Carbohydrates are receiving a lot of attention these days because some so called “Gurus” believe that carbs should be totally avoided in order to lose weight. That is why you can easily find hundreds of low carb diet plans and products in the market.  However, this is not true because carbs are a very important part of our nutrition and they have various health benefits. You might be asking as to where does the question of good carbs vs bad carbs comes from? Before we can understand the effect of carbs on weight loss, we need to know what exactly carbohydrates are.

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are complex compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They are used by our body as a key source of energy.  Carbs have 4 calories per gram and are stored in our body either as glucose or fat.

Are There Different Kinds of Carbs?

Carbohydrates from different food sources have different effects on our body. The factor that differentiates between good carbs and bad carbs is their Glycemic Index.

GI is a rating which is given to every food and this rating is related to its effect on spiking the blood sugar. Whenever we eat something, there is a spike in our blood sugar and our pancreas secretes the hormone called insulin to transport the glucose from blood into the body cells. GI is based on a base value of glucose (which is set as 100) and GI of other foods is calculated by comparing them with this base value.

Good Carbs Vs Bad Carbs.

The slower the carbohydrates are digested by our body the lower their GI will be and the better they will be for weight loss. This is due to the fact that the longer food stays in our stomach, the less hungry we will feel. Foods with low GI signal our pancreas to secrete less insulin.

If we eat something with high GI such as white bread, there is a rapid spike in our blood sugar and our pancreas will secrete more insulin to balance the blood sugar level but most of the times, our body overcompensates by secreting more insulin than required and thus bringing down the blood sugar level lower than normal and making us hungry again.

Therefore, the foods with low GI are more beneficial for weight loss because they keep us filled for a longer period of time and prevent us from overeating.

Below is a table of good carbs vs bad carbs that will help you make better food choices for weight loss:

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