“Carb” and carbohydrate are two quite independent ideas, but have been confused into one concept by mainstream media in order to sell diets and products. The current marketing moniker of “carb” is very misleading and has caused confusion, nutrition myths and diet fads.
So let’s go all the way back to basics; What is food?
Food is made up of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water. When you consume a whole food, a vegetable or fruit picked from your garden or a fish or piece of meat from a market, your stomach and intestines digest it down to these 6 basic constituents. Vitamins and minerals (“micronutrients”, because we need relatively small amounts per day) are used to build bones, hemoglobin and aid enzymatic reactions in our bodies. The water moves into our blood, cellular and interstitial fluid. Protein, fats and carbohydrates (“Macronutrients”, because we need large amounts per day) are used as building blocks and energy for us to grow and move.
A carbohydrate is not a food, but is a component of all whole foods. Even meat contains a few carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen.)
The organic chemistry term “carbohydrate” simply means carbon (carbo-) linked to hydrogen plus oxygen (-hydrate) and describes a set of macromolecules. Chains of 3 carbons give you acetic acid, or vinegar, Chains of 5 and 6 carbons give you fructose, glucose. Pairs of these 5 and 6 carbon molecules are called sucrose. Longer branched chains of carbon give you starch and cellulose, and the list goes on and on. Any molecule that ends with the suffix “-ose” is a carbohydrate, or in lay terms, ‘sugar’.
Whole foods (plants and animals) contain carbohydrates in dizzying varieties and amounts. The more one processes a food, the more it is purified towards one particular macromolecule.
Let’s take a wheat berry, the grains or seeds found on a stalk of wheat. Each tiny wheat berry has fats (wheat germ, natural oils), proteins (gluten) and carbohydrate in the form of starch and fiber or bran. When processed it's dried (eliminates water), ground and sifted (eliminates fiber and germ) and then bleached, so we are left with white flour containing only the starch, or purified carbohydrate. Or you could eat whole wheat berries (treat it like rice) and get all the nutrients.
“Low Carb” diets recommend eliminating all grains and sugars from the diet. The title is misleading because fruits and vegetables are mostly carbohydrates. If one eliminated fruits and vegetables, one would not be getting enough nutrients. If a low-carb diet means "whole food diet” or “less processed food diet”, then I’m all for it. If low-carb diet means “hyped-marketing-deprivation-mono-diet” then I’m NOT.
Your best bet: Decrease unnecessary sugars and grain products from your diet so you don’t spike your insulin. Eat as close to fresh whole foods as you can to gain as many nutrients as possible. You don’t need to buy into diet schemes or shakes or books or plans. As Michael Pollan said: “Eat Real food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables.” Your body will thank you.
