Carb Confusion

Its time to hit the brakes on a concerning matter I’m experiencing with my clients. People seem more confused than ever about what constitutes a carbohydrate. And what’s more worrisome, people are now ‘turning dirty’ on eating these confusing carbs.

Everyone seems so ‘carb-shy’ lately. So much so that when I inform them, ‘Yes — of course vegetables are carbs’, they are perplexed. They know veges are good for them, but according to ‘their sources’ carbs are bad.  In most cases, carbs are very good for you. Among many other benefits, carbohydrates are our primary source of energy. They provide us with necessary vitamins & minerals, and they should make up the bulk of your diet (around 60%).

We shouldn’t be ‘turning up our noses’ at one of our three sources of fuel (protein + carbs + fat). We don’t want to start ostracizing carbs like we did with ‘fat’ for so many years.

We need to stop blaming certain food groups for all our health woes — and start looking to ourselves. Perhaps it is how we’re eating our food groups that is the issue. We need to think about how we’re preparing them, the amounts we’re eating, how often we’re eating them, and the way we’re digesting them.

I’ll admit it can get quite confusing. There are a lot of ways of describing the different types of carbs (with their various chemical structures). For example:

complex carbs = unrefined carbs = starches
simple carbs = simple sugars = sugar
refined carbs = simple carbs = processed carbs

There is currently a lot of ‘anti-carb’ attention. This has lead many of us to mistakenly think that all carbs make us overweight and unhealthy. Things get confusing when various diets encourage you to avoid (certain) carbs. For example:

—The Atkins diet (low carb)
—The Ketogenic diet (low carb)
—The FODMAPS diet (restrictions on various carbs)
—The GAPS diet (restrictions on various carbs)
—The Real Food Chef by Dr Libby Weaver (refined sugar free + dairy free + gluten free)
—The ‘Paleo’ lifestyle (grain free + legume free + dairy free)
—The I quit sugar 8-week program by Sarah Wilson (no sugar)

How can a food group that’s supposed to make-up the biggest chunk of our diet be causing us such grief?

What about our poor digestive systems!

Our three food groups get digested primarily in different parts of our gastrointestinal system.

Carbs
Digested in the mouth (alkaline) and in the small intestine (alkaline)

Protein
Digested in the stomach (acid) and in the small intestine (alkaline)

Fats
Digested in the small intestine (alkaline)

If you get a bit of everything on your fork (protein + carbs + fat) and eat everything on your plate, then you will confuse your digestion. You will slow it down, and render it inefficient. However, if you want to make your digestion quick and more complete you should consider eating less, and separate the food groups.  Poor food combining slows down the digestive system by neutralising digestive secretions. When this happens, you increase the chances of your intestinal flora fermenting your food long before you can digest and absorb the nutrients yourself. When this happens it manifests in your body as gas — bloating, pain, burping, or flatulence. This improper digestive process may have been labeled as: IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth), or Candidiasis (a Candida overgrowth).

Note: Not chewing your carbs thoroughly puts a great stress on your pancreas (which produces digestive enzymes for all the food groups).