How should I choose healthy carbohydrates for my diet?

The healthiest carbohydrates are the least processed ones, says fitness and weight loss expert Chris Powell. To learn more about how eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains can help you lose weight, watch this video.

Transcript

00:00

The good kind of carbs are carbs as they occur in nature. We're talking about real, whole, natural carbohydrates

00:06

as they occur on Earth. So we're talking fruits and the colors of the rainbow when it comes to your fruit. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:18

The best way to choose healthy carbohydrates from your diet is to understand what carbohydrates are in the first place. Now, what's happened, of course, in the last 50 years

00:26

or so is that we've begun processing our foods a lot more than we ever did in human history. So the first thing I'm going to tell you

00:33

is that let's start cutting some of those processed foods out. The high sugar foods like your ice cream and your chocolate

00:39

and some of your white breads and your cookies and your crackers. Those are processed foods. It means man got their hands on it.

00:46

They threw it in some machines. They broke it down. And so now we're talking about these processed carbohydrates that your body will break down and spike its blood sugar

00:53

levels. Those are not the good kind of carbs. The good kind of carbs are carbs as they occur in nature. We're talking about real, whole, natural carbohydrates

01:02

as they occur on Earth. So we're talking fruits and the colors of the rainbow when it comes to your fruits. We're talking beans and legumes like lentils.

01:09

Those are fantastic carbohydrates. Or root vegetables like potatoes, like sweet potatoes, or even grains, spelt, barley,

01:18

amaranth, quinoa. These incredible grains are all out there. And now we're talking about real, healthy complex

01:24

carbohydrates. It takes your body a long time to break them down. So we're talking about really slow rise in blood sugar levels, which is going to keep you

01:31

in the green zone throughout the day so your body doesn't go into the red zone. So those are the kind of carbs that we're looking for.