How Carbohydrates Harm and Heal

Old School
Fewer carbs is healthier.

 New Wisdom
Choosing the healthiest carbohydrates, especially whole grains, is more important to your wellbeing.

1. Instead, look for a fiber content of at least 3 g per serving and for the first ingredient to be a whole grain such as: • Brown rice • Bran • Bulgur • Kasha • Oats • Quinoa • Rye • Whole wheat In addition to unprocessed grains, get plenty of legumes, beans, and raw or slightly cooked vegetables and fruits.
2. When shopping for whole grains, don’t be fooled by deceptive label claims such as “made with wheat flour” or “seven grain.” Or by white flour breads topped with a sprinkling of oats or colored brown with molasses.
3. Starches and fiber are naturally found in most grains and vegetables and some fruits, which also provide essential nutrients such as B vitamins, iron, and other minerals.
4. On the other hand, choosing refined grains such as white bread, sugary cereal, white rice, or white pasta can boost your heart attack risk by up to 30%.
5. The refining process removes fiber and many essential nutrients, making refined grains too easy to digest and thus flooding the body with too much glucose.
6. But both are important to good health; while starches provide glucose for energy, dietary fiber promotes colon function and may help prevent some types of cancer, heart attacks, and other diseases.
7. American and Canadian guidelines, for example, urge people to make sure that whole grains account for at least half of all grain foods.
8. New Wisdom Choosing the healthiest carbohydrates, especially whole grains, is more important to your wellbeing.
9. At least seven major studies show that women and men who eat more whole grains have 20 to 30% less heart disease.
10. And in a 2010 study of more than 13,000 adults, those who ate the most servings of whole grains had lower body weight.
11. Unprocessed whole grains are the best source.
12. And refined grains are associated with insulin resistance and high blood pressure.
13. Complex carbohydrates are made of complex chains of sugars and can be classified as starches or fiber.
14. Our digestive system can metabolize most starches but lacks the enzymes needed to break down most fiber.