by Good health is less about avoiding carbs and more about choosing your carb-containing foods wisely. Photo / Getty Images
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As well as Jennifer Bowden’s columns in the NZ Listener and here at listener.co.nzsubscribers can access her bi-weekly column “Posthumous Myths”, in which she explores food and nutrition myths. This week, she looks at whether a low-carb lifestyle is as good as it’s made out to be
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Carbohydrates have earned a rather dark 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 pouring out miraculous low-carb life stories.
From trendy low-carb plans to a widespread fear of weight gain, there is confusion about their role in nutrition due to the idea that carbs are inherently bad. In reality, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Far from depleting the morale of our lives, the right carbohydrates are essential to provide energy, support brain function, and promote overall well-being. So, it’s time to reclaim carbs as a vital player in a balanced, healthy diet.
Carbohydrates are one of three macronutrients in food that fuel our bodies. The others are protein and fat. Carbohydrates contain building blocks called saccharides, or sugars, linked in short or long chains.
The simplest forms are single saccharide units, such as fructose found naturally in fruit, or two saccharide units linked together, such as the sucrose found in sugar cane, which consists of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule linked together. Sucrose is refined from sugar cane or sugar beet to produce the refined white sugar that is added to many processed foods, coffee and baking.
When many saccharide units are linked together in chains, they are called polysaccharides. These carbohydrates are found in ultra-processed foods such as instant noodles and fries (which scientists advise us to avoid), and in everyday foods such as pasta, bread and potatoes.
But polysaccharides, including many types of dietary fiber, are also found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes – nutritious foods we are encouraged to enjoy for good health. So how can polysaccharides be harmful in one food and good in another?
“People don’t eat nutrients; they eat food,” was the sage advice from my nutrition lecturer 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 buy a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk, then put jam on our white toast or pour milk on our oat-based muesli. Both breakfasts contain carbs, but one is more nutritious than the other.
“Get rid of the black-and-white thinking about carbs being bad, and while you’re at it, get rid of the food guilt too.”
Contrary to popular belief, the presence of carbs alone is not the main determining factor in how nutritious a meal is. Instead, “carbohydrate quality rather than quantity determines major health outcomes,” according to a substantial 2019 review in the Lancet a diary.
University of Otago researchers combed nearly 135 million person-years of data from 185 prospective studies and 58 clinical trials with 4635 adult participants. They found a 15-30% reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and in the incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke incidence and mortality, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer when comparing the highest dietary fiber consumers to the lowest (fiber). is usually a carbohydrate form).
Clinical trials have shown significantly lower systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol when comparing higher with lower intakes of dietary fiber. In fact, those who ate between 25g and 29g of dietary fiber each day had the lowest risk of critical outcomes. A higher intake of dietary fiber may even protect against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal and breast cancer.
The research team concluded that higher intakes of dietary fiber and whole grains have a “hitting dose-response” relationship with several non-communicable diseases; in other words, the more fiber and whole grains a person consumes, the lower the risk of these diseases.
It means that avoiding carbs is less about being healthy and more about choosing your carb-containing foods wisely.
Ditch the black-and-white thinking about carbs being bad, and while you’re at it, ditch the food guilt too. 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 carbs, which will boost your health and well-being.
