What’s good vs. bad carbs? Is a low-carb diet best for weight loss?
With so many people believing that carbs are the foods that are making us all overweight, I’m hear to say that there’s much more to the story than that. That’s because carbohydrates are found in a wide variety of foods–from healthy, protein-rich choices like Greek yogurt to nutrient-poor, calorie-rich foods and beverages like table sugar, soda and other sweetened beverages, and desserts.
When someone asks me what’s a good carb, I always say it’s a quality carbohydrate, meaning that it’s more than just sugar and it doesn’t come loaded with a lot of saturated fat (as in baked goods, some crackers and snack foods). Quality carbohydrates are found in dairy foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Certainly, diets rich in these foods aren’t linked to overweight and obesity but diets rich in poor-quality carbs like soda, baked goods, candy, desserts and sweet treats make it harder to keep your waistline contained.
The infographic below will help guide you to quality carbohydrates and help you make better choices when it comes to carbs.
Julie Upton, MS, RD, CSSD
great article. very helpful!
I really pay attention to carbs vs net carbs to determine how much fiber is in the food. Since I am not a real ‘meat’ person, I tend to get more carbs. With those carbs, I also look at combining to get a complete protein.
Yes, I like dessert too!
At one time, I used the ‘carbs’ and glycemic lists to determine which foods to avoid. Now I eat whatever I want, just some things in smaller amounts or less frequently. Frozen fresh pineapple makes one of the best smoothies!
I would like to know more about the different types of fiber. I know there is soluble and insoluble. I need to figure how to get more of the ‘good’ one…
Lee,
There are two different types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. However, they occur together in most foods and some experts are moving away from the terms and just lumping everything together as fiber. Soluble is the cholesterol-lowering fiber that is in things like oats, psyllium, beans, apples, citrus, barley, etc
Insoluble fiber is what we call “nature’s broom” as it moves digested food through the GI tract. Whole-grain breads, wheat bran, nuts, vegetables and fruits all have insoluble fiber.
Again, all fiber is important and foods all contain a blend of both types so I’d just worry about getting more total fiber than whether it’s insoluble or soluble. There’s no way to tell on a label either as the label just lists total fiber.
Wow I found this article really interesting. I am a diabetic and found it to be very helpful to me. I’m always looking for articles that help me know what carbs are best for me. Now I understand that I can eat carbs as long as they are high in fiber. Thanks
If you go solely by GI score, a Snickers or peanut M&Ms are better for you than baked potatoes or sweet potatoes….
Thank you for featuring our infographic. Would you be willing to add a link to the original source? http://online-nutrition-degrees.com/good-carbs-vs-bad-carbs-infographic/