So that’s a Carb
One of the most common things that you will hear about when it comes to diets is carbs. Carb is short for carbohydrate. Now you know. I am sure that clears it right up for you. OK, how about this definition from wikipedia: “A carbohydrate (/kɑːrboʊˈhaɪdreɪt/) is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula Cm(H2O)n ….” this carries on for many more pages. Click the link if you would like your mind to explode.
When I first started dealing with my diabetes I heard a lot about carbs and explanations like the one above. I really didn’t care what kind of molecules it has I just wanted to know what foods to stay away from and why.
The problem with carbs
Most food has some form of carbohydrates which our body needs but like anything healthy there needs to be moderation. The carbs we want to stay away from are pretty much refined foods. Refined foods break down into glucose very rapidly and if you eat a lot these it can keep your glucose and therefore your insulin constantly elevated. Glucose is used for energy but it can also be stored as fat if you take in too much. This may not be technically exactly right but it’s what I understood it to be and when I was aware of it and monitoring my glucose I would say that is about the way it worked.
Here are the worst offenders as far as high carb content:
- Pretty much anything in a box at the grocery store
- Anything made with white flour or even whole wheat flour
- Sugar, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, etc
- Starchy vegetables like potatoes (especially french fries)
- Corn
- White Rice
- Grains in general (this is highly disputed but I found when closely monitoring my glucose levels, they spiked when even eating healthy whole grain anything)
- Pasta
- Pizza
- Cookies & pastries
- Soda (especially diet soda)
- Alcohol
Most people realize most of these foods are not particularly healthy but rice? Corn? Potato? You can find out how high in carbs food is by consulting a glycemic index chart. You will note that the more processed or cooked food is, the higher it gets.
It’s just my opinion
I am going to stipulate again that these are my observations after experimenting on myself by checking my glucose levels when I got up, before each meal and 2 hours after each meal. I carefully recorded what I ate and the effect it had. The things on this list are bad carbs, I tested it but you can search other sites and you will find that most agree with it with the exception of grains which I think are pretty evenly divided. My testing showed that they always spiked my glucose.
A keto diet focuses on fat & protein both of which take longer to digest keeping you feeling full and satisfied longer by releasing the glucose into your system slowly.
I hope this isn’t a dumb question. My husband and I are 57 and 60. One of our biggest health problems is the food we eat.He use to shop and cook and I remember him always having chopped celery,cucumber cherry tomatoes from his fathers garden and we did enjoy these foods and way of living.He had a injury and all of this has been out the window for years. I notice I have no energy.My question is with the Keto diet is would it be easier with a partner and is it possible to change our bad habits?
Hi Fay, you are absolutely right that changing your diet with your partner on board is much much easier than going it alone. My personal experience was that even though I got healthier, lost weight and had more energy, my friends felt that I was over doing it or even depriving myself against my will. They often tried to “help” by offering up excuses for me to cheat, I honestly could come up with my own reasons. I know they were trying to help but it was counterproductive. I believe that in fact when seeing my results they were offering up the excuses they would use to not do it.
Most people do know what’s good for them but there is a reluctance to do something about it. Take smoking for example. So, that being said if you and your partner have the resolve to want to get healthier you have encouragement rather than excuses to be successful with it.
wow…a straight shooter…. My kind of info source.
I wonder how many did not bother because they knew they would not be 100% true to the idea.
It makes sense to me that 50% success has to be better than 0%,
I have heard of the keto diet but never tried it. Thanks for the info. I ‘ll go check it out.
Keep sharing your thoughts/ideas and PLEASE stay with the straight talk.
There is enough BS out there…we need to hear more reality conversation.
Belle
Thank you Belle. This blog is meant to be a community that can share viewpoints and experiences. I appreciate your compliment. If you have a topic you would like me to write about please send me a note from the contact page.
Cheers