The Carb Question...

Over the years I have sat down to plenty of meals with friends, family or clients. In front of me is normally a large plate of vegetables and some kind of meat to the side.  

The first thing I get is a comment “Not eating carbs huh?”

A comment like this used to get to me. I would go on a rant about nutrition but now realise I am just dealing with someone who doesn’t fully understand.

Here’s the thing…

There are 3 macronutrients: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. We classify foods as the macronutrient which it is mostly made up of.

For example a medium sized apple is considered a carbohydrate as it contains 25g of Carbohydrates and tiny trace amounts of Protein and Fat. While 100g of fillet steak contains around 21g of Protein and 7g of Fat, it is considered protein.  

So back to my plate full of vegetables (Carbohydrates) and meat (Protein). How is is that I am eating a low carb meal?

The reason these comments don’t frustrate me anymore is it is understandable with the education we are given these days around “Carbohydrates” being things like rice, pasta and bread.

These things are definitely more dense in Carbohydrates but they are still Carbohydrates the same as fruits and vegetables.

So if we all agree to this…

Why is it most people would refer to my plate as low carb?

If these things are all Carbohydrates how should you choose which ones to eat? What would be the reason to eat one Carbohydrate source over another?

Here are my top 2 reasons:

1. Nutrients...

Nutrient rich Carbohydrates are packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. These are your fruits and vegetables. They can also be referred to as complex Carbs. Bread, pasta and rice are often referred to as simple Carbohydrates as they contain far less of these nutrients.

2. Weight Loss and Body Composition…

If you take a look at the Carbohydrate density per 100g for rice (28g) as compared to broccoli (6g). To get 28g of Carbs from broccoli I would need to eat 450g of the stuff. You can see it would be hard to consume as many “Carbohydrates” by eating similar quantities of broccoli and rice.

This is a great self limiting tool for Carbohydrate intake.

Hopefully this clears up a little of the confusion around Carbohydrates…