Carbohydrates are not evil

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy that your body needs. That's right needs. Without carbs your body generally doesn't get enough high quality energy for your daily activities. Eating only protein leaves your body to starve in between meals (and especially overnight) because you cannot store protein and eating only fat in place of carbohydrate leads to LOTS of other problems.

If you want to do any kind of physical activity, carbohydrates are a necessity. They directly feed your muscle glycogen stores which are the primary source of energy for your muscles. Also, carbohydrates are the main way that your body feeds your brain the glucose that it needs. So fruits and veggies really are brain foods.

So why do carbohydrates get such a bad wrap? Mostly because our society has become so sedentary. It is easy to eat a lot of carbohydrates without even thinking about it, and when you eat too much at one time you wind up storing it as fat because you have more than you need for the time being. Also, diets like Atkins and South Beach have said "no carbohydrates = weight loss." Most people can't see through that to see that "no carbohydrates = water weight loss." When you have carbohydrates stored in your body you are also storing a significant amount of water with them, but when you cut out carbohydrate for long enough you also lose a lot of water resulting in a chronically dehydrated and lighter body. I think we can all agree that being well hydrated is a good thing, so if you are really wanting to be fit and healthy, cutting carbs out is not a sensible option (although cutting back may not be a bad idea).

Furthermore, your body knows what it needs, so the next time a carbohydrate deficient body gets any carbohydrates it latches on to them to store for later because it has been starving for carb. It may result in dropping some weight, but initially that weight is water weight and in the long term a significant amount of the weight that is lost is muscle. Additionally, the first carbohydrates it gets after starving for days weeks or months get stored right away and sometimes as fat. I don't know about you, but I'm most interested in losing fat, not storing it up to lose water or muscle.

Carbohydrates come in all sorts of different foods. Whole unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables and grains are the best sources because they include other important vitamins and minerals with them, but there's nothing wrong with satisfying your sweet tooth from time to time with a chocolate bar. Whenever possible it's important to include some fiber or protein with carbs because carbohydrates do not trigger your "satiety switch" quite the same way as other nutrients. Satiety has to do with feeling full and satisfied and it takes longer for your body to realize this with carbohydrate than it does with fat or protein. Including enough fiber and staying well hydrated can help too.

The bottom line, carbohydrates are an essential part of your daily diet (and the FDA generally recommends that you get around 50-60% of your daily caloric intake from carbs). Not only that, but if you have even the slightest desire to live an active lifestyle you are going to need carbohydrates to fuel your fun.