By Dr. Leslie Van Romer
Good carbs, bad carbs, Simple carbs, complex carbs. Eat carbs, don’t eat carbs. Carbs make you fat, carbs make you skinny.
Are you carb confused?
One thing for sure – all carbs are not created equally.
Let’s separate the good boys from the bad boys so you know who to hang out with and who to steer clear of.
1. What is a carbohydrate?
It is one of the three major nutrients, along with protein and fat.
2. What is the purpose of a carbohydrate?
Its main purpose is to supply energy. Energy keeps you alive! No, protein and fat are not the most efficient sources of energy (no matter what those protein-crazy people say) – carbs are!
Compare your body to a car. Proteins are the building blocks that build your engine. Carbs are the gasoline that make your engine go.
Feel like you’re out of gas? Eat more carbs – the good guy carbs.
Animal products – beef, chicken, fish – you get it – have no carbs whatsoever. Zero. Zippo. No carbs = no energy. Simple.
3. Where can good-guy carbohydrates be found?
All whole, unrefined plant foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are loaded with carbohydrates – the good kind.
Very wisely, nature packages the good-guy carbs in the foods that give you the most nutrition for your calorie buck (spelling weight loss).
4. Fill up on carb-rich foods – whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains (like brown rice, not breads), and beans – to lose weight and get all your necessary nutrients: proteins, fats, fiber, enzymes, and micronutrients, like vitamins, minerals, calcium, antioxidants, and betacarotene.
5. Good-guy carbs:
Promote weight loss
Satisfy your hunger drive so you stop eating when full
Crush cravings
Boost health and fitness
Prevent diseases
Energize
Make you feel good about you!
Watch out for the bad-boy carbs.
They’re sneaky and hang out everywhere, like in refined sugars, flours, and processed foods all over the place:
Brown-colored white breads, rolls, pasta, muffins, bagels, tortilla shells, cereals, baked goods, cookies, cakes, pies, doughnuts, pastries, crackers, candy, chocolate, ice cream, frozen yogurt, jams, sugary drinks, soft drinks, canned foods, packaged foods, soups, spreads, salad dressings, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles, spaghetti sauces, even baby foods – and that’s certainly not all, folks.
So what’s so bad about the bad-boy carbs?
Bad-boy carbs are found in foods that are stripped of their nutrients – the quintessential opposite of getting the most nutrition for your calorie buck. Bad carbs bring with them calories, usually lots of them. And calories that provide NO nutrition. That spells weight gain!
Not only that, bad carbs sadly shove aside your weight warriors and health heroes – whole, fresh fruits and vegetables.
One more thing – a simple carb doesn’t mean it’s automatically a bad carb, and a complex carb doesn’t mean it’s automatically a good carb.
There are both good and bad simple and complex carbohydrates.
Candy and whole, fresh fruit are simple carbs. Candy, highly refined and processed, is bad for you. Fruit, nature’s perfect whole food, is great for you.
White flour and yams are complex carbs. White flour is bad for you. Yams are nature’s best for you.
Forget the simple/complex carb issue. It’s a non-issue.
Just fill up on whole, unrefined plant foods – fruits, vegetables, whole grains (not breads), and whole beans, like black, kidney, and pinto beans.
Time to digest this food-for-thought. More later…in parts two and three…
For now, do what your mother told you to do as a kid – be picky about who you hang out with.
Hang out with the good-guys, and please ditch the bad-boys.
Your body will love you for it, and you will love your body!
“Extra cals are not your pals, gals.”
~ Dr. Leslie Van Romer
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is the author of "Getting Into Your Pants," chiropractor, weight loss cheerleader, and feel-good-about-you motivational health speaker. Visit http://www.DrLeslieVanRomer.com for more inspiration.
Member of National Speakers Association
