carbs

When someone first comes to me one of the first areas I will look at nutritionally is the quantity and quality of their carbohydrate intake. Eat too many carbohydrates and you make your life trying to lose weight very difficult. Read a previous blog article of mine on carbs here to find out why. But also eating the wrong types of carbohydrates (even in low quantities) can make weight loss very difficult.

In my experience most people find it very difficult to cut them out totally from certain meals. Most people are so used to having rice, pasta or bread on the side of a meal that it is ingrained as a habit. So just trying to eliminate that habit is likely to prove unsuccessful and unmaintainable in the long term. To be successful you need to make the change as close to what you were doing before as possible. So basically you notice little or no difference.

That’s where the bulgar wheat comes in. It can be simply cooked plain and put on the side of a dish just in the same way rice of noodles would be. Or you can follow a recipe and add things to it to make a dish. And I actually think it takes better.

What Are The Most Common Carbs People Eat?

I am going to stick to savoury carbohydrates for this article (the sugary ones can be saved for another time!) The ‘big 4’ as I call them are bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. Obviously brown is better in all of these but that certainly doesn’t mean eating them is going to help you lose weight. Quite the opposite, because the levels of carbohydrates and calories are so high that it makes it really difficult for most people to use up all that energy and not end up storing it as fat.

Calories – in 200g of cooked rice (which is not a large portion) you get 242 calories. And 262 cals for the same quantity of pasta. In 200 grams of cooked bulgar wheat you get just 166 cals.
More than that for the same serving size rice would provide 56 grams of carbs, pasta 50g, and bulgar wheat just 37g.

What Health Benefits Does Bulgar Wheat Have?

Firstly it is an unrefined and low GI carb so will not play havoc with your blood sugar levels. One of the nutritional benefits that make it stand out is its fibre content. To keep to the quantity above 200 grams of bulgar wheat would provide 9 grams of fibre. For the same quantity white rice would provide 0.8 grams and brown rice 3.6 grams. And brown rice is generally considered a high fibre food which goes to show how high bulgar wheat is. A high fibre diet is good for your digestion but will also keep you feeling fuller for longer. Or put another way you don’t have to eat as much of it as other foods to be full.

Bulgar wheat is also high in iron, magnesium and manganese. It also contains good quantities of vitamin B6 and niacin. And 200g contains 6 grams of protein to top it off!

Conclusion – Is Bulgar Wheat The Perfect Carb Substitute?

You are saving yourself calories and carbohydrates by switching to bulgar wheat. You are also adding in more fibre as well as other vitamins and minerals. And it really will make no difference to your dish. Whether it’s rice, pasta, bulgar wheat or whatever there really isn’t much flavour to it on its own. So try it on the side of a stir fry for example and see what you think!

Most of us are in a rush in the morning. So a quick and easy choice would be to grab a couple of bits of toast or some cereal and get going. But neither of those choices are very nutritious and if you are trying to lose weight they will certainly not help. So I thought I would share a few of my top breakfast choices.

1/ Porridge

If you are going to have carbs (and you do need to have some even if you are trying to lose weight) the earlier you have them in the day the better. Earlier in the day your body is better equipped to process and metabolise the calories you put in it . Also you have all day to burn the calories off. Oats are highly nutritious, low GI and a great source of slow release carbs. So they won’t spike your blood sugar, give you an energy rush and then leave you feeling lacking in energy and hungry again. They will give you a steady release of energy throughout the morning. I would make it with milk (you can use water) and add some berries or a little honey for some natural sweetness.

2/ Cereal

Most cereals are not a good choice. They are high in processed sugar, will not fill you up and will give you very little nutritional value. You could have Weetabix, that’s not too bad. Or better still make my Oat Cereal. It’s basically a granola, but with no added junk. It’s really easy to make and will store in a container for weeks.

3/ Eggs

Admittedly you need a little more time for this one. You could either do an omelette or scrambled eggs and add a selection of veg to it to bulk it out a bit. Personally I would choose this as my lunch option my often that my breakfast option as it does take a little longer to prepare. That said, if you have the time it’s a high protein breakfast full of nutrients so will keep you full throughout the morning and give you a great start to the day.

Conclusion – Top Breakfast Choices

Any of these 3 would be a good choice and are all quick and tasty. So there is no excuse to go for a sugary cereal or toast.

Given the choice, most people would choose white carbs (bread, pasta, rice, cous cous etc) over the brown version. Most people prefer the taste, and certainly in the case of rice the white version is a lot quicker to prepare. But the calories are pretty much the same whether you choose white or brown. But time and time again we are told to choose brown over white. So why eat brown carbs over white carbs? And is it really that important?

What’s the Difference?

Basically the brown version contains the whole grain and is unprocessed. Let’s take rice as an example. The brown rice grain consists of the bran (highly fibrous), and the germ (highly nutrient dense).  With white rice both of these are removed. So essentially you are removing the vast majority of what is good for you. So with white rice you are left with a food very low in fibre and nutrient value. Pretty much empty carbs and calories. Brown rice is far higher in fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

What’s the Effect?

