Over the past year, bread and all its carb-y glory has offered a certain kind of nostalgic comfort during wildly chaotic times (I’m lookin’ at you sourdough). But while it's been a source of solace for many, bread has become a food that requires justification for others. The meteoric rise of diets like gluten-free and keto—the internet darling whose hallmark rule is low-carb/high-fat—have made many believe bread and the like should be completely avoided in order to live a "healthy" lifestyle.
While there is some merit to going keto (or going low-carb in general), the idea that all carbs = bad has become pervasive within diet communities and led to more and more doctors renouncing the keto diet altogether. It's also a mirror image of the literal decade in which high-fat foods like avocados (yes, avocados!) were demonized throughout the 1990s. "Carbs have been vilified," said Dr. Lisa Young, RD and author of Finally Full, Finally Slim. "It used to be exactly the opposite: You could eat all the low-fat cookies you wanted—even though they were loaded with sugar—as long as you had no fat in your diet."
Experts we spoke to reiterated how crucial carbs actually are for your body to function properly. But not all carbs are created equal. Understanding what carbs are and which ones to add to your plate can help you eat a more balanced diet and even lose weight (if that’s your goal).
What are carbs anyway?
It can be helpful to think of your body as a machine that needs fuel to function. "Just like we need to put gas in our cars, carbs are fuel for many different organs and systems in our body, like our brain and heart,” said Cory Ruth, RD, who focuses on women’s health for her site, The Women’s Dietician. Carbs are one of the three macronutrients—the other two are protein and fat—that provide your body with calories, which are then transformed into energy. Your body needs a large quantity and variety of them via the food you eat.
Carbs are broken down into three subcategories: sugar, starches, and fiber. Sugar and starches transform into glucose or fat and provide immediate energy or stored energy. When you're eating fewer carbs, your body turns to your stored fats for energy, which may be why people who go low-carb see weight loss in the short term; they burn more fat immediately since the body needs to get its energy from somewhere. Fiber doesn't provide energy like the other forms of carbs do; rather, it feeds the good bacteria in our gut. "Fiber is only found in carbs and it helps regulate digestion," Dr. Young said. "There are a lot of very important benefits that you’re only going to get from carbs."
OK, so what carbs should I be eating?
The real issue with diets that challenge people to "cut carbs" or only eat "low carb" is that they fail to mention a very important distinction: good (whole) carbs offer stellar nutritional value, while bad (refined) carbs are made up of empty calories. The lack of knowledge surrounding this differentiation is what leads to many carb-related misconceptions, Dr. Young said. Think of whole carbs as raw ingredients, including vegetables (YUP), whole grains, beans. Fibrous whole carbs, like brown rice or quinoa, can actually help you lose weight weight because they help you feel fuller longer.
Refined carbs you likely already know don't do a body good: sugar-sweetened drinks and the white stuff—white bread, white pasta, white sugar baked goods. TL;DR: These are carbs that have been stripped of all nutritional value, which is why you oftentimes hear them referred to as "empty calories."
"There's a lot of controversy surrounding why these diets work," Dr Young said, "but one reason is because you eat less—you’re not having soda, cookies, candies, ice cream. At the same time, you’re freaking out over having watermelon or carrots." Those, she confirms, are the wrong kinds of carbs to be worrying about.
So why the push toward low-carb eating?
If carbs have so many dietary benefits, you may be thinking to yourself, Why on earth have I grown up thinking low-carb choices are the only way to lose weight?! Well, remember how Kourtney Kardashian made headlines just for mentioning that she loved going keto? That provoked a lot of hype—hundreds of articles, which presumably reached millions of people—and gave merit to her eating habits. As long as fad diets not rooted in science have ways of gaining a cult following (...as long as the Kardashians are on Instagram?), they're here to stay.
What if I'm still having a hard time believing I shouldn't cut out carbs?
Take a step back and look at why "low-carb" labeling has become appealing to you. You can, after all, sustain your body's processes without demonizing and/or eliminating a particular food group. Consider strategies like portion control and intuitive eating. Learn about how different foods fuel you and make you feel. When in doubt, consult a medical professional with questions about dietary changes you can be making to best suit your body and lifestyle.
As for what's literally next? In the words of Ruth: “Carbs are not the devil. In fact, we need them to sustain life.” So, uh, let’s get this bread!
