5 things you didn?t know about carbs
1. Eating carbs won?t necessarily make you gain weight.
Research shows that most people lose the same amount of weight whether they follow a low-carb, lowfat or Mediterranean diet. That?s because calories matter most: Eat too many calories (from bread, pasta or anything else) and you?ll gain weight; eat less than you burn and you?ll lose weight.
2. Pasta, bread and rice aren?t the only carbs.
Vegetables, fruit and even dairy foods also contain carbs. But grains tend to pack more than these other foods (although some starchy veggies like potatoes, corn, peas and butternut squash are relatively high in carbs, too).
3. Your body burns off carbs the same way no matter when you eat them.
From a weight-loss perspective, how many calories you eat overall matters most: Having 1 cup of brown rice at dinner affects your metabolism the same way as eating 1 cup at lunch. Still, I recommend going light on carbs at dinner; since that tends to be the largest meal of the day, it?s when people tend to overdo it. If you?re trying to shed pounds and big piles of pasta and second helpings of potatoes are often part of your evening meal, consider cutting out starchy carbs at dinner for a little while to jump-start your weight loss. After a few weeks you can add them back, but try not to have them every night (at least not until you can get a handle on portion control).
4. Just because a bread or cracker is brown doesn?t mean it?s whole-grain.
Many whole-grain products, like oatmeal, are naturally light in colour. And manufacturers often add molasses or caramel colouring to foods made with refined grains to make them look like whole-grain products. Pumpernickel bread, for example, isn?t usually whole-grain (neither is rye bread, in case you were wondering). So don?t trust your eyes! The best way to tell if a bread, cereal or cracker is whole-grain is to check the ingredients list.
5. It?s OK to ease yourself into whole grains.
I know many people complain that whole-grain pasta is gummy or coarse; being careful not to overcook it can help a lot. Or you may prefer the taste of a 100 percent whole-grain brown rice- or quinoa-based pasta to the whole-wheat kind.
1. Eating carbs won?t necessarily make you gain weight.
Research shows that most people lose the same amount of weight whether they follow a low-carb, lowfat or Mediterranean diet. That?s because calories matter most: Eat too many calories (from bread, pasta or anything else) and you?ll gain weight; eat less than you burn and you?ll lose weight.
2. Pasta, bread and rice aren?t the only carbs.
Vegetables, fruit and even dairy foods also contain carbs. But grains tend to pack more than these other foods (although some starchy veggies like potatoes, corn, peas and butternut squash are relatively high in carbs, too).
3. Your body burns off carbs the same way no matter when you eat them.
From a weight-loss perspective, how many calories you eat overall matters most: Having 1 cup of brown rice at dinner affects your metabolism the same way as eating 1 cup at lunch. Still, I recommend going light on carbs at dinner; since that tends to be the largest meal of the day, it?s when people tend to overdo it. If you?re trying to shed pounds and big piles of pasta and second helpings of potatoes are often part of your evening meal, consider cutting out starchy carbs at dinner for a little while to jump-start your weight loss. After a few weeks you can add them back, but try not to have them every night (at least not until you can get a handle on portion control).
4. Just because a bread or cracker is brown doesn?t mean it?s whole-grain.
Many whole-grain products, like oatmeal, are naturally light in colour. And manufacturers often add molasses or caramel colouring to foods made with refined grains to make them look like whole-grain products. Pumpernickel bread, for example, isn?t usually whole-grain (neither is rye bread, in case you were wondering). So don?t trust your eyes! The best way to tell if a bread, cereal or cracker is whole-grain is to check the ingredients list.
5. It?s OK to ease yourself into whole grains.
I know many people complain that whole-grain pasta is gummy or coarse; being careful not to overcook it can help a lot. Or you may prefer the taste of a 100 percent whole-grain brown rice- or quinoa-based pasta to the whole-wheat kind.
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