Eating the Wrong Kind of Carbohydrates Increases Heart Disease Risk

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Your brain runs on sugar & your body runs on carbs---which are loaded with anti cancer,anti heart disease,minerals,vitamins,flavonoids
(complex carbs). Uless your diabetic,Hi GI or low GI is irrelevant if you maintain an active lifestyle.Even with crappy carbs in the 70s nobody gained weight because they were active noe people sit on their ass.

kim of FL 4:18PM October 20, 2012

This is good for my homework

Candy of CT 6:02PM August 15, 2012

Really? You are REALLY telling people to eat half a snickers bar? Really? Now, you have made legimate their bad snacking habits. Wheat bread has a high glycemic index as well. Bad article.

Jason of VA 5:02PM January 19, 2012

What Carbohydrate recommended daily allowances for heart disease patients?

badah 2:25AM January 03, 2012

"What's interesting, though, is that it was the type of carbs, not the amount, that had the health impact."
"Here's a listing of popular foods, but remember that serving sizes still count."
Count for what? I thought this was an article about heart disease and carbs, not calorie counting. Is it really that hard to talk about food and health without veering into weight loss territory? Why not talk how along with eating healthier carbs we should do more aerobic exercise? At least that would make sense.

Michelle of LA 5:55PM October 07, 2010

Well, somewhere there you have to make changes for blood type. When I (type A) ate whole wheat bread, multigrain and rye, weight control was hard to achieve. Now at age 43, eating white bread, and crackers, but no potatoes, no high glycemic fruit, it is easy to control the weight and my waistline.
That was a surprise. Now, knowing your blood type is important, many food we actually like and think as healthy, can harm us. Like when a type B person just loves to eat chicken. It makes them fat, and sick in a while.
I used to eat stakes, with no fat, but that was never good for me. Eating vegetables, it is better for type A. Though not all, or course.
So, the glycemic index is a guide, yes, but all blood types cannot share all the recommendations given there.

Michael Daniel White 3:34PM July 17, 2010

Carbohydrates is bad for me they make me fat. I have to be very careful about how much I eat because it affects my collone. I like bake patatioes alot, that is my down fall. I limet myself to two slices of wheat bread a day because I know that some fruits and vegebales have corbohydrates in them.

Connie Kizziar Chick of TX 2:42PM May 12, 2010

The fact that the ADA and more health care organizations and doctors will not consider the damage being done by our over consumption of carbs/processed food diet (think high fructose corn syrup, sugar, flour, and yes even fruits that spike blood sugar) is a national disgrace that's killing thousands of Americans. Unfortunately, it would be egg on the face of many of these organizations if they had to admit that indeed, low-carb diets are healthier for us (thanks Dr. A) and fat is not the enemy.
For some good resources, read Gary Taube’s book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and check out this podcast by Jimmy Moore:
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/
I applaud Kat in TX for taking the situation into her own hands as the medical community has let us all down on this one.

