It may seem that one week you’re hearing that a certain food is good for you, and the very next you hear that it’s off limits. Does it feel a bit confusing trying to figure out how to eat right? If you share this sentiment, then you are not alone! Many of us have gone through a bunch of different diets or followed different trends, only to find out that the latest diet didn’t work and we ended up gaining the weight back. There is one theme however that seems to be here to stay, and there’s a good reason for it. When you hear that carbs are the enemy, there is something behind this statement—therefore you really want to pay close attention to this and stay away from this problematic food group.
Can it really be that this one food group is so bad? Can eating these foods equal diet sabotage? The problem is that most of us tend to eat carbs that do nothing good for us, and may actually hurt our progress. If you focus on grains that are high in fiber and substance, then it can help. Since many tend to fall into old traps and ultimately eat simple carbohydrates, it’s often best to stay away from this food group altogether. If you’re trying to eat right to get healthier or to lose weight, then carbohydrates are definitely not your friend. Sad but true, they can do a lot more harm than good and it’s time to learn exactly why that is!
If you’ve heard before that carbs are the enemy then you want to truly understand why that is and what it entails. Here we look at several reasons that carbohydrates are not your friend when it comes to dieting.
They cause an unhealthy rise and fall of your blood sugar:
This is one of the biggest problems with carbohydrates, and therefore one of the worst potential dangers to your diet overall. You eat carbs and you feel that sudden surge of energy, and that seems like a great thing. The problem is that the surge of energy that you just felt will go away just as quickly as it came on. You will find yourself feeling tired, lethargic, and sluggish when that initial “high” wears off, and this is wreaking havoc on your blood sugar, causing a serious imbalance.
They can give you the illusion that you are full but then you’re hungry just a little while later:
When it comes to dieting overall and you hear that carbs are the enemy, this is primarily the reason why. You feel full, satisfied, and happy after you eat carbohydrates—but that only lasts for a short while. Just as the energy burst subsides quickly, so does that full feeling of satisfaction. So you are hungry just a short while later and you often will turn to whatever food you can get to fill that need—and the cycle continues on!
They don’t offer you any substance or nutrients that you need:
Though carbohydrates have long been looked to for the energy that they can provide, that’s about the only benefit that they really offered. When it comes to nutrients, carbs offer none to speak of. If they do have traces of nutrients, they are subtle, and therefore this is just a waste of calories and even fat.
The wrong types of carbs may actually work against your weight loss efforts and hurt your overall health:
You may very well learn to eat the right types of complex carbohydrates or whole grains, but this is a hard transition for many to make. When you eat the wrong type they will work against your weight loss efforts, and ultimately cause you to gain back any weight that you may lose. So when you hear that carbs are the enemy, believe it, and know that spending your calories on nutrient rich foods is really the way to go.