Sugar is the enemy of vitality inside and out, says clinical nutritionist Stephanie J Moore. Here, she explains why being a bread lover, crisp cruncher or chocoholic makes evolutionary sense, and what we can do to get sugar cravings under control.
Are you a self-confessed carb addict? If so, read on. I want to explain why having too many high-carbohydrate foods can undermine your health. Let’s start with a quick definition of what a carb is and the difference between a healthy carb and not-so-healthy carb. Carbohydrates are a huge food group and I want to be very clear from the start, they’re not the enemy. With low-carb and keto (very, very low-carb) diets becoming increasingly popular, it’s easy to believe that all carbs are evil. Not so! All vegetables are carbohydrates – from broccoli to cabbage, cauliflower to lettuce – and there’s no way I would want you to be cutting back on these foods. They are chock-full of valuable nutrients and gut-friendly fibre, along with a small amount of natural sugars (or carbs), that gradually get released into the bloodstream as the vegetables are broken down through digestion.
Similarly, all nuts and seeds contain carbohydrates – some more than others. Macadamia and Brazil nuts are two of the lowest-carb nuts, while chestnuts and cashews are some of the highest. Lentils and beans are medium on the carb scale. Some fruits are sugar-bombs, such as ripe bananas and grapes, whereas others are virtually carb-free, like avocado and coconut. Berries and kiwi are other great low-sugar fruits. Milk contains sugar (quite a lot of it), while meat, fish, eggs and pure fats contain no carbs.
Here’s the carb key that’s often missed: starchy, non-sweet-tasting foods can be as aggressive on blood sugar levels as sugary foods. This is hard for some people to grapple with, so let me explain. Highcarbohydrate starches include grains like wheat, rice, corn and oats, as well as starchy vegetables like potatoes. These foods are especially addictive and can be more problematic when refined (i.e. ground into flour or flakes, puffed, crisped, popped, made to be ‘instant’ or soaked into plant ‘milks’) – think breads, crackers, cereals, rice cakes, pasta, oat milk, instant oats and mash, to name a few. Despite not tasting especially sweet, the carbohydrates in these foods, known as starches, are rapidly digested into glucose. So, whether we’re eating mashed potato or a chocolate bar, starches and sugars alike all break down into identical glucose molecules. This glucose hits the bloodstream quickly and aggressively, creating a blood sugar spike foll