Melisa of OH 3:47PM April 27, 2010

I read with interest your article titled “Eating the Wrong Kind of Carbohydrate Increases Heart Disease Risk” which reviews a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It shows that eating high glycemic load diets and carbohydrates from high glycemic index (GI) foods increases the risk of heart disease in women. While I applaud your efforts to publicize current nutrition information, your recommendation to “embrace fruits and vegetables with few exceptions: watermelon, pineapple, plums, cantaloupe and raisins” is unrelated to the study findings, confuses what GI and GL tell us and is inaccurate.
According to the authors, the main sources of carbohydrates from high GI foods in the study were bread (61%), sugar, honey and jam (9%), pizza (5%) and rice (3%). The main sources of carbohydrates from low GI foods were pasta (33 %, the study was conducted in Italy), fruit (24%) and cakes (19%).
Blood glucose rises and falls after eating a meal containing carbohydrates. How high it rises and how long it remains high depends on the quality of the carbohydrate (the GI) and the quantity. The GI ranks a food according to the extent to which it raises blood sugar levels after consuming a set portion of carbohydrate (usually 50 grams) compared to the response to eating an equal amount of carbohydrate from a reference food. Glycemic load or GL combines both the quality and quantity of carbohydrate in one number. It is the best way to predict blood glucose values of different types and amounts of food. For example, watermelon, mentioned in your article, has a GI of 72 (high) but since a serving only contains 6 grams of carbohydrate (it is mostly water) the GL is very low. Let’s compare this to white rice. It also has a GI of around 72 but its GL is around 30. This is because the GI is based on 50 grams of carbohydrate and the GL on the amount of carbohydrates in one serving of that food. Other fruits mentioned in your article have similarly low GL, as shown in the table below. Other foods have been added to illustrate the point that the GI of a food does not tell the whole story.
Food GI GL
Watermelon 72 4
Plum 53 6
Pineapple 66 6
Cantaloupe 70 4
Raisins 54 16
Banana 62 16
Grapes 59 11
Pumpkin 74 3
White potato 85 26
Pasta 61 29
White rice 72 30
Fruits provide lots of fiber, micronutrients and protective compounds like polyphenols and carotenoids. They are also low in sodium and high in potassium, important in managing hypertension and reducing risk of stroke. Suggesting that people choose their fruits according to their GI does them a disservice and goes against the recommendations of all US health agencies. Finally, foods that have a GI lower than 55 are considered low GI foods. California sun-dried raisins and plums have GI’s of 54 and 53 respectively. Why single them out as high GI foods?

Arianna Carughi, PhD., CNS of CA 2:30PM April 23, 2010

Most would certainly think brown rice couldn't be bad for you; but if you are prediabetic/diabetic/have high sensitivity to even GOOD carbs, then yes, it can be bad for you. ANY FOOD that spikes your blood sugar; whether it be brown rice and apples, or white rice and candy, is DAMAGING YOUR ARTERIES. This is a fact; do some research. Even good carbs can cause damage. I know, because I am six months into this process and I have experienced PROFOUND changes. I am a 42 yr old female; in November 2009, at 343 lbs., w/ Fasting Blood Sugar: 253. A1C: 8.6. Cholesterol: 237 (LDL 198). I was diagnosed as diabetic. Not wanting to take medication, I decided I had to be insanely vigilant and diligent about controlling my blood sugar, as the spikes in your sugars are what lead to all of the heart damage, etc. I did tons of research and followed the diet recommended by the American Diabetic Association. Guess what? My blood sugar got HIGHER. Then, I saw a nutritionist/dietician who gave me a modified version of the same ADA diet. Still, higher blood sugar, along with all the oxidation and cell damage that goes with it. So, I decided to forge ahead on my own, and focus solely on diet. I bought a meter and testing strips, and began testing 5 mins before each meal, and at the one hour and two hour mark after each meal. I eliminated every single food that made my blood sugar go over 140. In 4 months I went back to the doctor and have lost 31 pounds, 4 inches off my big fat belly, and my new fasting blood sugar is 117 and my new A1c is 5.2. New Cholesterol: 142 w/ HDL 76; my good cholesterol went up 10 points. I also stand when I teach now, not sit; these were the ONLY TWO CHANGES I MADE. I eat COMPLETELY differently than the current standard for diabetes; people should consider really checking that blood sugar and knowing how food affects YOU, and removing foods from your diet, even if a qualified person or a government food pyramid said they were acceptable. I can't eat whole grains, beans, oatmeal, brown rice, most fruits, because they cause HUGE spikes in my blood sugar; well up into the mid-200s... yet they were ALL OVER the ADA diet, and the nutritionist's diet--because conventionally, they're healthy. And of course, I no longer eat any sugar, potatoes, white flour, rice, pasta, etc. My fiber & carbohydrates all come from veggies now. It works-test before and after and eliminate the culprits !! My mother, also a diabetic, took the meds and insulin and ended up having diabetes related heart disease; pacemaker/defibrillator+stents in arteries. She followed the ADA diet for 10 years just blindly believing it would work for her solely because a couple of doctors and dieticians said it would. Check the blood sugar, and eliminate the foods that cause a spike.

Kat of TX 6:24PM April 18, 2010