All Carbs Aren’t Bad


AUBURN, Feb. 13, 2004 --- Culinary McCarthyism is sweeping America and it is based on a 
deceptively simple premise: Cut the carbs, all carbs.

Have we missed something?  One nutritionist thinks so.  Not all carbs are bad, he said.  True, 
some are -- the high-calorie, sugar-laden ones such as cookies, candy and cakes.  That’s why 
they’re called junk food.  Many others aren’t, and some are essential to good health.

“Because of the popularity of the Atkins diet and other factors, people have really begun thinking 
that carbohydrates are bad,” said Dr. Robert Keith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System 
nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.  “But carbohydrates are 
a natural food source.  They’re something that the body --- the brain especially --- needs as an 
energy source.” 

The brain, in fact, uses only carbohydrates as a food source, he said.

One factor contributing to the carb conundrum, Keith said, is the flood of dietary information 
pouring out of newspapers and computer and TV screens virtually on a daily basis.  Case in 
point: a study recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 
Americans are consuming more calories than ever and are growing obese as a result.  Carbs 
were fingered as one of the culprits.

The problem, Keith said, is that many consumers are apt to read the worst into these findings.  
He said the important thing to remember is that carbs were not identified as the sole culprit, just 
one of the culprits.

“The gist of the CDC’s argument is that people are consuming more calories a day, and this is 
probably the reason why they’re becoming obese,” Keith said.  “And it’s true that some of the 
most readily accessible foods often turn out to be carbohydrate food.  But it’s not the carbs per se 
that are causing the problem.  The problem is that you’re getting too many calories regardless of 
where they’re coming from.”

Instead of throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater, Keith recommends keeping the 
carbs.  Just make sure they’re the right ones --- beans, whole wheat bread, whole fruits and 
vegetables.

“They’re good for you, unlike the so-called bad carbohydrates,” Keith said.  “They’re less 
calorically dense, which is good, and they’re also full of fiber and water, which is also good.  You 
would have to eat a heck of a lot them to get the same amount of calories you would from junk 
food carbs made up almost entirely of sugar.”

Besides, Keith said, no long-term diet devoid of these healthy foods will do you much good 
anyway.

“True, as long as calories are down, you can lose weight, regardless of whether you’re following a 
high-carb or low-carb diet,” Keith said.  “But the big issue is what you choose to eat for the rest of 
your life.  And when you factor in this big issue, carbs are very essential.  Yes, you need to stay 
away from carbohydrates that are high in calories.  But as for healthy carbs --- fruits, vegetables 
and beans --- you need to make every effort to include them in your diet.”

Eating carbs has been a major flashpoint in the ongoing debate about diet and healthy living.  

Physicians who support the low-carb Atkins diet are even lobbying federal policymakers to alter 
the USDA’s food guide pyramid to emphasize low-carb fare.  They have proposed an altered 
design in which fats, especially heart healthy ones such as olive oils, would comprise the heavily 
favored base of the pyramid, while some breads and refined starches would be squeezed farther 
into the top with less desirable red meat.  

For his part, Keith doesn’t foresee such large, wholesale changes, though he does expect the 
pyramid will be tweaked some to emphasize more whole grains and beans while de-emphasizing 
white bread, flour and processed carbohydrates.

[Source:  Dr. Robert Keith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System Nutritionist and 
Auburn University Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, (334) 844-3273; Writer: Jim 
Langcuster, Extension News and Public Affairs Specialist, (334) 844-5686.]