Ketogenic, Paleo and Atkins. The abundance of low-carb diets might make you think carbohydrates are the enemy, to be avoided at all costs. However, they are a macronutrient, which means that along with fat and protein, they are an essential part of our diet. They are the body’s preferred source of energy, so limiting carbohydrates may make you feel tired.
Carbs do not make you put on weight! The initial weight loss you may experience when drastically cutting carbs is likely to be fluid loss, not fat loss.
Not all carbs are created equal. We can get them from a wide variety of foods, not just bread and pasta. Some of which may cause people to think all carbs are baddies. So, what exactly are carbohydrates and how much should we eat?
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates, found mostly in plant-based foods, are nutrients that provide energy to the body when they are broken down into glucose (sugar). This is not just energy you use when exercising either. It includes the energy needed for your brain to function or for simply breathing. Any unused glucose is stored in the liver and muscles. Any excess will be stored as fat.
There are different types of carbohydrates, including:
- Sugars – including natural sources found in fruit, vegetables and milk, and sugar added to processed foods such as cakes, sweets and fizzy drinks. These added sugars are called free sugars.
- Starches – found in rice, bread, pasta, oats, lentils and beans, as well as some starchy vegetables such as potatoes and sweetcorn.
- Dietary fibre – found in fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, lentils and beans. These are important for digestive health.
The difference between these is how quickly they are digested and absorbed by the body. Some are broken down faster than others. The Glycaemic Index (GI) is a ranking of foods depending on how quickly your blood glucose levels (also known as blood sugar levels) rise after eating them. You can find more information on GI here.
What type and amount of carbohydrates should we eat?
When thinking about the quantity and quality of carbs, a number of things come into play.
Quantity
According to the Eatwell Guide, which shows the UK government’s guidelines on eating healthily, over half of our daily energy (calorie) intake should come from carbohydrates. A typical portion of starchy carbohydrates in a meal is about the size of your fist. Although, this can be tweaked depending on how active you are.
Adults in the UK are recommended to eat 30g of fibre per day. There is evidence that increased intakes of dietary fibre are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
We should also try to reduce the amount of free sugars we consume. Adults should have no more than 30g (about 7 teaspoons) per day. This includes honey, sweetened fruit juices and syrup. It doesn’t include the naturally occurring sugar in fruit, vegetables and milk.
‘Free sugars’ are not listed separately on nutrition labels. This can be confusing. However, if there is a lot of added sugar this will usually be near the top of the ingredients list. So this could be one way to check.
Quality
As I alluded to above, the type of carbs you choose is important. When you eat fruits, vegetables and wholegrain starchy carbohydrates you also get a whole host of other important nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
When buying starchy carbohydrates, look for wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta and other wholegrains, as these tend to be higher in fibre than white varieties.
Should we really avoid carbs then?
Definitely not! It’s also important to remember that when reducing one macronutrient in the diet, it has to be replaced by another. In this case, either fats or protein. Carbohydrates contain 4 calories (kcal) per gram, the same as protein, and fewer than fat, which has 9kcal per 1g.
We don’t eat nutrients in isolation. We eat foods that contain many different nutrients, and we eat many different foods in a day. Therefore, it’s best to focus on eating lots of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains and limiting the overly processed, sugary snacks rather than whether it contains ‘carbs’ or not. This will ensure you get all those other great nutrients as well as carbohydrates.
I hope you’ve found this useful. It’s important for me to note, the advice here is aimed at the general public. If you have any health conditions, such as Type 1/Type 2 diabetes or coeliac disease please discuss with a qualified health professional.
Sources
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/why-we-need-to-eat-carbs/
https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/carbohydrates.html
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-carbohydrates-and-health-report
