Why Carbs AREN’T Bad For You | How To Find Balance in Your Diet With Carbs
Everywhere we turn, there’s a fitness or nutrition professional claiming that “carbs are no good.”
Today we’re going to dive into why most people should be eating carbs, and why many zero carb influencers are promoting fear-mongering marketing, and not sharing the entire truth.
The truth is, carbohydrates can and should be a healthy part of our diet. First of all, they provide nutrients that proteins and fats cannot. But let’s dive into it!
Carbohydrates 101
Carbohydrates are one of four macronutrients in our diet. All four of these macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats, and alcohol) can be converted into energy. Carbs are our body’s main and preferred source of energy.
They’re our body’s main source of energy because we generally require a majority of our energy to come from carb sources. In a balanced diet for the standard healthy person, usually around 50% or more of their diet should come from carb sources.
Carbs are also generally our body’s preferred source of energy because they are more easily metabolized to transfer into usable energy (ATP).
demonization of Carbs
The bottom line is that incorporating carbs into our diet is the best way to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. A healthy, balanced diet is what allows us to live longer, happier, and more energetic lives.
The quality of our carb choices do make a difference, though. Choosing low quality foods can have a negative impact on us too.
To better understand this, there are two categories of carbs that we can look at: (1) whole carbs and (2) processed carbs.
Many people believe that processed carbs are something to immediately eliminate, but this is also not necessarily true. In fact, you can regularly incorporate processed carbs into your diet, and remain in great healthy.
Where the problem comes into play, and the demonization begins to happen, is when individuals buy and consume more processed carbs, than they do whole carbs in their day-to-day.
Whole carbs vs. Processed Carbs
Whole carbs are exactly what they sound like: carbs that are left whole. This can include foods things like: brown rice, whole grain oats, quinoa, fruits, and veggies. Generally, we want a majority of our carb sources to make up these whole whole food options, with more fiber and less additives.
Processed carbs, on the other hand, are whole carbs that have been changed from their original form before eating it. This can be with cooking, freezing, removing fiber, chopping it up, adding sugar, adding fat, or even adding protein. All of these examples take the original food through an additional process before eating it.
Processed carbs and whole carbs aren’t necessarily opposites, and again, neither one of them are good or bad for you, in a singular sitting. It’s more about the consistency and choices over the weeks and months, not just within a singular day.
Some examples of processed carbs can be frozen fruits, frozen veggies, or baked oats. But processed carbs could also be cookies, cake, and brownies.
So… Sugar’s The Problem, then?
Most individuals look at fruits, veggies, and whole grains as relatively healthy, when asked. Most people would be left at the conclusion that if whole carbs are good for us, and not all processed foods are bad for us, then sugar must be the problem.
Many individuals fear and avoid sugar, but sugar is just the simplest form of a carbohydrate, broken down.
Some benefits of sugar is that its most easily digestible (in comparison to whole carbs), which means that they provide the energy more quickly.
These types of energy sources are great for when energy is needed fast. For example, before an important work meeting where focus & optimal brain function is needed, before a lifting session where optimal strength is needed, or before your walk or run where optimal endurance is needed.
When whole carbs are metabolized within the body, these carb sources are also broken down into simple sugar.
So…. no, technically sugar isn’t directly the problem either. Here’s what is.
The Problem with Carbs, Actually.
The problem isn’t carbs, or sugar, or processing. It’s okay to eat these foods in moderation and balance. The real problem comes into play when a majority of our diet contains foods that have less fiber, and more additives (added sugar, fat, sodium, etc).
We need more whole foods for fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
We can meet this criteria, even while regularly incorporating processed foods though. For example, frozen fruits and veggies are processed, but are also wonderful choices for our daily health and diet. This is because, while technically considered processed, it still contains the original and natural fiber, vitamins, and minerals - with no additional additives, like sugar or fat (most of the time).
That said, when it comes to incorporating processed foods, they tend to more frequently have removed fiber (white rice vs brown rice) or added sugar (flavored oats vs whole grain oats).
Eating these types of processed foods occasionally won’t do you any harm, but eating them regularly and more frequently than you eat whole foods will more likely than not lead to issues, sooner or later. And this comes especially if predisposed genetically to certain health issues.
When a majority of a person’s diet contains foods that remove the balance & needs for our health, this is when issues arise such as: weight gain, digestion issues, low energy, and poor moods.
These are the real issues with eating an imbalance of quality and quantity of carbs in your diet, but its not a one-off case. Its about the big picture and how your diet looks across a month, not just a singular day. Hearing this will hopefully give you relief, because this also means that you’re not expected to be perfect.
Ultimately, eating processed carbs (including one’s with additives and removed fiber) is perfectly okay within moderation for most individuals, but it has to be within balance.
How to find what balance looks like for YOU
The average human needs 45-65% of their diet to be made up of carbs. An easier way to start practicing a balanced diet is to roughly gauge that about 80% of your carb choices comes from whole foods (fruits, veggies, grains, legumes). The rest (about 20%), you can play around with the more processed carbs that you tend to enjoy and prefer in your diet. This may be things like bread or even a sugar-y snack. It’s important that you analyze how you’re feeling before and after.
45 to 65% is a pretty large range to work with, which means you have some room to explore what balance looks & feels like for you. Our bodies tend to give us signals that we’re meant to listen to (but if you ignore these signals over the years, you might struggle with “listening” to them, or noticing them).
This can take practice, and the great thing about our bodies is they don’t demand perfection to achieve balance.
To confirm that you remain healthy & well continue with:
Consistent health check-ups with your doctor (blood tests will help you learn more about where you can improve your diet)
Checking in with your physical health & needs (for any natural warning signs like poor digestion, poor immune system, inflammation)
Checking in with your mental wellbeing & needs (for any natural warning signs like consistent low energy, poor mood, depression)
adjusting your need for carbs based on your activity levels
Anytime you increase your activity levels: hiking, lifting weights, running, or doubling your weekly step count — these things will increase your body’s demand for carbs and energy.
The recommended daily carb intake, depending on your activity levels is:
Light activity (like daily walks): 3-5 grams/kg of body weight per day (45-65% of total daily intake)
Moderate activity (like one hour of lifting or high intensity exercise): 5-7 grams/kg of body weight per day (50-65% of total daily intake)
High activity (like 1-3 hours of high intensity exercise): 6-10 grams/kg of body weight per day (55-65% of total daily intake)
The Takeaway
If you have been limiting carbs or stressing about carbs, I really hope this helps relieve some of that for you.
And if you’re still uncertain about adding carbs into your diet, just remember that humans have been eating bread for over 10,000 years. Bread — and carbs — aren’t really all that bad.
Stay strong, friends!
