A while back I did a post on calories and why you shouldn’t be counting them. As I’m writing this, I’m wondering which way of living is worse – counting calories or eliminating carbs from your diet? Both of these extreme approaches are really sad, restrictive, and can steal vitality and joy from your life. And still I come across so many people doing exactly this!
Carbs are my absolute favourite, it makes me full, it’s so delicious and it brings joy into my life!! So why eliminate them? Yes, white carbs are really not good for you as it spikes your insulin levels, but whole wheat and whole food carbs are an absolute wholesome delight!
So what exactly do I mean by slow carbs? Slow carbs have a low glycemic load. The glycemic load of a meal tells us how much of and how quickly a fixed quantity of a specific food will raise your blood sugar and insulin levels. The slower these levels rise, the better. Examples of slow carbs are brown rice, gem squash, butternut, sweet potato, oats, sourdough whole grain or rye bread.
All of these healthy whole grains and starchy fruit and vegetables that have made their way onto the ‘forbidden’ list of popular low-carb diets, are also high in fibre. Fibre plays a really important role in overall well-being, metabolism and more.
Resistant starch (grains, legumes, cooked and cooled potatoes and rice) helps us to feel fuller for longer. It has also been proven to help us burn fat, while avoiding fat storage as well as to improve management of blood sugar in those with diabetes. It doesn’t break down to glucose, instead it feeds the healthy bacteria in our gut.
Start looking at foods in terms of how nourishing they are to your body as a whole. Don’t fixate over calories and grams of protein and carbs. Go back to trusting whole foods. The more naturally you eat, the more beautiful, slim, healthy and happy you will become.
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