Are carrots a bad carb?

"bad" (to be more precise, refined/simple) carbohydrates would include the following: white rice, white bread, white flour based pastas, sugar and anything made with sugar (candy, cookies, pies, cakes, etc).

Carrots are a "starchy vegetable" in the same class as parsnips, turnips, potatoes (Not all potatoes are bad for you), sweet potatoes, etc.

Raw is the best way to eat them. Cooking them releases more starch...but...they're not bad for you by any stretch of the imagination.

100 grams of baby carrots provides about 8 grams of carbs. I'm sure there are people out there so insulin resistant they'd have trouble with that much carb, but it would be extremely rare. Of all the foods to worry about, it would be pretty low on the list.

Carrots are a good carb!!!!!! make sure you eat lots of them!

Unless you're seriously trying to reach ketosis, don't worry about the carrots. However, they are much better for you raw than cooked, as they will contain more of the good stuff, and also add fiber. Cooked the fiber will be broken down and the vitamins will be washed out, leaving very little but the sugar.

I think this goes for pretty much any veggie. Raw veggie=best veggie for ya!

Actually, raw is not best. Most vitamins are locked away in the indigestible parts of the vegetables. Cooking allows us to actually gain access to them, while eating them raw causes them to just pass through.

I can't imagine any obeses person blaming carots for their weight problem.

Unless you're seriously trying to reach ketosis, don't worry about the carrots. However, they are much better for you raw than cooked, as they will contain more of the good stuff, and also add fiber. Cooked the fiber will be broken down and the vitamins will be washed out, leaving very little but the sugar.

I think this goes for pretty much any veggie. Raw veggie=best veggie for ya!

Not necessarily. Carrots are actually healthier when cooked, as are some other root vegetables and tomatoes.

I've just read a post on here where the poster said carrots are a bad carb to eat..is that true?
Carrots are my main veg and eat them a lot :noway:

No, they are not. I think this idea comes from the fact that carrots have a high glycemic index (GI) because the sugar in them is a simple sugar that is digested quickly. But the glycemic load (GL) of carrots is actually low because they have very little sugar in them and they do not cause a spike a in blood sugar when eaten.

That's not true. How about this person from http://diabetesnaturally.com/the-diet/?

My Experience

I found that as soon as I started eating vegetables – and primarily green vegetables, my glucose levels began to drop. I immediately started eating more spinach, broccoli, celery, avocado, green peppers and cucumbers. I often juice these in combination with ginger which is another herb I have learned reduces my glucose levels. After starting this diet and learning about the properties of certain vegetables, I realised that I needed to test which fruits and vegetables suited me personally and I worked this out but testing my blood glucose levels after eating particular things. For example, I used to love eating carrots before going on this diet however after eating a carrot and testing my blood sugar, I worked out that it was no good for me at all to eat any orange vegetables. When it came to grains, I found that essene bread actually made my blood sugar levels spike intensely, so I avoid all bread now.

Therefore even though the advice was appropriate for a diabetic, it was really a process of elimination that I needed to go through in order to work out which vegetables worked with my body. I learned the importance of understanding the reactions to certain foods and this helped me get in control of the fluctuations in blood glucose levels. Despite what dieticians may suggest, there is no blanket diet that fits and works with everyone!!!

Carrots are 10% carbs, 5% sugar (75% of which is sucrose) and 2.8% fiber. The have a lot of Vitamin A but not much else of note.

So they aren't a good vegetable for a low carb diet, as others have half the carbs.

They have more nutrients than Vit A.......

"Health benefits of carrots
Sweet and succulent carrot are notably rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins and dietary fiber; however, they provide only 41 calories per 100 g, negligible amount of fat and no cholesterol.

They are exceptionally rich source of carotenes and vitamin-A. 100 g fresh carrot contain 8285 mcg of beta-carotene and 16706 IU of vitamin A. Studies have found that flavonoid compounds in carrots help protect from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers.

Carotenes are converted in to vitamin A in the liver. Beta-carotene is the major carotene that is present in these roots. Beta carotene is one of the powerful natural anti-oxidant helps protect body from harmful fee radical injury. In addition, it also has all the functions of vitamin A such as vision, reproduction (sperm production), maintenance of epithelial integrity, growth and development.

Carrots are rich in poly-acetylene anti-oxidant falcarinol. Research study conducted by scientists at University of Newcastle on laboratory animals has found that falcarinol in carrots may help fight against cancers by destroying pre-cancerous cells in the tumors.

Fresh roots are also good in vitamin C; provide about 9% of RDA. Vitamin C is water soluble anti-oxidant. It helps body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth and gum. Its anti-oxidant property helps body protect from diseases and cancers by scavenging harmful free radicals.

This root vegetable is especially contain good amounts of many B-complex group of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, pantothenic acid, etc that acts as co-factors to enzymes during substrate metabolism in the body.

