In parts 1 and 2 of “Don’t Carbs Make You Fat?” We talk about carbohydrates, the good and the bad. Lose those lifelines? I will be happy to send it to you by email.
Let’s check:
=> Where do you get your energy from? Good carbohydrates.
=> Where do you get the most nutrients for your calorie money? Good carbohydrates.
=> What foods satisfy your hunger drive? Good carbohydrates.
=> What foods should you fill up with first to consistently lose weight? Good carbohydrates.
=> What foods crush cravings? Good carbs
Will the good carbs stand up? Oh yeah, there it is: whole fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains, and legumes. Applause please for our health heroes and disease and weight warriors. Applause for eating them!
Now for the bad guys. Refined Sugar (Part 2) for One: Not to be confused with the natural sugars in whole fruits and vegetables that are essential for energy and health.
And refined sugars love to hang out with other bad carbs – refined flours and grains:
White flour, breads, boxed dry cereals, cakes, bagels, muffins, pasta, tortillas, white rice, instant oatmeal, cream of wheat, desserts, baked goodies, you have it.
The downside of refined flours and cereals:
=> leaves you overfed and malnourished => increasing your appetite and cravings for more nutrients
=> resulting in eating more food, more bad carbs, more calories, more fat, more weight, and more bad self-talk
=> trigger blood sugar spikes, hypoglycemia and diabetes
=> increase triglycerides (fat in the blood), increase the risk of heart disease, increase the risk of some cancers (stomach, colorectal, pancreas, breast) and gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome
=> contribute to osteoporosis, leaching hard minerals, such as calcium, from your bones (yes, white flours dissolve your bones)
White sugars and white flours love hanging out together. Worse yet, they team up with other bad guys like salt, oils, fats, chemicals, preservatives, and who knows what else artificial to make processed and packaged food favorites.
Be careful with the breads. “Wheat flour” is synonymous with white flour, not whole wheat flour. Ninety-nine percent of all breads contain white flour. If the bread is not labeled 100% whole wheat, 100% whole grain, or 100% sprouted grain, then the white flour is in it. And, even with that 100% on the packaging, be wary. Taggers are experts at deception! Read the label carefully, not only for the bad carbohydrates, but also for the other bad ones: salt, sugar, oil, additives, preservatives, etc.
If a label has a lot of ingredients, watch out! And take a look: most bread products have at least 30 ingredients.
Note: Even if the bread is 100% whole grain or sprouted grain, the bread is not a “whole grain” like brown rice, whole barley, millet or whole oats. No matter how you cut it, bread is a highly processed food.
The breads are made from altered pieces of whole grains or sprouts from nature, which eliminates vital nutrients and leaves a very dense and compromised food that is addictive and does not lose weight or promote health.
Welcome to Club Carb!
You are now an official member of the carb lovers club.
Now you know:
1. Your energy today comes from the good carbohydrates you ate yesterday.
2. Good carbohydrates come from whole plant foods: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.
3. Bad carbohydrates, lacking in nutrition and high in calories, come from refined and processed plant foods, such as white sugar and white flour.
4. Read your labels!
And after putting your carbohydrate knowledge into practice for a while and those pounds are slipping away, when someone comments, “Wow! You look great. How did you lose weight?” your automatic response will be:
“I said goodbye to bad carbs, no more sweets and white flour treats for me. I’m filling up on the good carbs found in fresh, whole fruits and vegetables. This works for me.”
And remember, it’s not about being right, it’s about doing what’s right for you.
“Losing weight is a shedding process, from the inside out.”
– Dr. Leslie