Carb Commando - Bad Carbs

Bad Carbs

If bad carbs are so bad, then why do they taste so good!?

Why Bad is Bad

It's confusing. There's so much talk about good carbs and bad carbs and simple carbs and complex carbs that it's hard to know what's right and wrong anymore. We'll help demystify it for you. First, let's get some of the terminology straightened out:

Bad carbs = Simple carbs

Good carbs = Complex carbs

Easy, right? Now we'll explain it further. Imagine a string of thread. Now imagine a rope (the kind you'd play tug-of-war with). It doesn't take much for you to break a thread. You can probably do it with your bare hands. But it wouldn't be that simple to break that rope, That would require a knife or maybe even a saw.

Bad carbs are like the thread. They're made up of a few small links of sugar molecules that bind together to form one big molecule. Because this single molecule is only made up of one or two smaller molecules, it's easy for your body to break it down. Once it's broken down, your body feels hungry again. With bad carbs, this is bound to happen much sooner than it is with good carbs.

Good carbs are more like the rope. They are made up of thousands of small sugar molecules that get broken down to form one large molecule. This molecule takes longer to break down, so you feel full longer and eat less.

Where the Bad Carbs Are

Here's the news you don't want to hear: Bad carbs are everywhere you don't want them to be, like in dessert items such as cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, etc.; white bread, regular pasta, white rice, juices and sodas. While it might be hard to give up dessert items (especially if you tend to eat a lot of that stuff now) it might be easier to replace your breads, pasta and rice. Seriously--whole wheat bread is pretty tasty! And give whole wheat pasta and brown rice a try. You probably won't notice the difference. And more fruits and vegetables never hurt anyone. So why not give these foods a try. Combined with activity, you might even lose weight without knowing it. Sure, it won't happen as quickly as it would if you cut out carbs almost completely, but you don't want to do that. Carbs feed your brain and fuel your body. So just make the switch to good carbs.

So can you now answer the question - what are bad carbs?

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