As a woman whose formative young-adult years rode in tandem with the Snackwells era, I remember all-too-well how fat was once the most-maligned macronutrient. But then the tide turned (was it BECAUSE of the Snackwells?), and carbohydrates became nutrition public enemy number one.
From the Atkins diet, to the South Beach Diet, to Grain Brain and Wheat Belly, to the keto diet, carbs have been getting a bad rap for quite a while. And while some carbs get a thumbs up from Paleo proponents, grains and legumes are considered a no-no. And strict low-carb and keto diets even limit fruit. But is this fear of carbs really warranted?
As we know from Nutrition 101, carbohydrates come from plants, and many plant foods are rich in the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber that are vital to good health. For example, research shows that Mediterranean-style and other plant-based diets with a high fiber content have a beneficial effect on blood sugar, whereas dietary patterns high in meat are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
In spite of this, carb-phobia persists. That’s unfortunate, because shunning the taste and diversity of natural carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes and dairy means shunning a lot of nutrients, and a lot of eating pleasure…all for nothing. Here are some of the myths about carbohydrates that are getting in the way.
Myth 1: Carbs are only found in breads and grains
Ask someone what type of foods contain carbs, and odds are they’ll answer bread, pasta and rice, and probably sugar. But the truth is that most plant-based foods and dairy foods contain carbs to some extent. All are important for a healthy diet.
For someone to truly avoid carbs, they would have to avoid fruit, beans, lentils and many dairy foods (especially milk and yogurt). Carotenoid-rich sweet potatoes and winter squash? Gone. Even green veggies such as broccoli and spinach contain carbs, although not in great amounts.
Grains may be the most “controversial” carb, but the intact nutrients and fiber in whole grains may support healthy blood sugar levels, which is one reason behind public health recommendations to replace refined grains with whole grains.
Data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study suggests that higher whole grain intake was associated with reduced deaths due to disease, especially deaths due to cardiovascular disease. That finding was true regardless of the rest of a participant’s diet, or what other factors in their life influenced their personal disease risk. Similarly, results from the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which followed 367,442 individuals for 14 years, found that intake of whole grains was associated with a lower risk of death from all causes.
While going back to eating a box of Snackwells in a sitting isn’t anything I would recommend — that is a lot of white flour and sugar — so many “carbs” are high in fiber and nutrients while being low in sugar. And if we banish those foods, we’re missing out.
Myth 2: Carbs make you gain weight
I don’t focus on weight loss in my private practice (or in life), but I can tell you that several studies have found that whole grain intake is associated with a reduced risk of weight gain and similar associations have been observed between fruit intake and weight, provided that someone isn’t eating more than their body needs. But that’s not what sells diet books.
If I had a nickel for every client earlier in my career* who told me they don’t eat carbs because they are “fattening,” but then it turned out they were eating fruit, oatmeal, protein bars (which aren’t ALL protein), etc. The thought they aren’t eating carbs when in fact they didn’t really know what “carbs” were (see Myth 1).
While many studies have found low-carb diets to be more effective for weight loss than low-fat diets in the short term, in longer-term follow up both approaches produce modest weight loss — at best — which is pretty much consistent with finding about every single other diet.
*When I was doing “non-diet weight loss” which I eventually realized was not a thing, and was simply my attempt to straddle the fence between my old belief that weight loss supported health, and my new realization that pursuing weight loss was pointless at best and harmful at worst.
Myth 3: All white foods are unhealthy
Over the years I’ve heard friends, family, clients tell me they’ve received the message that “All white food is bad,” or “Stay away from anything white,” or, even better, “Those white foods will kill you.”
The first time I was told this myth directly, it was by a female doctor in the student health clinic when I was a university undergrad.* (Heck, I remember a few healthcare providers telling me as recently as five years ago that they offered this “simple” advice to their patients. Arrrgghhhh!)
Is it simple, though? One obvious flaw with the “no white foods” concept is that many white foods are super nutritious. Cauliflower is going to kill you? Button mushrooms? Cannellini beans? The whole allium family (garlic, onions, leeks, etc.) is coming to get you? What about yogurt? Milk (plant or dairy)?
Obviously, the “no white foods” rule is intended to apply to sugar, white flour (and breads and other products made from it), white rice, and white potatoes. But, I’m sorry, white rice is a staple cultural food in many countries, and they aren’t dropping like flies. And whole grains are great, but that doesn’t mean you can never have white bread (I do have a preference for real sourdough, which has some health benefits).
As for potatoes, that depends. While the classic “white” russet potato affects blood sugar about as much white bread,** because it’s been hybridized to produce the perfect French fry, other potatoes are unfairly maligned. They’re a great source of potassium, vitamin C, and some fiber if you eat the skin.
*This was on the very cusp of the Snackwells era. In the Eater article “The Devil’s Food” the writer describes Snackwell’s devil’s food cookie cakes as “like eating a chocolate cupcake whose soul had been sucked out.” Ha!
**Keep in mind that if you eat russet potatoes, you probably don’t eat them plain. You eat them with a meal that includes protein and fat, which slows the digestion and absorption of carbs in that meal.
Myth 4: You shouldn’t ‘ruin’ your workout by eating carbs
One thing that drives sports dietitians nuts is when their clients think they should eat high protein foods to fuel a workout. Yes, we need enough protein to support muscle growth and repair, and protein needs do increase if you’re very active, especially if you do strength training. However, we need carbs to fuel activity itself.
