I Am Giving Up Carbs

I am giving up carbs. I am sick of the way they make me feel. No more cookies, no more candy, no more donuts and pastries, no more popcorn, no more chips or french fries. I am done.

Chances are good you already know someone who “doesn’t eat carbs” and boasts that this is the secret to weight loss success, and possibly to health as well. Time for me to join them!

In an effort to discover where the carbs in my life are, I did some research into the foods most people give up when the cut out carbs. Let’s look at what I found. The table below shows the percent of calories from carbohydrates, fat, and protein for each food I mentioned above:

Hmmmm.  It appears that the foods most people consider to be “carbs” are actually really high in fat — some even have more fat than carbohydrates! Yet why do we call these foods “carbs?” Sure they have simple carbohydrates like sugar and refined wheat flour, but they also contain a ton of added fat in the form of oils, eggs and dairy…

I am starting to think that the foods on my list above aren’t actually high in carbs, but instead are high in added fats, and maybe that’s why they’re no good for me or my diet.

I needed to find real high-carb foods… and I found them:

But wait, all of these foods are a.) very low in fat, b.) higher in protein, and c.) are all packed with naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients…

When people talk about avoiding carbs, remember these facts:

• Carbohydrates are ONLY found in plant foods (with the exception of lactose in dairy milk)
• When people advocate a “low-carb” diet what they are really advocating is a “low-plant food” diet
• Most “carb” foods people try to avoid are actually high in fat and could equally be called “fats”
• Isolating the carbohydrate in its simplest form (white sugar, white flour, etc) is never healthy, and these foods don’t fit in a whole-foods plant-based diet, not because they are “carbs” but because they are not whole foods
• Eating carbohydrates in their natural form, such as those found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans, is very healthy and should never be avoided
• In fact, carbohydrates are the primary energy source in the body, and the only energy the brain and red blood cells use, so limiting carbs is like depriving your body of high quality clean burning fuel!
• A high-carb diet (AKA high plant food diet) is the only diet clinically proven to prevent, treat, and reverse heart disease and type-2 diabetes and can prevent and treat obesity