I can't get over the fact that carbohydrates still seem to be a sort of mystery to me, not unlike the workings of health insurance or love.
For no matter how old I get or how much I read on the topic, I always go back to white bread and croissants, biscuits and bagels, shaking my head at the bulgar and high-protein whole grain bread, happy I've been with them but loathe to stay exclusive.
But the real truth is, when it comes to food and health, the refined, processed foods we eat contribute mightily to more health problems than we can shake an insurance card at. Everything from diabetes to high cholesterol and through the roof triglycerides to obesity, tooth decay, migraines and stomach aches; from constipation to cancer, when it comes to food, the whiter it is, the worse it is for us.
The other night I couldn't sleep thinking about how many white bread biscuits my picky-eater son had consumed over the last month. While I have banned sugar from our breakfast table, I haven't stopped the bagels and biscuits in the morning. A source of comfort to me and to him - he loves the taste and texture, and I love knowing he's eaten breakfast - they are nevertheless devoid of any real nutritional value, including fiber, and honestly, just turning into sugar in his gut anyway.
In the name of keeping my son healthy, the white flour in our house has got to go away. My diet is now free of refined white sugar and alcohol thanks to a miserable wake up call of triglycerides over 500 (extremely high). Genetically, my children are predisposed to this as well - so why feed them these things at all?
The following link provides some of the clearest information I have ever read on carbohydrates and can help us all to stay on the straight, narrow, brown path of whole grains and unprocessed living.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates-full-story/
Aimee Boyle lives and works hard to understand carbs and more in CT. She is a regular contributor to EmpowHER.