I recently was getting dinner with a friend when she asked my favorite question related to living a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic lifestyle: “Are carbs really that bad?”
Let me first start by saying that, as a psychotherapist by trade, my nature is to not look at things as inherently good or evil. Just like social media, education, or money – things can either be harnessed for good or evil. The same with carbohydrates. However, there is one key factor we must consider that, in my opinion, makes a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic lifestyle the ideal human way of eating: metabolic dysfunction.
The Data
A recent study at University of North Carolina found that only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy! 12%! That is essentially 1 out of 10 people!
So, it may be true that having a bit of a sweet potato (as the Paleo camp tends to even encourage) will not kill you. But, we have to remember that, based on our years of eating (often unintentionally based on what has been snuck into our foods by the Big Food companies) highly processed and refined food products, our body is likely not in a healthy state to be able to process carbs well. Take my story of metabolic dysfunction as an example. I had severe reactive hypoglycemia and didn’t feel well most of the time but my labs were normal! (Which I later learned was due to the reality that, by the time metabolic dysfunction shows up on lab tests, it has already progressed much too far.)
You may be saying, however, that “I’m not fat” or “I don’t have a history of Diabetes.” If that’s the case, great! However, there is a very real phenomenon called “Skinny Fat Syndrome” (A.K.A. Thin on the outside, fat on the inside; “TOFI”) where, even those who present as healthy still have metabolic dysfunction. Even the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 25% of those who are skinny have pre-Diabetes and demonstrated labs that show metabolic dysfunction! So, like me, even if you “look healthy” and your labs are “normal,” you have around a 88% chance (the opposite of the 12% I mention above) that your body doesn’t process carbohydrates well.
Inflammation
The other factor to consider related to answering the question “Are carbs really that bad?” is the role of inflammation. Contrary to the popular belief that fat “clogs your arteries,” we are learning that what causes plaque buildup in the arteries of the heart is scar tissue related to the “holes” created by damage done by a diet high in carbohydrates. Another thing to consider is how carbohydrates, especially processed ones, cause inflammation in the gut.
For instance, get ready for this TMI… people going low-carbohydrate on keto don’t fart. Yep, you read that right. What I found in my own life and what I have heard from others time and again is that digestive issues resolve when we are not introducing carbohydrates into our digestive system. This is partly due to the fact that carbohydrates, and especially components of wheat products like gluten or gliadin (the binding additive), cause micro-tears in the lining of the gut. This often, unfortunately, tends to lead to “leaky gut” and an immune system response, often related to food sensitivities or allergies.
Additional nutritional education may be helpful here. We tend to thing of “whole grains” as “healthy.” However, our bodies are not naturally designed to be able to digest grains well. This is why our ancestors soaked and sprouted grains to make them easily digestible. Otherwise, what happened? You guessed it… inflammation!
Inflammation isn’t just related to the gut or the heart, however. In the work that I have done interacting with others exploring a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic way of eating, I have seen testimonials and pictures of how, even within a day of eating low-carb/ketogenic, the swelling from their arthritis had gone down so much they could get their wedding ring on again. And, in my own life, on a day where I experimented with my carb tolerance (even after 8 solid months of being “strict keto”), after eating carbs in the form of “healthy” beans and whole grain rice, I was so bloated, inflamed, and uncomfortable for the next nearly month that I said “never again!”
Final Thoughts
And, in the end, that’s what it comes down to. Although there are central tenants, everyone lives a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic lifestyle differently. Why? Because everyone’s body is different. This means that everyone’s metabolic function (or dysfunction!) is unique. This also means everyone’s carbohydrate tolerance is unique.
So, while a potato may not kill you, it may be the metabolic death for someone else… Like me!
So, the question isn’t whether “carbs are really that bad” but about if you can tolerate them well. I know that I can’t. So, your nutrition, just like anything else, is about listening to your body and picking up on the signs it tells you. How do you feel after you eat carbs, whether it’s rice or processed pasta? Energetic? Tired? Bloated? All of those things are key factors in helping you to decide how to best answer this question for yourself. (If all of those questions sound overwhelming and you are not sure how or where to keep track, check out my downloadable food-mood log to help you get started on this journey of body awareness.)
Final Myth Busting
In order to really close the page on this question, I think it’s best to end this quest with a truth that often gets lost in translation: Our bodies DO NOT NEED carbohydrates to function. I repeat: DO NOT NEED carbohydrates! You will not have a “carbohydrate deficiency” (one of my favorite criticisms of a low-carbohydrate/ketogenic way of eating that always gives me a chuckle) if you do not eat them. (If you want to get technical, if our body does need a form of carbs for quick fuel, your liver makes all of the carbs you need by pulling from your natural stores of glycogen.)
But, as with anything else I will ever say, don’t take my word for it: in 2005, U.S. National Academy of Medicine declared that there is no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates!
Again, I repeat, carbohydrates are not an essential nutrient, even for athletes!
So, if carbohydrates not essential, cause inflammation, have been linked to metabolic dysfunction, and don’t tend to be easily digestible for people, the better question is “Why would anyone want to eat carbohydrates, anyway?”
