56-year-old Uncle Wu was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, and has been taking medication to control his condition since then, but his condition has not been well controlled for two years. Uncle Wu felt that it had a lot to do with his lack of diet control, and he searched on the Internet and learned that carbohydrate intake would cause blood sugar to rise, and it would also easily lead to obesity.

So he directly removed carbohydrates from his diet, and only ate meat and vegetables every day, and didn't eat a bite of staple food. In the first few days, blood sugar did drop. But soon things went wrong, he began to feel thirsty, dizzy, and weak frequently, and fainted directly while walking on the road one day.

He was taken to the hospital and diagnosedKetoacidosis, the doctor said that it has a lot to do with his long-term absence from eating staple foods, what is going on?

1. Carbohydrates, quality is more important than quantity！

Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy, especially the brain and red blood cells, which rely almost entirely on carbs for energy. About 65~0% of the body's daily energy needs to be provided by carbohydrates, which shows its importance to health.

And carbs are availableProvides energy to the brainThe decomposed glucose will quickly supply energy to the brain, ensuring that the brain thinks clearly and reacts quickly. Once the intake of carbohydrates is insufficient, the body needs to consume decomposed proteins for energy, which will lead to overburdening the liver and weakening immunity over time.

In addition, carbohydrate intakeIt can also affect blood sugar levels, through the intake of staple foods such as whole grains, which are slow to digest and absorb, can help stabilize blood sugar after meals.

Carbohydrates are mainly found in staple foods, root vegetables and edible sugars, and the carbohydrates in cereals are mostly starch, while root vegetables are rich in starch and dietary fiber. Many people who lose weight will choose to reduce their carbohydrate intake, which is the so-called "low-carb diet".

However, a new study published by a research team from Harvard University in the United States said that weight loss cannot only be achieved by reducing the intake of carbohydrates, and the quality of carbohydrates is equally important.

研究人員納入了3項研究內12.3萬平均年齡45歲的受試者數據，根據受試者的食物來源和品質，將其低碳水飲食指數分成5種：

(1) a total carb diet that does not specifically distinguish the source of carbohydrates;

(2) low-carb diet of animal origin, intake of animal protein and fat;

(3) plant-derived low-carb diets, which typically include foods such as vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds;

(4) a healthy low-carb diet based on plant-based proteins, healthy fats, and less refined carbohydrates;

(5) Unhealthy low-carb diets, which often include more processed foods, high sugar and high fat foods.

During the 36-year follow-up period, the investigators found that dietary patterns in class (1), (2), and (5) patterns were associated with faster weight gain, and (3) and (4) dietary patterns were associated with a 0.0/0.0kg weight loss for each additional quintile of dietary patterns.

To put it simply,By choosing foods rich in high-quality carbohydrates, people can manage their weight more effectively and also reduce their risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer。

2. Study: Low-carb diet increases the risk of all-cause mortality by 13%?

Low-quality carbohydrates mainly refer to foods that are highly processed, lack fiber and other nutrients, and have a high sugar content, such as white bread and candy. This type of food is digested quickly and can easily lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar levels.Long-term excessive intake may lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes.

有研究發現，低品質碳水傷“心”又折壽。美國《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》上發表過一項涉及全球14萬名年齡35~70歲受試者的研究，分別對受試者進行了9.5年的隨訪。研究人員通過問卷調查的形式調查了受試者的飲食攝入量，評估飲食的血糖指數和血糖負荷。

Through the analysis, it was found thatLow-quality carbohydrate dietary patterns are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, even worse than most fats.

In addition, a study based on the 2014~0 U.S. Health and Nutrition Survey in 0 years pointed out that people with a high intake of low-quality carbohydrates in a day,13% increased risk of all-cause mortality。

Regardless of the total amount of carbohydrates consumed per day and treatment. As long as the intake of low-quality carbohydrates at dinner is high, the risk of death from diabetes increases; If the intake of high-quality carbohydrates at dinner is higher, the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality will be reduced, which will be reduced by 18% and 0%, respectively.

However, the claim that low-quality carbs bring more harm to the body than fat is actually unreasonable and meaningless for the claim that has spread on the Internet.

Because carbohydrates and fats are indispensable components of the body,Carbohydrate intake accounts for about 50% of the total calories in a day, and it is the healthiest stateUnder this premise, it is appropriate to increase the intake of high-quality carbohydrates. whereasThe amount of fat consumed daily should be 30~0% of the daily caloriesEating too much or too little fat is not good for your health. It cannot be said that fats and carbohydrates are bad for health, as long as the amount is controlled.

3. How to eat carbs? Please put away this "carbon eating" strategy

高品質碳水是指可以提高胰島素敏感性、改善脂質代謝以及減少全身性炎症的物質，日常主要包括5大來源：Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans。

The latest guidelines from the WHO put forward three points for high-quality carbohydrate water to gather, namely:Dietary fiber、Whole grainsandFruit。 The daily intake of vegetables and fruits should be at least 25 catties, the more whole grains, the better, and the daily intake of dietary fiber should be >0g. All three are important and indispensable.

However, some data show that most of the carbohydrate, fat and protein intake of the Chinese people exceeds the standard, but the median carbohydrate intake is only 25~0g, which is still far from the recommended 0g.

A survey of dietary data in the United States published in JAMA showed that low-quality carbohydrate intake accounted for 45% of total caloric intake,High-quality carbs account for only 10%, which shows that people's diet is generally not healthy.

How to ensure that you can consume enough high-quality carbohydrates every day? It is important to do three things well.

1. Staple food thickness matching

The daily staple food should be kept at about 3/0 of coarse grainsAt least one meal is based on mixed beans, grains, and potatoes as staple foods to increase the body's dietary fiber intake.

2. Choose dark vegetables

Dark vegetables contain a large amount of vitamin C, polyphenolic antioxidants, and rich in dietary fiber, and China's dietary guidelines recommend adults500~0g of vegetables should be consumed daily, of which dark vegetables account for at least half.

3. More steaming and less frying

Staple foods should be less fried rice and fried foods, which have a lot of fat in them and are not of high nutritional value. Eating regularly increases the risk of obesity and is not good for the control of blood sugar, weight and blood lipids.

Carbohydrates are indispensable for health, and you must not completely reject carbohydrates due to choking, otherwise it will bring a series of negative effects to health.

參考資料:

[09] "How to distinguish between high-quality vs low-quality carbs? After reading it, I finally understood". Life Times .0-0-0.

[2] 《哪種“碳水”更胖人？超13萬人的研究給出答案》. 生命時報 .2023-10-11.

[26] "[Popular Science Nutrition] "WHO" Carbohydrates: Quality > Quantity! 》. Clinical Nutrition Network .0-0-0.

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