-white idea that carbohydrates are bad, and put food guilt aside as you do so.”
Contrary to popular belief, the mere presence of carbohydrates is not the primary determining factor in determining how nutritious a food is. Instead, “carb quality, rather than quantity, determines important health outcomes,” according to a major review published in 2019. lancet magazine.
University of Otago researchers screened approximately 135 million person-years of data from 185 prospective studies and 58 clinical trials with 4635 adult participants. When they compared those consuming the highest dietary fiber to those consuming the lowest (fiber), they found a 15-30% reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular-related deaths, the incidence and mortality of coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer. typically a form of carbohydrate).
Clinical trials showed significantly lower systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol when comparing higher dietary fiber intake to lower dietary fiber intake. Indeed, those who consumed between 25 and 29 grams of dietary fiber each day had the lowest risk of critical outcome. Higher dietary fiber intake may even protect against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal and breast cancer.
The research team concluded that higher dietary fiber and whole grain intake had a “striking dose-response” type relationship with several non-communicable diseases; In other words, the more fiber and whole grains consumed, the lower the risk of contracting these diseases.
This means that health is less about avoiding carbohydrates and more about choosing carbohydrate-containing foods wisely.
Let go of the black-and-white notion that carbs are bad, and let go of food guilt as you do so. Instead, look for ways to include nutritious whole foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes to increase your intake of fiber and complex carbohydrates, which will improve your health and well-being.