Carbohydrates confuse even the most attuned dieters. Diets such as Atkins, South Beach and the Zone limit the intake of carbohydrates---while nutritionists tout the importance of consuming whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Carbs play an important role in your diet, whether or not you are trying to lose weight.
Significance
Carbohydrates, along with protein and fat, are macro-nutrients critical to your body's health and functioning. High protein diets demonize all carbohydrates---limiting intake of even healthy fruits and vegetables. Other diets, such as the Ornish diet, focus on decreasing fat consumption and celebrate the ingestion of carbohydrates. Other diets base their food recommendations on the glycemic index, which classifies carbohydrates on a scale in relationship to how they affect blood sugar compared with pure glucose. Foods higher on the glycemic index rapidly boost blood sugar while lower glycemic index foods allow for slow, steady digestion. Some diets, based on the glycemic index alone, are actually high in carbohydrates---just ones that are low on the scale.
Function
Carbohydrates serve as the primary fuel source for the body---both for exercise and simple organ functioning. When you think of carbs, bread and pasta immediately come to mind, but carbohydrates exist in many foods, including beans, soft drinks, cakes, snack mixes and milk. Healthy sources of carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables, contain multiple nutrients and fiber.
Types
Not all carbohydrates affect the body in the same way. Simple carbohydrates, such as refined white bread, white rice, cookies, sugary cereals and other processed products, can contribute to weight gain because they are calorically dense and nutrient poor. These "white" carbohydrates cause quick spikes in blood sugar and correlate with the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Healthy, complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, oats, beans, fresh fruit and vegetables actually contribute to good health and might assist with weight loss. A Pennsylvania State University study published in a 2008 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that dieters who consumed whole grains lost more abdominal fat than dieters consuming refined grains.
Best Options
Strive to obtain at least 50 percent of your daily calories from good carbohydrate sources. Go for oats or quinoa cereal for breakfast. Make sure your bread labels list whole wheat, oats, spelt or bran as the first ingredient. Experiment with millet, barley and brown rice. Choose whole wheat versions of pasta and crackers. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and green vegetables, which also count toward your carbohydrate intake. Limit simple sugars and white flour-containing baked goods.
Considerations
If you believe that banning carbohydrates is still the key to weight loss, try limiting---rather than eliminating---them. Include lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet to obtain fiber (which helps with digestion) and phyto-nutrients, which are best obtained through whole food sources. A serving of whole grains at breakfast can also fit into a low carb diet.
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