Re: good/bad carbs ()

[Guest guest]

> This is a matter of much debate,

> and I heartily disagree with .

That is what we are here for, !

I know what you mean, of course, but

I feel like arguing " the rest of the

story " !

> For one thing, some carbs come with

> little to no nutritional value or

> fiber and others come with important

> nutrients and healthy fiber.

That does not make them " good " or

" bad " , though, in my view. Once you

know that you have all the important

nutrients you need (minimum daily

requirements), and if you have normal

body weight, why shouldn't you eat

something with " little or no

nutritional value " occasionally if

it makes you feel good?

> For example, few people would argue

> that it is of no difference to your

> health whether you eat 30 grams of

> carbs by eating a piece of cake or

> 30 grams of carbs by having a bowl

> of beans. The beans have fiber,

> iron, and other nutrients.

Well, I will be one of the few, then!

There is no reason why you cannot

make a cake from high-extraction

flour (whole grain flour - if you

really want to be sure, you can buy

the grain and mill your own flour),

good quality dried fruit and good

quality vegetable oil (as cooking

margarine). That cake will also

contain " fiber, iron and other

nutrients " .

On the other hand, if you get your

beans from a can, you have no idea

what manufacturing processes those

beans have been subjected to in order

to remove anything that might prevent

them keeping for 10 years or more.

So there you could easily have:

" good " cake carbs, " bad " bean carbs!

What you might be leaving out

of the equation also is Quality of

Life. What kind of life would it be

if you are sitting with the whole

family at Christmas, for example,

and, while everybody else is

enjoying their nutritious Christmas

cake, you are feeding from your bowl

of baked beans of unknown origin?

> The fiber helps reduce the impact

> of the carbs on your blood sugar.

I believe that that is a fairy tale!

Once the carbohydates are released

into the duodenum they are converted

into glucose without delay. The

reasons put forward for eating at

least 30g of fiber a day are

concerned primarily with the reduced

risk of intestinal cancer.

> On the other hand, just because

> brown rice or whole wheat flour are

> healthier in general, it doesn't

> necessarily mean they will

> significantly affect your blood

> sugar differently than the white

> versions.

There is much more to diabetes

than just blood glucose levels. They

are a *symptom* of diabetes, a

" marker " and not the diabetes itself.

Diabetes is a disorder of the

metabolism and blood glucose levels

are a symptom used to diagnose it

and monitor treatment of it.

There are much worse things that

can happen to you than diabetes but

it is easy to lose sight of that in

the fight to reduce blood glucose

levels by brute force.

> For some people they do have

> different effects, and for others,

> like me, they both seem to effect

> my blood sugar similarly, though at

> least the brown versions contain

> more nutrients.

One big problem is that nobody has

yet invented a " nutrient meter " .

The best we can do is keep a book,

weigh everything we eat and from

the nutrition tables, calculate

our intake and compare with the

minimum daily recommendations. There

are also dedicated hand-held units

and there is software for palm-held

computers. Without going to that

extreme, it is all a matter of

guesswork and, in many cases,

illusion. One alternative is to

rely on extensive, and expensive,

quarterly blood tests to check for

deficiencies but that is like

closing the stable door after the

horse has bolted.

> You may want to read about glycemic

> index, too.

I have seen no evidence that the GI

has any verifiable practical

application. It sounds good in the

lab but where is the evidence that it

makes any significant difference in

the end result? Without that it is

just a numbers game!

I can only repeat my view that it is

primarily not what you eat but how

much of it you eat that decides what

happens to you in the long run - and

it is the long run that counts, not

the individual blood glucose reading.

Regards