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These Are The Carbs to Avoid

September 18, 2014   14 Comments

After posting about a higher fat, lower carb diet leading to weight loss, I was asked many questions about which carbs to avoid.

Which Carbs Should I Avoid?

The post - Meet Your New Best Friend: Fat - was focused on the fact that having a diet lower in fat DID NOT lead to weight loss. In the research study, the higher fat group ate less carbohydrates and lost 8 pounds over a one year period.

Which carbohydrates did they avoid?

Carrots, potatoes, beans, or apples (all high in carbohydrates)?

Or are we talking about processed carbohydrates like bread, cookies, and cereal?

First off, the low carb group that lost 8 pounds was eating 130 grams of carbohydrates per day. That is the equivalent to eating 2 plain bagels or 6.5 slices of bread. Honestly, I would not have thought this was a low carb diet. The lower fat group ate (on average) 3 plain bagels of carbohydrates or 200 grams per day. Wow!

The group that lost weight (the low carb group) did eat more fiber and cut down on processed foods with more carbohydrates.

So which carbs are not your friends?

  • White bread, white rice, cereals and pasta made with refined flour.
  • Cookies, candy, and muffins.
  • Soda, juice, Frappuccinos, and sport drinks.

These are the processed carbs that are getting us into trouble!!

Tell them to take the bread-basket back (unless you are somewhere great and the bread is AMAZING).

If you do nothing else except cut back on the processed carbs, the data shows you will most likely lose weight.

Which carbs are okay? (Don't forget - your body needs carbohydrates to function.)

Whole grain processed foods (with fiber and nutrients) such as oatmeal, 100 % whole-wheat bread, and brown rice are less problematic.

Fruits, vegetables, and beans, while full of carbohydrates, also have NUTRIENTS and FIBER. They are not empty carbs and I believe you should be proud of yourself for eating them.

I would be proud of you!!

SNACK GIRL LIVE CHAT

On Tuesdays, I am starting a 10 minute live chat – where I answer your burning questions. The first one is Tuesday, September 23rd at 3 PM Eastern Time. Click here to access:

Healthy Body Image and Healthy Weight

You can ask me questions live using the Spreecast application or you can leave me a question below and I will answer it on Tuesday. I will post the chat on Wednesday – so if you miss it – you can still watch it.

Other posts you might like:

Is Fat Good For You?

Meet Your New Best Friend: Fat

Ahhhh, look at that beautiful butter. I can’t wait to smear it all over my steak....

Is Sugar In Fruit Healthy?

Should You Avoid Fruit Because It’s Full Of Sugar?

That lady up there isn’t avoiding fruit. She has made a lovely sculpture to express her love....

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14 Comments:

THANK YOU!!! It drives me crazy when the carb and nutrient-rich veggies get lumped into the notion of "carbs" when the carbs in question are really empty calories and not the same at all!! As always, you explain it so well. Eager to hear the chat!! How cool is that???

According to a piece I heard on NPR the group that lost weight on lower carbs also had a lower daily intake of calories, so I would be careful in interpreting this study to mean that high fat is the way to go.

So glad you cleared this up! There are those that cn go a bit extreme with the low-carb vs low-fat diet. Sometimes people neglect the healthy fats such as nuts,avocado,& Omega-3's bacause of the association of fat equals weight gain. Then those that choose low carb miss out on the vital nutrients found in fruits,veggies & even whole grains. Balance is the key to everything in life. I think everything brought up in today's article suggests that & avoid the foods that have little or no nutritional value,aka empty calories & it seems the average diet consists of those.

Why does someone always have to come in the comments with some type of correction? If you are eating less processed foods you are most likely taking in less calories because whole foods have the ability to keep you full and satisfied so the correction was not needed.

Thanks Snack Girl for promoting a clean eating lifestyle, not diet, that helps people become healthier without feeling deprived. People need to hear this. I know people that are dying for bread because they have labeled it a bad food in their mind and everyone had told them so. I even believed it at one time myself.

Will you put in print the Tuesday Live chat. I would love to join but I'm in AZ time which is work time.

@Debbie - Good question! I am planning on sending out my chat on Wednesday in a post - so people can watch it if they are interested and can't make it LIVE. This is something new I am trying so any feedback is helpful.

Balanced healthy eating is key. Taking in less calories than you burn = weight loss. Too much fat is not okay for your heart and cholesterol even if the study appears to show eating fat aids in weight loss. Please go read the study by NIH; there are many caveats to their results. You can be skinny and still be unhealthy with too much visceral fat around your organs. Eating more fat won't make you healthy.

Low carb/high fat diets are recommended for people with seizures, epilepsy, and other brain disorders & injuries. Ketogenic & Modified Atkins are 2 great diets for this, also read the book "Grain Brain" by David Perlmutter.

How interesting! Thank you Lisa!

Yeah! Now you are on the right track. I have always said, eat as if you have diabetes. If you follow the diabetic diet you will likely lose weight and feel great!

As diabetics, we still eat most whole veggies and fruits. Including them as whole foods with their high fiber content is the best way to get carbs.

The best fruits? Berries. Low in carbs and high in phytonutrients, antioxidents especially lutein and zeaxanthin for your eyes.

Low carb diets are great--especially the ketogenic kind :) I'm on it myself.

? = Is the Simply Filling 360 plan same as old one and is the way you figure your daily points allowance the same, also?

I am a long time weight watcher...Proud to say I reached my goal, my teacher now a wonderful friend- but you can't live by WW alone...hk God for you and your web site showing us how to change a recipe-or what we could use instead- or great recipes and what carbs to stay away from, etc. etc...love your snack girl site....thanks for always being there and keeping me in check...

So Dr.Atkins was right. It is the pasta making us fat.Most pasta is just water and white flour.

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