Carbs are one of the most contentious topics in nutrition. My position when it comes to carbs is that instead of cutting right down on carbs, we need to get smart about carbs. This means knowing how to sort the healthy from the unhealthy, and how much is the right amount for you.

So what are carbs?

There are three broad categories of carbohydrates: sugars, starches and fibre. When we talk about "carbs" we are usually talking about certain foods like starchy vegetables (like potatoes and sweet potatoes), grains and grain products (like rice, oats, bread and pasta) and legumes. These foods are generally made up of different amounts of sugars, starch and fibre - along with other macro and micronutrients like protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Check out this awesome TED-Ed video for info about how carbs impact your health:

So how much carbohydrate should I eat?

Well that's the million dollar question! My answer is firstly, that you should eat the right amount of carbs for you. This will vary according to your physical makeup activity levels and how well your body processes carbohydrates and responds to insulin. The National Health & Medical Research Council recommends that carbohydrate makes up between 45% and 65% of our total daily energy intake. I don't find recommendations like these particularly helpful. What I do find helpful is their statement that it is the types of carbohydrates consumed are of paramount importance in relation to their health effects (more on that below).

What is a low carb diet?

A low carb diet is generally one that contains between 50 and 150g of carbohydrate a day. Low carb diets have been shown to improve weight, insulin and hormone levels, and associated health risks for women with PCOS.

A lower carb intake than this is more of a ketogenic diet. That is where our carbohydrate intake is so low that our body doesn't get the glucose it needs to function through our diet. So our body metabolically adapts by going into ketosis. Our body then has to rely on fat stores to produce ATP (aka our energy) and ketones are a byproduct of this process. I know the keto diet is all the rage right now and I will be writing about it in the coming months, but right now I just want to caution you against going on a ketogenic diet unless you are under the frequent supervision of a doctor, dietitian or university qualified nutritionist. Ketones are acidic and buildup could lead to ketoacidosis. It's life threatening and in my view not worth the risk when there are so many other ways you can lose weight.

The far more important question is what kinds of carbs you should be eating

You see, we are eating way too many highly processed, refined simple carbs. And these carbs are digested quckly, spike our blood glucose and insulin levels.

Carbs are NOT the devil! But HIGHLY REFINED, PROCESSED FOODS ARE!

Processed foods are made from low cost ingredients that have been highly refined and therefore stripped of their nutrients. These foods are not manufactured with our health and wellbeing in mind. They are manufactured with profit margin, shelf-stability, and the ability to override our human satiety signals (which would ordinarily tell us we have had enough) to keep eating and push us into dangerous overnutrition. Our bodies process highly refined, ultraprocessesd food products very differently to whole, unprocessed grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables. So if you're going to cut out any "carby" foods from your diet, put untraprocessed foods at the top of your list! But please, don't go putting fruit, "carby" veggies, wholegrains and legumes into the same categories as refined crackers, breads, cakes and cookies!

Look at what your carbs come with naturally, and what has been artificially added in or stripped away

When we eat a rainbow of fruit and veggies we are getting fibre, vitamins, minerals and an array of amazing phytonutrients. When we are eating cookies or industrially manufactured supermarket breads they have originally started out as whole, unprocessed grains, which have then been highly refined. And then during the manufacturing process other things we don't always need are added in - like too much salt, sugar and saturated fats, even horredous damaging trans fats!

So go LOW-PRO!

One of the best - and simplest - things you can do to improve your health is to go low-pro! That is, to step away from industrially manufactured, plastic-covered, highly processed foods. Choose instead to eat a vibrant array of veggies, fruit, legumes, pulses, nuts, seeds and whole, unprocessed grains in all the colours of the rainbow.

When it comes to carbs, fibre is your friend

Technically, fibre is a carb. But it's a GOOD carb, and one we need to eat more of! We don't digest fibre as we do sugars and starches. One benefit of fibre is that it slows the absorbtion of carbohydrates into our system so out blood sugar doesn't spike so fast or so high. Another huge benefit is that it can serve as food for our healthy inner bacteria and lower our bowel cancer risk. Most of the problems with carby foods has arisen because industrialised, commodified food processing has refined the fibre out of carbohydrate-containing foods. So they spike our blood sugar - and they don't fill us up (so we get hungry sooner and reach for more).

So I'm going to share a tip with you: count your "net carbs". Net carbs are the total carbohydrate in a food or meal, minus its fibre content. Basically, you look at the total amount of carbs you eat in a day and deduct your total fibre intake. Or do some simple math at the supermarket when choosing pastas, crackers, breads etc. It's a very similar concept to my guide for choosing wholemeal baked goods. Pop over and check it out. Bottom line: the more fibre in your "carby" foods the better!

Read labels at the supermarket

When we are out shopping, and deciding which "carby" foods to put in our shopping trolley and which ones to leave on the shelf, read the labels closely and remember THIS SUPER-HANDY RULE OF THUMB.

Some people will benefit from tracking their net carb intake

I'm not a fan of a reductionist, calorie counting approach to nutrition. But if you're over 40, have a sedentary job, have found your weight creeping up year by year, it might be a good idea to keep a sensible - non-obsessive!!! - eye on your carb intake. And please note I'm NOT talking about restriction or demonising foods or setting you up to feel bad about your choices!

But some people can definitely benefit from keeping an eye on their net carb intake. Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and people who have been diagnosed with insulin resistance (IR) can find it to be extremely helpful! If you have gained weight over the years and are finding it difficult to lose it might be a good idea to check in with your family doctor and ask if it is a good idea for you to be screened for IR or PCOS.

Don't forget to Cool Your Carbs!

I wrote about this HERE and HERE. In a nutshell, when you cook and then cool "carby" foods like pasta, rice, potatoes or legumes you create resistant starch via the process of retrogradation. This means that a proportion of the carbs in your meal will no longer be digestible (and will therefore not spike your blood sugar or insulin levels), and even better the resistant starch will travel to your large intestine where it will serve as food for your super-healthy inner bacteria!