by Good health is less about avoiding carbohydrates and more about choosing the foods that contain carbohydrates 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, “Myth Busters,” where she explores myths surrounding food and nutrition. This week she explores whether a low-carb lifestyle is as good as it’s made out to be
to be.
Carbohydrates have acquired a rather dark reputation in recent years, thanks largely to the proliferation of highly processed, high-carb foods, confusing health headlines, and a culture of online influencers spreading miraculous low-carb life stories.
From trendy low-carb plans to widespread fear of weight gain, the idea that carbohydrates are inherently bad has led to confusion about their role in the diet. In fact, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Far from being the moral decay of our lives, the right carbohydrates are essential for providing energy, supporting brain function and promoting overall well-being. So it’s time to reclaim carbohydrates as an important part of a balanced, healthy diet.
Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients in food that provide energy to our bodies. The others are protein and fat. Carbohydrates contain building blocks called saccharides or sugars, which are linked in short or long chains.
The simplest forms are single saccharide units, such as the fructose found naturally in fruits, or two linked saccharide units, such as the sucrose found in sugar cane, which consists of an interconnected glucose molecule and a fructose molecule. Sucrose is refined from sugar cane or sugar beets to produce the white refined sugar that is added to many processed foods, coffee, and baked goods.
When many saccharide units are linked together in chains, they are called polysaccharides. These carbohydrates are found in highly processed foods like instant noodles and French fries (which scientists recommend avoiding), as well as everyday foods like pasta, bread, and potatoes.
But polysaccharides, which include many forms of fiber, are also found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes – nutritious foods that we should enjoy for health reasons. How can polysaccharides be harmful in one food and good in another?
“People don’t eat nutrients; “You eat food,” was the wise advice of my nutrition lecturer decades ago. None of us go to the supermarket to buy a loaf of carbs or a bottle of calcium for our breakfast.
Instead, we buy a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk, then top our white toast with jam or pour milk over our oat cereal. Both breakfasts contain carbohydrates, but one is more nutritious than the other.
“Ditch the black-and-white idea that carbs are bad, and while you’re at it, ditch the guilt around eating too.”
Contrary to popular belief, the mere presence of carbohydrates is not the determining factor in the nutritional value of a meal. Instead, “it is not the quantity but the quality of carbohydrates that determines the most important health consequences,” according to a comprehensive study from 2019 lancet Magazine.
Researchers at the University of Otago combed through nearly 135 million person-years of data from 185 prospective studies and 58 clinical trials involving 4,635 adult participants. They found a 15–30% decrease in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as the incidence of coronary heart disease, the incidence and mortality of stroke, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer, when comparing the highest fiber consumers with the lowest fiber consumers, which is typical a form of carbohydrates).
Clinical studies showed significantly lower systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol when higher versus lower fiber intake was compared. In fact, those who consumed between 25 and 29 g of fiber daily had the lowest risk of critical outcomes. A higher intake of fiber can even protect against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon and breast cancer.
The research team concluded that higher fiber and whole grain intakes had a “striking dose-response relationship” with several non-communicable diseases; In other words, the more fiber and whole grains you eat, the lower your risk of these diseases.
This means that good health is less about avoiding carbohydrates and more about choosing the carbohydrate-containing foods wisely.
Forget the black-and-white idea that carbs are bad, and while you’re at it, forget about the guilt around eating too. Instead, look for ways to include nutritious whole foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes to increase your intake of fiber and complex carbohydrates, which will boost your health and well-being.
