It’s the Calories, Not the Carbs!
Here at Eating Fabulous, I’ve always emphasized the goodness in food. There’s not a single post in this blog saying you should avoid this, or that, to remain healthy. I hate weight-loss diets, particularly those that focus on deprivation. I love food. I need it. I eat it.
One practice I’ve always been skeptical about it how some people avoid whites– white bread, white rice, white sugar — like the plague. Sure, whole grain will provide additional nutritional value, the most important of which is fiber, but I see no reason to see the refined variety as “poison”.
Glenn Gaesser, author of It’s The Calories, Not The Carbs, among other books, reviewed hundreds of published large-scale scientific research on carbohydrate consumption, glycemic index and body weight and seems to have arrived at the same conclusion. He reports his findings in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
After looking at hundreds of articles on large-scale studies using surveys or randomized, controlled trials, Gaesser says they show that “people who consume high-carb diets tend to be slimmer, and often healthier, than people who consume low-carb diets.” Even high-glycemic foods have a place in the diet, he said, attributing that to the overall higher quality of a high-carb diet, which includes more fiber-rich and other nutritional foods.
Gaesser also looked for a clear association between carbohydrate consumption and illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. He found no compelling evidence that avoiding carbohydrates with a high GI helps prevent these diseases and others. People with diabetes, as well as very sedentary women who are obese, may benefit from lowering their consumption of foods with a high GI, Gaesser says.
He further points out that reducing any part of the diet — carbs or proteins or fats — will just result in a short-term and modest weight loss, assuming calorie consumption is reduced. For long-term weight maintenance, a high-carb, low-fat diet is still the best bet.
Read more from UVA Today.
Tags: cardohydrates, diet, functional-food, glycemic-index, health, health-food, Healthy Eating, nutraceuticals, nutrition, weight-loss, weight-loss-diet, ~DiabetesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Healthy Eating, ~Grain, ~Weight Management
4 opinions for It’s the Calories, Not the Carbs!
julie anna
Sep 28, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Oh man, the great carb debate, my pet peeve. I was anorexic during the Atkins phase, and for some reason watching people eat just the bacon cheeseburger and leave the bun to lose weight would drive me nuts. I could barely containt the calories in vs. calories out rant. I think my main argument was, “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about, I’m anorexic!” To this day I still eat mostly carbs.
Judith Wurtman
Oct 3, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Of course carbohydrates are essential: we discovered 20 years ago that carbs are the edible tranquilizer nature has given us to decrease stress. Our book, The Serotonin Power Diet, Rodale 2007 points out that the only way our brains make the stress reducing, appetite controlling and mood elevating chemical serotonin is when we eat carbohydrates without protein. And our diet program insists that the dieter eat low or no fat carbohydrate snacks twice daily to reduce appetite, boost mood and lose weight.
Cozmo
Oct 9, 2007 at 11:36 am
I think maybe controlling what types of foods you’ll eat contributes to eating less calories as well. When people are running around the office eating candy and beer I pass. Otherwise I’d end up eating that plus whatever I was going to eat already. I think appetite suppression from protein is a bit part of it too.
My particular problem at the moment seems to be the “calories out” portion :)
Judith Wurtman
Oct 10, 2007 at 9:10 am
One approach we have taken in helping people eat less is to replace calories with non-edible diversions and rewards. Not a new idea but one we busy people tend to forget about. Many of us eat to use up time, to relax , even to procrastinate doing something we don’t want to do. So as long as we are eating or nibbling, we can put off tedious tasks. However plan on doing something relaxing at the end of the meal, even if it is reading a magazine for 10′ so you are willing to eat less to do something that is fun.
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