- If you want to eat well and lose weight, 75% of your plate should consist of carbohydrates, says Dr. Mark Hyman.
- Carbohydrates like green vegetables and fruits should be the bulk of your diet by volume, not calories.
- These foods are rich in nutrients, in contrast to refined carbohydrates, such as sugar, which can be harmful to health.
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Carbohydrates have a bad reputation today amid the popularity of low-carb and ketone diets. People started to associate many carbohydrates with insulin resistance, weight gain and unhealthy eating habits.
Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Dr. Mark Hyman, a family doctor who specializes in a food-as-a-medicine approach to health and author of “Food Fix” and “Eat Fat, Get Thin” .
“Carbohydrates are the most important thing you can eat for health and weight loss,” Hyman told Insider in an email interview about his new book, “The Pegan Diet”.
Both the quality and quantity of carbohydrates are important for your dietary goals, he explained. Sources of carbohydrates with high nutrient content and low calories can be the basis of a healthy diet, helping to cut “empty” calories, such as sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your diet by volume, not calories
The standard American diet (SAD for short) is often criticized for fueling high rates of insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction and obesity. It contains a lot of carbohydrates – dietary guidelines recommend that carbohydrates make up 45-65% of daily calories, but studies show that Americans generally get most of that from processed foods.
“In fact, most of the SAD diet consists of refined carbohydrates from bread, rice, cereals, pasta and sweets,” said Hyman
It’s okay to make carbohydrates the center of your diet, Hyman said, but not getting most of your calories from these processed sources.
The key to the ideal diet, according to Hyman, is to fill 75% of your plate with nutritious and starchless vegetables, such as vegetables, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.
Since these foods have fewer calories, they leave plenty of room to supply your daily energy needs with healthy sources of fat, such as fish, olive oil and avocado, and proteins from sources such as beans, meat and eggs.
Prioritize ‘slow’ carbohydrates, such as nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables
For a healthy 75% carbohydrate diet (by volume), the type of carbohydrate source is very important.
“A sundae with hot chocolate sauce and cauliflower falls into the carbohydrate category, but they are totally different foods,” said Hyman.
Targeting carbohydrate sources such as green leaves, berries and starch-free vegetables allows you to get the maximum return on your investment, in terms of daily energy.
That’s because they come packed with nutrients like fiber, vitamins, phytonutrients and minerals, which help promote healthy digestion and a strong microbiome (beneficial bacteria in your gut).
These “slow” carbohydrates, as Hyman calls them, help you feel full and energized longer after eating, avoiding the spikes and drops in blood sugar that “fast” carbohydrates, like sugar, can cause.
Treat sugar and other refined carbohydrates as occasional treats, not staple foods
Unlike fruits and vegetables, Hyman said, refined and processed carbohydrates should be treated as recreational drugs – consumed in limited quantities as an occasional indulgence, if applicable.
Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, a food addiction researcher and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, told Insider that the combination of sugar and fat in processed foods can encourage us to eat more than we intend.
Gearhardt said he can be hyped compare addictive foods to drugs, but the risks must be taken seriously.
This can be challenging when processed foods are more available than fresh ingredients and if you don’t have time to cook.
“We all have to eat, and it is not a uniform playing field, as these foods are designed to use our biology against us,” said Gearhardt. “It’s like drinking beer in drinking fountains. This is our food environment.”
Gearhardt’s solution is to try to avoid having too many processed foods at home, whenever possible, and to be deliberate about choosing to give in.
“I think of them in the same way as red wine. It is a careful process with limits and
mindfulness
,” she said.