One of the biggest differences between white and brown carbs is the effect they have on your blood sugar levels. Brown rice is very high in both fibre and magnesium. Both of which are incredibly good at regulating your blood sugar levels and keeping them as consistent as possible. Because white rice has very little fibre or magnesium you get a much greater blood sugar spike. Have a look at my previous article on blood sugar levels for more detail, but basically, peaks and troughs in your blood sugar levels will have a big negative impact on your weight loss attempts.

You also increase you risk of medical conditions such as diabetes by eating white carbs. One study found those you ate white carbs were 31% more likely to get type 2 diabetes than those who choose brown alternatives.

The taste difference

I get told a lot by people that they prefer white to brown. To be honest I don’t really buy that argument. Neither has much flavour, it’s what you have with it that will give you that. I would argue people are just more used to eating white carbs and don’t like the look/thought of making the change more than anything else. Most of us hate change! But once you get into the habit of eating brown carbs you will soon realise the difference is minimal in terms if taste. But the potential difference in terms of health and weight loss on the other hand is huge.

Conclusion – Why Eat Brown Carbs over White Carbs?

Having white carbs occasionally is really not the end of the world and won’t make or break you weight loss. But by eating the brown version as often as possible you will go a long way to increasing your fibre and nutrient intake and keeping your blood sugar levels more constant. All of these factors will help your weight loss attempts.

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Are carbs really that bad? Following on from a previous article I am delving into the positives and negatives of certain carbs; are carbs really that bad? I am not saying definitely eat ‘x’ and definitely don’t eat ‘y,’ but having the knowledge detailing what each carb gives you will help you make better choices for you.

Are Carbs Really That Bad?

 

The constant message from newspaper and magazine articles for anyone who wants to lose weight is basically ‘DO NOT EAT THEM.’ This is (a) unrealistic, (b) unnecessary and (c) actually incredibly unhealthy.  But at the same time there is no getting away from the fact that certain types of carbs do contain an extremely high level of energy, sugars and/or calories which do make weight loss much more difficult.

Most people just try to eat as few carbs as possible. But what’s important is understanding what calories (and other nutritional values) are in what foods and making balanced, sensible choices from there.

All the foods below are weighed in raw form for consistency for a 100 gram portion;

	Carbs	Sugars	Calories	GI rating
White Rice	85	–	383	63
Brown Rice	81.3	–	357	50
White Bread	62	4.1	265	75
Brown Bread	51	5.0	245	51
White Pasta	74	2.8	324	46
Brown Pasta	66.2	2.4	342	42
Baked Potato	31	1.2	136	85
Baked Sweet Pot	21.3	4.2	87	42
Cous Cous	51	–	227	65
Quinoa	64	–	309	53
Lentils	48.8	–	297	21
Chickpeas	49.6	–	320	10
Oats	66	–	388	51
Ice Cream	24	21	207	38
Digestive (Choc)	68	29.5	495	60
Crisps	53	0.2	536	54

 

From the table you can see how these different types of carbs compare. It is important to note that in some instances the calorie comparisons can be misleading. For example it would be easy to eat 100g biscuits, but 100g oats would be an ENORMOUS portion once cooked. I have kept all the quantities the same so it’s easy to compare them, but it’s important to think about how much you would eat per portion.

Glycaemic Index

The GI (glycaemic index) rating is the effect a particular food has on your blood sugar levels. The higher the value, the higher your blood sugar will be raised. If blood sugar levels are spiked and then fall quickly you will feel hungry again pretty quickly. So the lower the value the better really.

Most people have no idea how many carbohydrate calories they are eating on a daily basis. For example on the back on a pack of rice it normally suggests 75 grams as a portion size. Most people eat a fair bit more than that. So you may be consuming 400/500 just from the rice part of your meal.

Then look at cous cous. Firstly its already lower in calories and carbs in its dry form. Secondly because it puffs up a lot more than rice when it absorbs water, the packet suggests a portion of just 36g (less than half that of rice).

75g (raw) portion of white rice –  290 calories and 64g carbs

36g (raw) portion of cous cous – 80 calories and 19g of carbs.

That is a massive difference for 2 carbs that can sit on the side of your plate and do the same job. Plus you get a whole lot more nutrient value from cous cous.

Another simple substitution sweet potato in place of regular potato. You save yourself a third of the carbs, nearly half of the calories, and half of the GI rating. And it gives you a lot more nutrients. And I would argue that the flavour you get from sweet potato is actually better than normal potato anyway.

Conclusion – Are Carbs Really That Bad?

Try to keep the complex carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes) low and get your carbs from more nutrient rice (and lower calorie) sources such as sweet potatoes, lentils and cous cous.

All in all I advise to try and make carbs around 25% or your calorie intake and increase the ratio of protein/veg. It’s important to understand that carbs re in a LOT of foods not just the ones above. Milk, yogurt, a lot fruits and veg all contain carbs. So using a tool such as my fitness pal is great because you just put the foods into the system and it will works out the carbs (and everything else) for you.

NEVER try to cut out carbs completely. You will starve you body of a vital food group and regret doing so in the long run.