What Are Good Carbs and Bad Carbs?

Carbs, or carbohydrates, contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and are found in the plant based foods that we eat as well as in mammals' milk. They are often in a ratio of one carbon atom to one water molecule, hence the name carbo-hydrate. What does that mean to us? Well, the most important carbohydrate for us is called glucose or "blood sugar." It is absolutely essential to parts of the brain and the red blood cells and is used by most cells as a source of energy alongside fats. Carbohydrates that we eat are broken down into glucose and either used immediately, converted to storage form (glycogen) or converted to fat (triglycerides) and stored for much later! Excess carbohydrates usually come from sweets, soft drinks and snack foods and are easily converted to body fat. Choose the healthy forms of carbohydrates so you can use them throughout the day for energy. Don't make the dangerous mistake of trying to cut carbohydrates out of your diet. They have a protein sparing effect, preventing dietary or muscle protein from being broken down into carbohydrate for the brain. The brain and nervous system alone use 100 to 150 grams of carbohydrate per day! There is even an RDA for carbohydrate of 130 grams per day (Understanding Nutrition , 11th edition, Whitney and Rolfes).

WHERE WE GET our carbohydrates determines if they are "good" or "bad", not that a food has morals, just a healthy or less healthy content. "Good" carbs come from whole, unprocessed plant based foods including WHOLE GRAINS, LEGUMES (peas and beans) and STARCHY vegetables (white and sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkin, yucca and plantains), NON-STARCHY vegetables and FRUITS. These sources also contain FIBER which is a form of carbohydrate that is important for our health even though we don't use it for energy. Another vital health benefit we get from consuming whole plant based foods is that they provide a healthy dose of PHYTONUTRIENTS, but that is another lecture. Another popular myth is that fruit is a "bad" carbohydrate because it can be "high on the glycemic index." Trust me, whole, fresh fruit is extremely healthy and we should consume two to four handfuls per day. We will talk about the glycemic index, or more importantly glycemic load in a moment. As far as the carbohydrate content of mammals' milk, the source is lactose which only 30% of adults tolerate. The debate about whether mammals' milk is healthy is much too complex to not have its own article!

The "bad" carbs come from sources that have been highly processed and that results in a loss of nutrients and usually an increase in additives and preservatives. In the Standard American Diet (SAD), processed carbs come mostly from white rice, concentrated sugar and sweets, soft drinks, and refined white flour which is most often refined wheat flour. Refined white flour is made into white bread, crackers, pasta, cookies, doughnuts, cakes and other snack foods. These foods have had most of their vitamins, minerals and fiber processed out of them. That is why they are considered "bad." Refined white flour has five nutrients added back in (Vitamins B1, B2, B3, folic acid and iron) but they don't have the fiber, magnesium, chromium, Vitamin E or other B vitamins added back. We really get short changed when we eat these processed forms of food.

Another negative aspect of "bad" or processed carbs is the excessive amount of sugar used to produce them. The excess sugar can be utilized directly by intestinal yeast and lead to an overgrowth called "dysbiosis." Biochemically sugar is acid forming in the body and produces a state in which our metabolic enzymes cannot function properly. Another downside of being "too acid" is that cancer cells can thrive in an acidic state and no one wants thriving cancer cells!

As far as sweeteners, avoid the artificial ones, some contain substances that wreak metabolic havoc, contain chlorine and cause cancer in animals. Go for the natural sweeteners such as agave, honey, date sugar and good old real maple syrup... all in moderation of course! For a natural, Calorie free sweetener, try Stevia.. it comes as a flavored liquid (my favorite) with natural flavors such as cinnamon, dark chocolate, peppermint, lemon and many others from Wisdom Brands SweetLeaf stevia. You can also buy it in packets and in a more refined form as "Truvia". You can even grow stevia as a plant and use its sweet leaves in smoothies and iced tea.

Back to the "Glycemic Index." The Glycemic Index is a misleading concept and not really useful in the real world, Since it is based on a 50 gram carbohydrate portion of food eaten alone, on an empty stomach, it does not reflect how most people eat. When we look at the glycemic "load" of a normal portion of food, we get a much better picture of how that food will be converted to blood sugar. For instance, the glycemic "index" of watermelon is 72 while its glycemic "load" is only 4. The glycemic "index" for a baked potato is 85 while its glycemic "load" is only 26, etc.

Don't worry so much about the numbers, concentrate on whether a food is PROCESSED or UNPROCESSED, that's the ticket!

Beth Ellen DiLuglio, MS, RD, CNSD, CCN, LD/N is a registered dietitian certified in Nutrition Support and Clinical Nutrition and has a Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. She taught nutrition for over at decade at Palm Beach State College and is currently a CDR provider of continuing education. She continues to develop and enhance her trademarked series "Nutrition is Your Best Health Insurance!" Visit her at NutritionMission.org and at Metabolism.com.