It also has healthy levels of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.

Unless you're seriously trying to reach ketosis, don't worry about the carrots. However, they are much better for you raw than cooked, as they will contain more of the good stuff, and also add fiber. Cooked the fiber will be broken down and the vitamins will be washed out, leaving very little but the sugar.

I think this goes for pretty much any veggie. Raw veggie=best veggie for ya!

Not necessarily. Carrots are actually healthier when cooked, as are some other root vegetables and tomatoes.

OK, this was interesting and weird, so I checked.

The betakaroten is released from cooking, making it more accessible. However, if you don't want to lose vitamins, you have to cook them very briefly, not heat the carrots in the water but drop them into boiling water, and you have to use the water as well, and they should not be peeled before cooking.

Which means: If we do the cooking right, or make soup, you are right. If we just splash them in and boil them in water, then throw the water away, as done in so many traditional kitchens, then I am right. :-)

I've just read a post on here where the poster said carrots are a bad carb to eat..is that true?
Carrots are my main veg and eat them a lot :noway:

No, they are not. I think this idea comes from the fact that carrots have a high glycemic index (GI) because the sugar in them is a simple sugar that is digested quickly. But the glycemic load (GL) of carrots is actually low because they have very little sugar in them and they do not cause a spike a in blood sugar when eaten.

That's not true. How about this person from http://diabetesnaturally.com/the-diet/?

My Experience

I found that as soon as I started eating vegetables – and primarily green vegetables, my glucose levels began to drop. I immediately started eating more spinach, broccoli, celery, avocado, green peppers and cucumbers. I often juice these in combination with ginger which is another herb I have learned reduces my glucose levels. After starting this diet and learning about the properties of certain vegetables, I realised that I needed to test which fruits and vegetables suited me personally and I worked this out but testing my blood glucose levels after eating particular things. For example, I used to love eating carrots before going on this diet however after eating a carrot and testing my blood sugar, I worked out that it was no good for me at all to eat any orange vegetables. When it came to grains, I found that essene bread actually made my blood sugar levels spike intensely, so I avoid all bread now.

Therefore even though the advice was appropriate for a diabetic, it was really a process of elimination that I needed to go through in order to work out which vegetables worked with my body. I learned the importance of understanding the reactions to certain foods and this helped me get in control of the fluctuations in blood glucose levels. Despite what dieticians may suggest, there is no blanket diet that fits and works with everyone!!!

I never suggested anything works for everyone so calm down. In tests the GI of carrots varies widely because the sugar content varies widely based season, area, weather, soil condition, etc.

Just because the person and the carrot didn't mesh well in one circumstance is hardly evidence that carrots are unhealthy.

I've just read a post on here where the poster said carrots are a bad carb to eat..is that true?
Carrots are my main veg and eat them a lot :noway:

No, they are not. I think this idea comes from the fact that carrots have a high glycemic index (GI) because the sugar in them is a simple sugar that is digested quickly. But the glycemic load (GL) of carrots is actually low because they have very little sugar in them and they do not cause a spike a in blood sugar when eaten.

That's not true. How about this person from http://diabetesnaturally.com/the-diet/?

My Experience

I found that as soon as I started eating vegetables – and primarily green vegetables, my glucose levels began to drop. I immediately started eating more spinach, broccoli, celery, avocado, green peppers and cucumbers. I often juice these in combination with ginger which is another herb I have learned reduces my glucose levels. After starting this diet and learning about the properties of certain vegetables, I realised that I needed to test which fruits and vegetables suited me personally and I worked this out but testing my blood glucose levels after eating particular things. For example, I used to love eating carrots before going on this diet however after eating a carrot and testing my blood sugar, I worked out that it was no good for me at all to eat any orange vegetables. When it came to grains, I found that essene bread actually made my blood sugar levels spike intensely, so I avoid all bread now.

Therefore even though the advice was appropriate for a diabetic, it was really a process of elimination that I needed to go through in order to work out which vegetables worked with my body. I learned the importance of understanding the reactions to certain foods and this helped me get in control of the fluctuations in blood glucose levels. Despite what dieticians may suggest, there is no blanket diet that fits and works with everyone!!!

I never suggested anything works for everyone so calm down. In tests the GI of carrots varies widely because the sugar content varies widely based season, area, weather, soil condition, etc.

Just because the person and the carrot didn't mesh well in one circumstance is hardly evidence that carrots are unhealthy.

I never claimed carrots were unhealthy I was just correcting your incorrect statement that carrots don't cause a spike in blood sugar. The "idea" that they do is not because people don't understand the glycemic index it's because carrots do spike insulin.

All foods spike insulin when eaten. But I think you meant blood sugar. GI does measure this and carrots have a high GI. But GI does not measure quantity, which is why GL is a better measure of blood sugar spikes.