Carbs, carbs, carbs.

A recent study out of Harvard highlights the importance of eating healthy carbohydrates and limiting less healthy ones. Many people have gotten the message to “eat less carbs” but this is an oversimplification which treats all carbohydrates the same. Carbohydrates can be roughly categorized into three groups:

1. Whole foods: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans.
2. Refined  foods:: refined grains like flour and white rice, fruit juice. So bread and pasta would go here.
3. Highly processed foods: sugar and foods made with refined carbs and added sugars like many breakfast cereals, desserts, and pastries.

The study from Harvard which reviewed health data from 74,000 women and 43,000 men for 25 years indicates that risk for overall death and death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) decreased with increased whole grain intake. For each added serving of whole grains, death risk dropped 5% overall and 9% for CVD. Even more powerfully, replacing a serving of red meat with whole grains reduced risk by 20%!

To optimize the health benefits from grains, eat as many as you can from the first group above; in their least processed state.

Try using brown rice as the base of your next meal. Top with roasted vegetables and a simple tomato sauce. Add canned beans or chopped fish or chicken if you want to bulk up your meal.

Your daily goal should be 1/4 of your calories from whole grains.

Read more about the Harvard findings: here

Happy eating!

Jason