What you need to know about carbohydrates

Carbohydrates: friend or foe? There’s been a lot of mixed messages over the years about carbohydrates and whether they are bad for us and lead to weight gain. Principal Lead in Public Health Nutrition, Mathew Dick, sets the record straight.

Are carbohydrates good or bad for us?

Mathew: Carbohydrates are certainly good for us, and our bodies need them, but there are high quality carbohydrates and lower quality carbohydrates. What we’ve seen in recent decades, as our food supply has changed, is that more of our carbohydrate intake is coming from foods that have lower quality refined carbohydrates, such as ultra-processed foods – basically packaged and convenience foods that contain a lot of ingredients. So, it’s not that carbohydrates are bad, it’s that our regular daily pattern of eating, dominated by these lower quality carbohydrates, is making us unwell.

What are considered high quality carbohydrates?

Mathew: High quality carbs are found in whole foods, fresh foods, and minimally processed foods that contain just a single ingredient, or few ingredients. Foods like wholemeal and wholegrain breads and crackers, oats, pasta, and brown rice are good examples. Fresh, canned, and frozen vegetables and fruits are also a great source of high-quality carbohydrates, along with legumes like chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils.

Why do we need to eat carbohydrates?

Mathew: Carbohydrates are very important for our bodies to function. They give us energy for our muscles to move. Somewhere between 45-65% of our total energy intake needs to come from carbohydrates. That means eating a wide range of foods throughout the day.

Carbohydrates are also important for brain function. Our brain uses glucose as its source of energy, which comes from carbs. The brain only weighs 2% of your total body weight, but it uses around 20% of all energy produced, so it’s very important that we eat enough high-quality carbohydrate foods to keep the energy flowing for optimal brain power.    

Do carbohydrates make us gain weight?

Mathew: It’s a common misconception that high carb foods like bread and pasta lead to weight gain. However, carbohydrates don’t make us put on weight. It’s unbalanced high-energy dietary patterns that lead to this. So, the problem is eating too many foods that contain lower quality carbs, like ultra-processed foods, takeaways and sweet drinks, which can also contain loads of hidden salt or sugar, and then not moving our bodies enough to burn off that energy. We’ve seen lots of evidence from around the world to support this link between diets high in refined foods and poor health outcomes.

While it’s easy to blame one food group or think that cutting out bread or pasta is the answer, it’s simply not the case. It’s about having a healthy well-balanced diet and eating carbohydrates from high quality food sources.

How many carbs should we be eating?

Mathew: Snacking on healthy foods, like wholegrain breads and crackers, veggies, and fruit throughout the day is great to keep fuelling your body with energy, fibre and many other important nutrients. When it comes to sit-down meals, you want to aim for around 3/4 of your plate to be foods with some carbohydrate, which includes lots and lots of vegetables. Try and make these the high-quality carbohydrates.

Any final words on carbs?

Mathew: Don’t fear carbs! Our bodies need them. There’s lots of conflicting messages out there on social media, but the advice from public health nutrition experts remains what it has for decades: Eating a well-balanced diet and consuming a wide variety of fresh and minimally processed foods really is the best approach to looking after our bodies.

Acknowledgement

Content developed by Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s team of expert nutritionists, dietitians, and exercise physiologists. Special thanks to Mathew Dick, Principal Lead, Public Health Nutrition at Health and Wellbeing Queensland.