- Experts now say carbohydrate consumption can aid weight loss
- Dr. Michelle Braude, founder of The Food Effect, explains how
- Says cutting carbs can lead to low energy levels, fatigue and moodiness
- Knowing how to spot a good carb is key to maintaining a healthy weight
Naomi Greenaway for MailOnline
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Many healthy eaters would consider grabbing a sandwich for lunch or tucking into a pasta at dinner time, the ultimate dietary sin.
As the Paleo diet has picked up in popularity where the Atkins left off, the common wisdom among the nutritionally conscious is that being carb-free equates to staying trim.
And the nation’s carbophobia is not just theoretical. Last year, sales for Britain’s top three bread brands, Warburtons, Hovis and Kingsmill, were down a total of £121 million on the previous year.
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Many healthy eaters would consider grabbing a sandwich for lunch, or heaven forbid, tucking into a pasta at dinner time, the ultimate dietary sin. But many nutritionists now say carbohydrates can help shed pounds
But despite all the carb bashing and avoiding that’s become the norm, a new wave of healthy eating experts are encouraging carbohydrate consumption, saying it can actually aid weight loss.
Exercise guru Joe Wicks, who has two recipe books in Amazon’s top three best-sellers, actively encourages carbohydrate consumption, and believes it can actually aid weight loss.
So is it time to crack open the Hovis and let carbs back into our lives?
White bread falls into the category of ‘simple’ carbohydrates, along with cakes, biscuits, potatoes and white rice – and these white, refined and processed carbohydrates do deserve the bad reputation they have gained
How to spot a quality carbohydrate
Not all carbohydrates will make you pile on the pounds, but the move towards wholemeal grains is something we Brits have got right over the years.
Earlier this year, National Food Survey, analysed the eating habits of 150,000 households and found the amount of white bread people are eating has fallen from 25 to 15 slices a week over the past four decades.
White bread falls into the category of ‘simple’ carbohydrates, along with cakes, biscuits, potatoes and white rice – and these white, refined and processed carbohydrates do deserve the bad reputation they have gained.
‘Simple carbohydrates are made up of one to two sugar molecules and are broken down and digested very quickly due to their simple structure. This tends to elevate blood sugar levels just as quickly,’ explains Dr. Braude.
FROM HIGH TO LOW EXAMPLES OF FOODS ON THE GI INDEX
Low GI foods
New potatoes
Spaghetti
Brown rice
Sweet potatoes
Instant noodles
Wholewheat bread
Hummus
Sponge cake
Lentils
Chick peas
Frozen green peas
Tomatoes
Onions
Apples
Medium GI foods
Croissant
White pita bread
Wholemeal rye
Honey
Digestives
Blueberry muffin
Ice cream
Mango
Bananas
Beetroot
Basmati rice
Cous cous
Gnocchi
Baked potatoes
High GI foods
Instant white rice
French fries
Mashed potato
Tapioca
Short grain white rice
White bread
Bagel
French baguette
Scones
Rice cakes
Parsnips
Pumpkin
Watermelon
Dates
‘The glucose provides instant energy but if not burned or used up, which it rarely is, unless these foods are consumed right before a workout, they are converted into fat and and stored. This leads to weight gain and potentially other health issues.’
The better behaved relatives of simple carbohydrates are complex carbs, which include brown rice, sweet potato, rolled oats and whole-grain bread.
A slower breakdown keeps our energy levels high for longer.
But when you eat carbs again you pile on the pounds even more than normal as your whole body’s ability to burn carbs has slowed down
‘These have more complex molecular structure and are made up of longer chains of sugar molecules,’ explains Dr. Braude.
‘Since these carbohydrates require more time for conversion, they are constantly used up by the body and are not immediately converted or stored as fat – unless they are eaten in large amounts, which is why portion size is also important.’
The other way to rate how healthy a carb is is by its Glycaemic Index (GI), which is also related to the rate of digestion and is a measure the food’s effect on a person’s blood glucose.
The GI scale goes from 0 to 100, and the lower the better.
‘With low GI foods blood sugar levels do not spike, leading to satiety and helping to manage cravings,’ says Dr. Braude.
‘Low GI carbs, supply steady energy levels, which is beneficial – especially after exercise.’
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