Give Carbs a Chance

When it comes to carbohydrates, it's time for an extreme makeover. These macronutrients got a really bad rap in America's recent carbs-are-poison panic. But the pendulum's swinging back as people discover the nutritional truth: Some carbs are good, some are bad.

Eat the good ones and you'll lose the lingering can't-zip-your-pants effect of last winter's mac-and-cheese binges, and you'll lower lousy LDL cholesterol. Eat the bad ones and . . . well, let's not go there.

So what are good carbs? The ones with a low glycemic index (GI) -- a measure of how quickly foods break down and send blood sugar up. The slower, the better. Bad high-GI carbs create blood-sugar spikes that are quickly followed by sharp plunges -- which make you hungry again. Over time, that blood-sugar roller coaster increases your risk of belly blubber, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health problems.

The #1 trademark of good low-GI carbs is that they take a while to digest, which means they're almost always high-fiber foods. Fiber keeps your stomach so busy that these foods plain can't rush into your bloodstream and send sugar levels rocketing. Good carbs include three huge groups: 1) most fruits and veggies; 2) 100% whole-grain anything -- cereals, breads, crackers; whole-wheat pasta and couscous; brown and wild rice; and 3) beans, lentils, and other legumes.

These are the same healthy foods that help keep you feeling full rather than craving "something." That hunger comes from the sugar low that follows the high, by the way. We'll tell you in a future column how to convert aging high-GI carbs into stay-young low-GI carbs.