This is the part 4 in a 7 part series on using food labels to improve your nutrition. If you haven’t read the other posts, I suggest you start here so you can see links to all the posts from start to finish.
Carbs summary
- Eat carbs as part of a healthy diet*
- Reduce sugar intake
- Fill half your plate with vegetables
- Remember that it is very easy to overeat on complex carbs – be mindful of portion sizes
- Choose wholegrain options where possible (pasta, bread, rice, cous cous etc)
- Remember that fruit also counts as a carb
*The quantity of carbs in your diet can vary greatly depending on your preferences. Diets like keto, Atkins etc are very low carb, whereas low fat diets will be higher carb. What is the “best” option? Whichever one you can do consistently, day in, day out.
Carbs in detail
You may wonder whether or not you should eat carbs.
Some people totally demonise them and make out that carbs are evil.
I’m not one of those people.
Carbs are a fantastic energy source, in fact, they are your body’s favourite energy source.
I believe there are 2 main reasons that carbs have such a bad rep:
- The “Western diet” features a very high proportion of carbohydrates
- The carbohydrates in a Western diet are frequently sugars and highly refined carbs
Carb intake is extremely personal. Some people do very well on low carb diets, such as keto. Other people will really struggle and find it too restrictive. You need to find what works for YOU.
Let’s split out what we are talking about when we see carbs on a food label.
Total carbohydrate
As the name suggest, this is the total amount of carbohydrate found in the food.
It includes simple (sugar), complex and fibrous (fibre) carbohydrates.
Simple carbs: sugar
If you are looking to improve your nutrition – carbohydrates, imprreducing added sugars is a great place to start.
Added sugars (also known as “extrinsic sugars”) are totally empty calories, as they contain little or no vitamins, minerals, fibre or essential fatty acids. Cakes, muffins, biscuits, cookies, soda: these all contain huge amounts of added sugar, with little nutritional benefits.
On the other hand, naturally occurring sugars (“intrinsic sugars”) are accompanied by good quantities of fibre and vital vitamins and minerals. The calories in fruit come from natural sugars, and fruits contain a huge variety of nutrients necessary for a healthy body.
One thing to be mindful of when reading food labels is, again, the quoted portion size.
For example:
- Product 1 lists that it has 10g of sugar per 100g.
- Product 2 lists that it has 4g of sugar per portion. It states that a portion size is 40g.
- Product 3 lists that each 40g portion contains 4.4% of your GDA for sugar (UK based product)
These 3 products contain the exact same amount of sugar, but until you check all the details it is easy to be totally clueless as to which product has more or less sugar.
If you are trying to reduce your added sugar intake, avoid foods where the sugar content is more than 22.5g per 100g.
| High in sugar | Low in sugar |
| More than 22.5g per 100g | 5g or less per 100g |
Common foods high in added sugars: biscuits, cakes, cookies, muffins, milk or white chocolate, ice-cream, soda
Complex carbs
This is what most people think of when they think of carbs. Bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and so on.
There is nothing wrong with these products. The issue in many cases is the sheer quantity of them being eaten.
As a small example, take a look at the photo below. Be honest – which is closer to your serving?
My main recommendations in the area of complex carbs are:
- Switch to wholegrain options: wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, etc
- Be mindful of your portion sizes when you improve your nutrition – Carbohydrates. If in doubt check the packet and measure out a portion a couple of times so you get a feel for what a portion looks like
Common foods high in complex carbs: bread, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cous cous, quinoa, rice, millet, noodles, oats
Fibrous carbs: fibre
Fibre is sometimes listed separately on food labels.
It is an important nutrient as it is essential for keeping the digestive process running cleanly and healthily. It also helps in the regulation of blood sugar.
Fibre is classified as “foodstuffs that remain mainly undigested as they enter the large intestine”. Much of the food passes straight through the gut and is not absorbed
In short, you want to make sure you get plenty of fibre in your diet.
Common foods high in fibre: wholegrain foods, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, beans, lentils, chickpeas
No “one size fits all” approach
As with most things in life, there is no “one size fits all” approach.
The recommendations above are aimed at generally healthy people, who do not have underlying health issues, which can be impacted by nutrition.
Health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, cancer, arthritis and many many others require a diet specifically tailored to the individual. That is out of the scope of this article. Before making any major changes to your diet or before you improve Your Nutrition – Carbohydrates, you should consult a doctor or a registered dietician.
Other posts in this series
