Help Finding Healthy Carbs

erikaelise97 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I've almost always heard that regular potatoes were less desirable of a carb than others. I wasn't planning on entirely eliminating them, but I will take what you've said into consideration.

Definitely staying away from the deep fried ones!

Thanks for the specific veggie suggestions too!

The secret to an amazing baked oil free french fry is to microwave the wedges for a few minutes and then put in a large bowl and shake with a plate on top any seasoning, Hard, For about a minute. You want to break them up a bit so the broken bits get all crispy when baked. Cook for like 30-40 mins @ 425 flipping near the end. Perfection. Come out all pillowy soft on the inside crispy and deliciously seasoned on the outside. Your welcome for making you crave fries, As i said, Im a potato lover x3 Theres your healthy carb

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

erikaelise97 wrote: »

I've recently made it a goal of mine to reduce my consumption of added sugars and simple carbs. I know that this means reducing my intake of white and refined breads, white rice, regular potatoes, etc.

But, what I'm wondering is what are some healthier carbs you guys eat? I'm specifically looking for those with a good fibre content, but I am also looking for any insight you have on the topic, or resources you use!

Thanks in advance!

By "regular potatoes," do you mean white potatoes? And does mean that you're under the impression that the carbs in white potatoes are "simpler" than those in sweet potatoes? What are you basing this on? 100 grams of baked sweet potatoes (flesh only) have about 6 grams of sugar, whereas 100 grams of baked white potatoes (flesh only) have about 2 grams of sugar.

Never waste a potato peel though! such a waste they have good nutrients, And you can even make them into chips if you dont like fries with skin on. Baked potato skins are awesome lol

I base my decisions on my blood glucose meter - every person is different in how they metabolize particular foods. For example I can eat a lot of fruit with no problems, but white rice spikes me, while a friend is so sensitive to fruit sugars that he has to avoid tomatoes. A gram of carb is not a gram of carb to a diabetic.

So this may not be valid for you! But for me, my "good" list includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, and other root vegetables, winter and summer squash, all kinds of fruits, quinoa, steel cut oats and oatmeal, corn on the cob, and dairy. In fact dairy is almost a magic food for me, it seems to cause enough insulin reaction that eating dairy carbs, my sugar is lower after eating than before. These are foods that I can handle up to 50g in a combined meal without a blood sugar spike.

Some things I have trouble with include legumes, corn bread, corn tortillas, wheat bread, and pasta. I can eat these but I have to be careful about portions. Anything over 30g is probably going to cause trouble.

I have to almost completely avoid white bread, flour tortillas, and rice. And of course added sugars in foods such as candy, honey, soda, and so on. Anything over about 15g will cause a disproportionately large blood sugar spike.

How healthy a food is really isn't judged by the colour.
Nothing wrong with white potatoes - maybe they became seen as "bad" because of how they are commonly prepared? But compare the nutrition of a white potato and a sweet potato and you would struggle to say one is healthy and one is unhealthy - just a bit different.
Ditto rice - white rice isn't one homogeneous thing. Think basmati rice or the the arborio rice I used for a risotto yesterday.
Same for bread - don't be a food racist!

Get used to reading labels, consider how you prepare your veg (a steamer is great), think context of your entire diet rather than individual components of that diet, go for variety and taste. How about a mind shift towards what to include in your diet rather than what to exclude?
Beans and pulses seem not to be very widely used but I find very filling and tasty.
Experiment a bit, curried parsnip mash perhaps? (Oh noes! Parsnips are white. )

I made a chilli con carne the other day in the way I used to when my daughter was small and a very picky eater with an aversion to vegetables....
Finely chopped a large onion and a couple of carrots, used half lentils and half meat, added red kidney beans (I'm not from Texas....). So there's a tasty, filling, inexpensive "meat dish" with a whole load of veg and fibre - plus a ton of tomatoes of course.

I just focus on whole foods like vegetables (very important), fruit, beans and lentils (great for protein if you don't want to depend on animal products too) and other legumes (peas is one example), tubers like sweet potatoes and potatoes (yes, I agree with everyone else that potatoes are great). Also whole grains, which can include foods like oats (and corn is a grain), but also breads made with whole grains, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta if you like it. Other sources of carbs include dairy and nuts and seeds.

Technically "simple carbs" mean sugars and are what is in fruit, as well as anything with added sugar. "Complex carbs" means starches and is in white bread, as well as whole grains, potatoes, so on. It's kind of a meaningless distinction for most people -- I'd focus on nutrient-dense carbs that don't have their natural fiber removed as maybe an alternative simple way to think of it.

An aside about white rice and pasta -- some find these much tastier than the whole grain variety. If you do, it's worth realizing that the actual nutritional differences are not very large at all. In a meal including rice or pasta, the other foods they are eaten with and overall serving size makes a much greater difference than white vs. brown. A dish involving white pasta, lots of vegetables, a little olive oil, some shrimp will be nutritionally superior (as a single dish) to a meal involving whole wheat pasta with carbonara sauce, no vegetables. Not saying you can never have carbonara (although I'd have some vegetables with it!) of course. ;-)

sijomial wrote: »

How healthy a food is really isn't judged by the colour.
Nothing wrong with white potatoes - maybe they became seen as "bad" because of how they are commonly prepared? But compare the nutrition of a white potato and a sweet potato and you would struggle to say one is healthy and one is unhealthy - just a bit different.
Ditto rice - white rice isn't one homogeneous thing. Think basmati rice or the the arborio rice I used for a risotto yesterday.
Same for bread - don't be a food racist!

Get used to reading labels, consider how you prepare your veg (a steamer is great), think context of your entire diet rather than individual components of that diet, go for variety and taste. How about a mind shift towards what to include in your diet rather than what to exclude?
Beans and pulses seem not to be very widely used but I find very filling and tasty.
Experiment a bit, curried parsnip mash perhaps? (Oh noes! Parsnips are white. )

I made a chilli con carne the other day in the way I used to when my daughter was small and a very picky eater with an aversion to vegetables....
Finely chopped a large onion and a couple of carrots, used half lentils and half meat, added red kidney beans (I'm not from Texas....). So there's a tasty, filling, inexpensive "meat dish" with a whole load of veg and fibre - plus a ton of tomatoes of course.

I think this is some of the best advice you can get. I find that when I think about adding more veggies, fiber, lean proteins, etc to my day it just sort of naturally crowds out the less healthy, less satisfying stuff. I literally don't think about it nearly as much.

erikaelise97 wrote: »

I've recently made it a goal of mine to reduce my consumption of added sugars and simple carbs. I know that this means reducing my intake of white and refined breads, white rice, regular potatoes, etc.

But, what I'm wondering is what are some healthier carbs you guys eat? I'm specifically looking for those with a good fibre content, but I am also looking for any insight you have on the topic, or resources you use!

Thanks in advance!

Beans, lentils, peas,etc.
Fruits and vegetables

Fiber Gourmet pasta (they also make high fiber crackers, but I'm not a fan). 1/2 the calories of regular pasta and ultra high fiber.

I add chia seeds and/or ground flax seed to many dishes to increase the fiber content.

High fiber breads.