Are Carbs The Enemy?

April 12, 2024

It’s widely accepted that carbs are the enemy, and while you can make it work with some balancing tricks from a nutritionist, this is a rare case of where—for the vast majority—where there’s smoke, there is a fire.

Most carbs we encounter are processed breads of some type, full of empty calories that leave us hungry the next minute. This makes it very easy to keep eating, while your body keeps stacking up those empty calories until you gain weight.

The Silent Enemy

At Diced Kitchen - Healthy Without the Hassle, we’ve noticed what ends up happening is when you eat a cheese burger you remember the meat, the sauces, maybe even the cheese—but the bun is the last thing your mind. After all, it’s just an edible wrapper—but it does the most damage to your waistline.

Within that bun are 160 calories that are completely invisible to you and your stomach. At your next meal, if it has a flour tortilla, that’s another 320 calories. At dinner, the pasta that serves as particularly ambitious “filler” between the sauces and meats is another 100 calories.

The Problem

You and your stomach go to bed and forget about these carby, sugary calories—but your body doesn’t. You start the next day with “an invisible meal” already stored in your body, and when you eat again like yesterday, you stack another invisible meal that night.

These stacked meals are how you gain weight. Fortunately, there is a solution.

How To Strike Back

Instead of trying to banish carbs altogether, give them a small—but strictly contained and fixed—role in your diet. Get the best complex carbs you can access, such as beans, potatoes and whole grain bread, and let them play a bit part in only one of your earlier meals.

That way, your body gets the nutrients it needs, and is forced to consume it during your most active hours that day. When you wake, your body is on the same page your optimistic and selectively forgetful mind wants you to be, and you’re better positioned to melt those pounds away.