I hear far too often that people think they are being healthy and are really interested in nutrition and so they don’t eat carbs.  People think they are being really healthy by not eating bread, potatoes and pasta.  Some even think fruit is bad for you and will make you fat. Hmmm, I doubt anyone has got fat from eating too much fruit!  We are designed to eat plants, including fruits and they are packed full of the nutrients our bodies are designed to eat, digest and utilise.

Think about this very simply.  The staple foods in Africa and Asia are carbs and the vast majority of the populations in those continents are not overweight at all.  I am not talking about the underfed but those who can eat sufficiently.  That is not just due to genetics because the populations who live in cities and adopt Western style diets get fat!  They tend to eschew the carbs of their rural compatriots and instead eat meat and carbs cooked with fat such as crisps and chips, which will make you fat.  This is an excellent book to read if you want to understand more about how carbs do not make you fat and how they are actually healthy.

I have done a lot of research and believe carbs in themselves do not make you fat and are actually healthy.   It is true that there is a lot of conflicting advice out there and there are some who are qualified and practising nutritionists who follow a Paleo diet which excludes cereal grains, legumes, refined sugar and potatoes.  There are also many qualified Doctors and nutritionists who recommend a plant based diet for optimum health. So too does at least one of the mainstream diets people follow in the UK.  Slimming World allocates points and you have a daily limit.  You can eat a protein based diet or a carb based diet with unlimited amounts of carbs.  Because carbs do not make you fat and unless you have an intolerance/allergy, they are good for you.

This is the diet plan from a documentary.  The documentary is worth watching and the book worth reading.

This book is excellent and explains why we need to eat whole foods.  Cut out the processed crap and stop mucking about with food and eat whole foods for health. This is really difficult to adhere to but it does make perfect sense to me.  Eat plants.  Fullstop.  You get everything you need and everything you are designed to eat from plants.  Plant foods contain carbs/fats/proteins in the proportions our bodies are designed to eat ie 80/10/10. So, I did my best to eat just plants today.  It is difficult but when I stick to it I lose weight and feel great.

I really fancied some citrus fruit for breakfast. I blended the orange and clementines together with 3 frozen bananas to make a soft serve nice-cream.  I love the flavour of oranges and bananas together and as long as you have a really good blender, it comes out completely smooth.   I topped it with some Goji berries and cacao nibs. I ended up eating lunch very late, partly because I badly burned the first batch of rice I was making!  So while I cooked another lot I ate some of this which is really good.  Mainly dried figs, with some almonds, anise and cumin. Finally the rice was cooked and so was the tray of oven roasted veggies.  I roasted them without adding any oil or salt.  Yes, oil and salt make them taste better but I am on a diet!  I seasoned them with soy sauce and green Tabasco and ate 2 bowls. I needed nothing else until a late supper of some fruit.  I bought 2 punnetts of blueberries by mistake.  They are expensive so I rarely buy them but I wanted some this week.  These were £4 but tasted really good. These were cheaper at £2.50 (slightly smaller pack) but quite tasteless so the more expensive ones were the preference. I ate the cheaper Ocado blueberries with a mango and some grapes.  And then finished the fig and almond wheel

So people, if you think you can’t eat carbs, think again.  Fruits and vegetables are the best foods you can eat.  If you find you get bloated and feel gassy and uncomfortable when you eat carbs, try food combining properly.

If you eat meat, fish and eggs, eat them with vegetables only, not starchy carbs.  Meat takes several hours to digest and requires acid provided by the stomach.  Carbs are digested by enzymes in the mouth (which is why you have to chew thoroughly) and small intestines so keep them separate to avoid bloating.

Ideally ( in my vegan opinion), don’t eat animal proteins at all and instead eat rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, pulses, beans and legumes with vegetables.

Eat fruits on their own or with vegetables.  Don’t eat fruits after a meal.

Whatever you eat, don’t cook it in or cover it in fat.

Read up on the health benefits of carbs and if you think they don’t agree with you, try food combining.  Apart from the health benefits, the other significant benefit is that they are cheap 🙂