Carb Conundrum - Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate

What's your favorite kind of carbohydrate? For some, it's breads, pastas and rice. For others, it's desserts. But just because carbs are taking a hit in the press doesn't mean that all of them are bad.

Carbohydrate Counting Can Help

Most of us take in 250 grams or more of carbs a day without even really realizing it. But did you know we only really need 130 grams a day? A lot of the more well-known low carbohydratediets limit you to only 20-40 grams of carbs a day in the first two weeks. This is to get your blood sugar regulated and to try to jump start your weight loss. Then they gradually reintroduce carbs and cap your daily intake at 130 grams. But it's not like you do two weeks at only 20-40 grams a day, then you get cake and ice cream and bread again. Instead, they incorporate good carbs (also known as complex carbohydrates) back into your diet.

There's a lot of debate about whether a two-week period of a 20-40 gram a day carbohydrate intake is a good idea, but there's no debate that eating too many carbs contributes to weight gain. To that end, counting carbs is a good idea. Just buy a cheap book with the carbohydrate counts of most foods, or use the Internet and read labels. Start by counting the carbs in your daily diet, just to give yourself an idea of what your current daily carbohydrate intake is. You might be surprised at the amount of carbs some foods have.

Next, start making decisions. Do you really need some of the carbs you eat every day, or is there room to cut back? You might find that cutting carbs from your current intake to just 130 grams a day is tough enough, and that going through a two-week period of 20-40 grams of carbs or less would be an invitation to fail. Or, you may be the type of person who has to go jump right in and go to extremes to make something work. If so, then a low carb diet might just work for you. Whatever you decide to do, research your options and don't take any chances with your health.