- If you want to eat well and lose weight, 75% of your plate should be carbohydrates, says dr. Mark Hyman.
- Carbohydrates like green vegetables and fruits should be the bulk of your diet by volume, not by calories.
- These foods are nutritious, as opposed to refined carbohydrates like sugar which can be unhealthy.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Carbohydrates have a bad reputation these days amid the popularity of keto and carbohydrate diets. People have linked too many carbohydrates to insulin resistance, weight gain and unhealthy eating habits.
Nothing can be further than the truth, according to dr. Mark Hyman, a general practitioner specializing in a food-as-medicine approach to health, and author of “Food Fix” and “Eat Fat, Get Thin.”
“Carbohydrates are the most important thing you can eat for health and weight loss,” Hyman said in an email interview with Insider about his new book, “The Pegan Diet.”
The quality and quantity of carbohydrates are important for your dietary goals, he explained. Low calorie nutrient carbohydrates can form the basis of a healthy diet, which helps to cut out ’empty’ calories such as sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your diet, not calories
The standard American diet (SAD for short) is often criticized for fueling high insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction and obesity. It contains a lot of carbohydrates – dietary rules recommend that carbohydrates make up 45-65% of daily calories, but studies show that Americans get most of them from processed foods.
“In fact, most of the SAD diet is refined carbohydrates from bread, rice, cereals, pasta and pastries,” Hyman said.
Hyman said it’s OK to make carbs the center of your diet, but not by taking most of your calories from processed sources.
The key to the ideal diet, according to Hyman, is to fill 75% of your plate with nutritious, non-starchy vegetables such as vegetables, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.
Since these foods contain fewer calories, it leaves enough room to round off your daily energy needs with healthy fat sources like fish, olive oil and avocado, and proteins from sources like beans, meat with grass and eggs.
Suggest ‘slow’ carbohydrates, such as nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits
For a healthy diet of 75% carbohydrates (by volume), the type of carbohydrate source is very important.
“A hot fudge sweet and cauliflower both fall into the carbohydrate category, yet they are completely different foods,” Hyman said.
If you are aiming for carbohydrate sources, such as leafy vegetables, berries and non-starchy vegetables, you can make the best money in terms of daily energy.
This is because they are full of nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins, phytonutrients and minerals, which help promote healthy digestion and a strong microbiome (beneficial bacteria in your gut).
These “slow” carbs, as Hyman calls them, help you feel full and refreshed longer after eating, while avoiding the blood sugar peaks and crusts that can cause “fast” carbs like sugar.
Treat sugar and other refined carbohydrates as occasional treats, not staples
Unlike fruits and vegetables, Hyman said, refined and processed carbohydrates should be treated as recreational ingredients – in limited amounts as an occasional concession.
Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, a food addiction researcher and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, told Insider that the combination of sugar and fat in processed foods can encourage us to eat more than we plan to.
Gearhardt said it could be sensational to compare addictive foods with drugs, but the risks need to be taken seriously.
This can be difficult if processed foods are more available than fresh ingredients, and if you do not have time to cook.
“We all have to eat, and it’s not a level playing field, as this food is designed to use our biology against us,” Gearhardt said. “It’s like having beer in the fountains. It’s our food environment.”
Gearhardt’s solution is to try to avoid having as much processed food in the house as possible, and be conscious about the choice to enjoy.
“I think of them as red wine. It’s a thoughtful process with boundaries and
awareness
, “she said.