All Carbs are NOT Created Equal

When trying to lose weight, many of us are choosing to limit our carbohydrate consumption. Whether you have chosen to follow a ketogenic diet, Atkins, South Beach, or some other system, you are going to be cutting carbs. But just reducing the number of carbohydrate grams in each meal might not be the best strategy. You also need to look at the QUALITY of the carbs you are eating.

Because all carbs are NOT created equal.

We get the term "carbohydrate" from the element carbon. Carbon is abundant on the earth. All plant matter contains carbon. And carbs in our diet can come from many different sources, ranging from a spoonful of white sugar to a bag of corn chips to a bunch of kale. These products seem extremely different, but they are all basically carbs.

Some carbs are refined. This means the natural plant matter has been treated in some manner to extract the food product from it. Honey is a food product refined by bees. Bees gather pollen and nectar from flowers, process it inside their tiny bee bodies, and make honey. Sugar cane juice is processed by factories to make white sugar. Whole wheat kernels are processed in order to make white flour. The carbs are concentrated in these refined products. If you drank the sap straight out of a maple tree, it would taste just like water, but after it has been boiled down for many hours, it becomes maple syrup. Refined carbs contain more calories, but less nutrition.

In general, grains--even whole grains, which are not refined--contain more concentrated carbs. Rice, wheat, barley, and oats all have a higher carb count than other kinds of plant matter, like cucumbers, watercress, and broccoli. Grains tend to be less expensive and more filling, but because it is very easy to eat a lot of grains--and therefore a lot of carbs--grains can make it more difficult to lose weight.

The carbs with the most nutrition per gram are veggies like kale, collards, spinach, and other dark green, leafy plants. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower also offer a lot of vitamins and anti-cancer properties. In order to get the full spectrum of nutrients we humans need, the best plan is to eat a wide variety of vegetables, including every color of the rainbow.

When cutting the carbs, cut out the most refined, highly processed, empty-calorie carbs first. Keep the most nutritious carbs on your plate: the veggies. Stay healthy, my friends!