I recently attended a talk by a keto diet dietitian-researcher recently, and even he said that higher carbohydrate diets are better for high performance, endurance based/high-intensity sports. “We just know that carbs improve performance.”
Often, avoidance of carbs before a workout is a holdover of diet mentality. It’s a combination of the belief that carbs cause weight gain and the idea that if you’re exercising to burn calories, you shouldn’t “undo” that work by actually eating. But when you experiment with eating more, and eating carbs, before a gym workout, a long hike or bike ride, or an intense dance class, you will probably be amazed by how much better your workout is and how much better you feel.
If you’ve found yourself “hitting a wall” when exercising, you may be especially surprised what eating some carbs beforehand may do for you. (Yes, you can absolutely pair those carbs with some protein and fat. Not for nothing is a peanut butter sandwich a frequent pre-training go-to.)
And for goodness sake, don’t exercise while actually HUNGRY, even if it’s something gentle like yoga or a walk around the neighborhood.
Myth 5: Low-carb diets are healthier because carbs cause inflammation
The idea that carbs are “bad for you” often stems from the idea that they cause weight gain (which opens a whole other can of worms about myths related to weight and health), but the second most common “explanation” I hears is that carbs lead to inflammation in the body.
Even if you aren’t clear on exactly what chronic inflammation is, you probably know that’s it’s not good, and that’s true. While short-term inflammation (when you sprain an ankle or cut your finger) helps with healing, chronic inflammation is kind of like a wildfire out of control. It’s a concern because it may be an intermediary between lifestyle factors — such as a low-nutrient diet, lack of physical activity, poor sleep, high stress and chronic exposure to exhaust fumes or chemicals — and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and other chronic diseases.
Let’s look specifically at grains again. High intake of whole grains has been shown to reduce concentrations of inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), and increase blood concentrations of adiponectin, a molecule released by fat cells that reduces inflammation and help insulin do its job (moving blood sugar out of the blood and into cells where it can be used for energy) better.
Some research studies have found that low-carb diets can produce favorable shifts in blood sugar or cholesterol in the short term, but eating is for life. Laboratory research and human feeding trials have both found that whole grains, as well as their various components, such as insoluble fiber, magnesium and phytochemicals, consistently have beneficial effects on blood sugar, cholesterol and other markers of health.
Myth 6: Fruit has too much sugar
Goodness, lots of people are confused about fruit. How did we get from “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” to “Ahhhhhhhh! Fruit are CARBS!”?
I hear it all the time: “I avoid fruit because of the sugar.” I hear similar statements about sweet potatoes, beets and carrots. All of which are super nutritious! What’s lost in translation is that the sugars found in fruit (and in dairy foods and root vegetables) are natural sugars and are different from the sugars that are added to foods and beverages.
While it’s true that the main source of calories in whole fruit is sugar, predominantly fructose, those sugars are sequestered, surrounded by fiber, in the fruit’s cellular structure. As a researcher told me a few years ago, “You never get a surge of fructose that would take a hit on the liver or a surge of glucose that would cause a surge in insulin. It’s added sugars that can cause a problem.”
Research has shown that an increased consumption of fruit and berries is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. This is especially true for fruit that is fiber rich, such as apple, pears, kiwi, and berries.
Myth 7: All carbs are the same, it doesn’t matter where they come from
Are nutritious, fiber-rich carbs being painted by the same brush as sugar and other refined carbs? Sadly, they often are. From an elemental point of view, all carbohydrates are created equal. That’s also true from a dietary point of view, as all digestible carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, the body’s primary source of energy. However, there are some meaningful differences between various carbohydrates based on how the basic building blocks are assembled.
Carbohydrates are constructed from carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms. The proportion is roughly a 1:2:1 ratio of carbon to hydrogen to oxygen, or CH2O. Since H2O is water, this proportion is called “hydrate of carbon,” from which we get the common term carbohydrate. Our bodies break down carbohydrates into glucose, which our cells can convert into usable energy.
- Monosaccharides, or simple sugars, are the smallest type of carbohydrate, containing three to seven carbon atoms. The most common monosaccharide is glucose, followed by fructose and galactose.
- Disaccharides are two monosaccharides bonded together. The most common is sucrose (glucose + fructose), also known as table sugar. The other common disaccharides are lactose (galactose + glucose), the natural sugar found in milk, and maltose (glucose + glucose).
- Oligosaccharides are short chains of three to nine monosaccharide units. Polysaccharides — which include fiber, starch and cellulose (which make up plant cell walls) — are long chains of 10 or more monosaccharide units. Some polysaccharides include hundreds or thousands of “links.”
Nutritious carbohydrate foods include whole grains, beans and lentils, vegetables, fruit, pasta and dairy. Not-so-nutritious carbohydrate foods include foods made with white flour and added sugar, such as highly processed snack foods and baked goods. Does that mean you should never eat, say, a doughnut? No (well, unless you don’t like doughnuts), but it simply means that nutritionally, a doughnut is not the same as quinoa or black beans.
Carrie Dennett, MPH, RDN, is a Pacific Northwest-based registered dietitian nutritionist, journalist, intuitive eating counselor, author, and speaker. Her superpowers include busting nutrition myths and empowering women to feel better in their bodies and make food choices that support pleasure, nutrition and health. This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute individualized nutrition or medical advice.
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