Are Carbs Good or Bad? By Nicole Hamby (Guest Author)

So many myths about carbs.   Are carbs good or bad for your health?  A student in my class, Nicole Hamby, has been asked to be a guest author on this blog site.  Her paper on Good vs Bad Carbs is below. 

     Carbohydrates have been given a very bad reputation. However, it is not the actual carbohydrate that is bad, but what we have created them into with all of our processing. Instead of eating brown rice or whole wheat bread, Americans have chosen to consume the refined processed versions. Not only do these processed foods now lack essential nutrients but some of them can contribute to obesity and type II diabetes. Perhaps instead of grabbing a handful of jelly beans, which contains refined simple sugars, a piece of fruit would be much more beneficial to help prevent some of these diseases. While fruit may contain some simple sugars, it is natural, unrefined, and packed with vitamins your body needs. Whole grains, which are complex, are also an excellent source of good hearty carbohydrates. They are full of fiber and provide long lasting energy. Whole grains also put hunger at bay and have been shown to help prevent heart disease.                                         

Imagine that you have a nice new sports car. It requires premium gasoline; however you choose to always put regular gasoline in it because it�s cheaper and doesn�t really seem to make a difference anyways. Before long you begin to notice your car isn�t running as well and everything begins to slow down. Like a nice sports car your body also needs the right fuel to work properly. Without food like whole grains, legumes, and other plant foods, you will feel slow and probably pretty tired. White refined sugars like candies, cakes, and doughnuts might give you a quick spike in energy but soon enough you will crash and your body will be lacking the nutrients it needs. So the next time you go to the grocery store go for the natural process free foods and put down those simple refined sugars.

Sources: Not All Carbs Are Created Equal,  Image Source:  Fitness

How to lose weight and keep it off

This  week my husband saw an interesting slide show on MSN health and fitness, 35 simple tips to help you lose weight and keep it off too!   They have some great suggestions.   Their focus: We're not talking about drastic measures here, but quick and easy changes you can make in your daily life to help you achieve your weight loss goals.  If you want to see all 35 tips, click the link.  Here are a few they highlighted:   

1.  Don�t give up your favorite foods � how often do you hear someone say, �I ate a cookie and blew my diet.�  Nonsense, as Joyce Meyer says, �eat the cookie�.  But don�t eat the whole box.  MSN recommends limiting the number of times you eat your favorite or junk food to once a week and eat less of it than you normally do.  
2.  Opt for Whole grains � so many people forgo the whole grains when they are such a healthy addition to your diet.  My relatives are now into Ezekiel bread, a whole grain bread and quite nutritious.  But there are many whole grains, oatmeal, Cheerios, brown rice, whole grain crackers, even Sun Chips.  At Chipotle?  Choose the brown rice.  Find some whole grains you enjoy and add them to your diet every day.  Whole grains not only provide many more nutrients than refined grains, whole grains have fiber which fills you up.  
3. Dark Chocolate � not a lot of dark chocolate but a small piece can cut your appetite.  
4. Water, Not Soda-  sugared soda is loaded with empty calories and all that added sugar.  Drink some water before meals to help feel fuller before you eat.  Drink plain water, sparkling water or unsweetened tea.   
5. Healthier snacks � give up the junk food and enjoy some healthier snacks like a handful of nuts, apple slices with peanut butter, hummus and veggies.  
6. Use nonstick pans or PAM � to reduce the calories from oils or butter you use to cook foods.  Or limit the oil, such as a teaspoon or tablespoon of Olive Oil.  
7. Read the Food Label � look for the amount of fat, amount of saturated fat and calories.  You can�t tell how much sugar is added though by the �sugars�.  You have to look at the ingredients to see if sugar has been added to the food.  If sugar is the first ingredient (like Froot Loops), it isn�t a healthy choice.   
8. Treat yourself, but not with food � find some ways to treat yourself to keep you motivated.  Time out with friends to a movie, a game.   
9. Stay Active � less sitting, more moving.  Although MSN stated exercise at least 3 times a week, if you want to keep the weight off, find a way to exercise every day.  
10. Load up on Veggies � fill your plate with many veggies � very healthy and low in calories as long as the veggie isn�t French fries.  Avoid fried veggies and focus on steamed. 

Try some of these tips this week.  Share them with your friends.
 Sources:   35 simple tips to help you lose weight and keep it off too!  Gourmandize articleImage source:  Ezekiel bread

The Case for Carbs By Jackie Kunstmann (Guest Author)

Which carbs are good for your health?  Introduction:  In the nutrition class I teach, students were asked to respond to and prepare a convincing argument to counter the myth, Carbohydrates are bad for you.  One of those students, Jackie Kunstmann, has been asked to be a guest author on this blog site.  Her paper on The Case for Carbs is below.

Carbohydrates, or �carbs,� have been given a lot of bad press lately.  Many people I know are very quick to jump onto the Atkins or South Beach Diets with their low carbohydrate ways when wanting to lose weight. I even had leanings this way until this Nutrition class.

 The DRI Committee has determined that all persons need to have a diet composed of 46 to 65% of carbohydrates(with only 10 to 35% for protein and 20 to 35% for fat) to adequately meet their energy needs and reduce the risk of chronic disease.(1)  The USDA�s current dietary recommendation, My Plate, features the plate being filled with over half carbohydrates.(2)  When researching heart-healthy ways of eating (since heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults(3)), you will be directed to diets that feature carbohydrates.  The Mediterranean Diet is one you hear much about lately.  The base of the Mediterranean Diet�s pyramid is carbohydrates.(4)  The DASH diet, recommended for lowering blood pressure, features carbohydrates predominantly.(5)  If you search foods which are good for your heart, you will find them to be mainly carbohydrates.  WebMD lists 25 of the top heart-healthy foods, and 21 of them are carbohydrates!(6)

 When choosing foods to eat, we should not be considering whetherto include carbohydrates into our diet (that is a given), we should be considering which carbohydrates to include.  There are �good carbs,� and there are �not so good carbs.�  In determining if a carbohydrate is �good� or �not so good,� you simply need to determine if the food is refined or processed.  Sugars, added sugars, refined grains, and items which include these  (such as candy, baked goods, white bread or rice) would be less than desirable carbohydrate choices; whereas, whole or minimally refined carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, or whole grain products would be optimal choices for carbohydrates.(7)

Sources:   (1) Dietary Reference Intakes  (2) MyPlate  (3)  CDC  (4)  Mediterranean Diet (5) DASH Diet  (6) Top Heart-Healthy Foods  (7) Carbohydrates   (8)  Nutrition  Image Source:  carbs