Good Carbs Vs. Bad Carbs: Which Carbs Are Which?

When my father was diagnosed with diabetes he was given a quick lesson on good carbs vs. bad carbs by a nutritionist. "Brown rice is good; white rice is bad," she told him.

"Then how come my wife won't let me order the brown rice at the Chinese restaurant?" my father asked her, confusing "bad carb" fried rice-which is really white rice that looks brown because it is mixed with soy sauce-with whole grain brown rice, the "good carb" to which the dietician referred.

When it comes to good carbs vs. bad carbs, it's not like a Hollywood western where the "good guys" all wear cowboy hats and hang out with John Wayne. Sometimes good carbs look like bad carbs and bad carbs look like good carbs, a confusion that is deliberately fostered by some food manufacturers who want to cash in on the public's desire to "eat healthy."

While low-carb diets were all the rage in recent years, nutritionists and other health experts distinguish between carbs you should eat more of (good carbs) and carbs you should avoid (bad carbs). The guide below explains which carbs are good carbs and which carbs are bad carbs and how to avoid confusing the two.

What are good carbs?

Good carbs are plant foods that are eaten as close to their natural state as possible, with little or no processing. These nutritional angels, which include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, contain more fiber, vitamins and other nutrients than plant foods that have been altered from their natural state.

What are bad carbs?

Bad carbs are formerly good carbohydrates that have been refined and processed, resulting in food that has significantly less fiber and fewer nutrients than good carbs. These dietary devils include such processed foods as cookies, white bread and "fruit" punch, foods that contain the white flour and refined sugar that remain when grains and other plant products are stripped of their fiber and nutrients to make them taste better or have superior "mouth feel."

How do good carbs turn into bad carbs?

To make a bad carb, food manufacturers remove the healthy part of a plant food (such as the bran and germ in wheat); mix it with salt, sugar, fat and other flavor enhancers; then put it in a colorful package and advertise it on television with clever jingles or cute characters (e.g., "Rice-a-Roni the San Francisco Treat," the Lucky Charm leprechaun and Keebler elves). After processing out most of the fiber and nutrients in a plant food, manufacturers often add back some nutrients or fiber and add the word "enriched" to the label (similar to someone robbing a bank and then mailing the bank a check for part of the amount).

How not to confuse good carbs with bad carbs?

One of the best ways to tell a good carb from a bad carb is appearance. Good carbs usually look like real food, such as carrots or grapes (as opposed to such refined foods as carrot cake and grape jelly).

When selecting packaged foods, it is helpful to read and understand nutrition labels. Foods that have at least five grams of fiber are legally considered "high" in fiber, a beneficial substance that keeps you full longer and prevents dramatic spikes in blood sugar levels.

Just as my father was confused by fried rice, mistaking the oily white rice dish for the healthier brown rice favored by nutritionists, food manufacturers deliberately create confusion around good carbs and bad carbs.

A tale of two carbs

While they may not have the literary value of a Charles Dickens novel, nutrition labels on food packages can reveal the difference between good carbs and bad carbs and help you spot fictitious good carbs that are really bad carbs in disguise.

According to a Clemson University nutrition guide, "Foods labeled with the following words are usually not whole grain products: 'multi-grain,' 'stone-ground,' '100% wheat,' 'cracked wheat,' 'seven-grain' or 'bran.' The term "multi-grain," for instance, merely signifies the product has more than one grain, such as wheat and oats, both of which may have been stripped of their fiber and nutrition.

Also confusing to people who strive to eat more good carbs, the word "wheat" on a label just means the product was made from wheat, not necessarily its healthier cousin, whole wheat. "Look for '100% whole wheat' on the package when buying bread and other whole wheat products," the Clemson nutrition guide advises.

Nutritional value of oranges vs. orange juice

Even relatively healthy orange juice, which has more dietary benefit than cheap imposter, orange drink (which is mainly corn syrup), falls short of the two beverages' mutual ancestor, the orange. A raw Florida orange has 4 grams of fiber and nutritious flavanoids from the pulp (which healthfully interact with the vitamin C in the fruit's orange flesh), whereas a cup of orange juice has less than one gram of fiber and virtually no flavanoids.

Sources:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09333.html
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/nutrition-labels-9/carbohydrates
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/good-carbs-vs-bad-carbs
LOUISE KENNEDY. "Myth buster ; G FORCE | DR. NANCY SNYDERMAN." The Boston Globe (Boston, MA). McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2010 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20255908.html
http://www.thedietchannel.com/Good-Carbs-Vs-Bad-Carbs-How-To-Pick-The-Best-Carbs-For-Your-Diet.htm
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/nutrition/nutrition/dietary_guide/hgic4019.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/52062-good-carbohydrates-vs.-bad-carbohydrates/