Are Carbs The Enemy?

Love your carbs? A simple DIY test can reveal how your body processes carbs and your carb type, and which can have big health benefits and even help you lose weight.

- Karen Fittall, bauersyndication.com.au

Perplexed about why some people can tuck into as much pasta as they want and never seem to gain weight, but you feel like the scales creep up every time you look at a bread roll? It turns out you’re not just imagining it.

According to Dr Sharon Moalem, a leading geneticist, different people process carbohydrates differently – so while some people thrive on them, others should restrict how many they eat in a day.

“Carbohydrates have been villainised for years, but many of our ancestors who were farmers gave us the genes to thrive on a diet that’s up to 50 per cent carb-based,” says Dr Moalem. “If you inherited a high carb tolerance from your ancestors and you try to severely limit carbs in your diet, you won’t feel very well and any weight loss you achieve won’t be sustainable.

“On the other hand, if your ancestors were hunters and ate very few carbs, they didn’t pass on the genes required for a high-carb diet,” he says. “So if you eat too many carbs, achieving your ideal weight and health status will be almost impossible.”

The surprising news is, you don’t even need an expensive genetic test to work out which carbohydrates ‘group’ you fall into. Take the cracker self-test to find out your carb type.

THE CRACKER SELF-TEST

What you’ll need: An unsalted, unflavoured cracker, like a water cracker, and a timer (the stopwatch function on your phone will work nicely). If you eat a gluten-free diet, swap the cracker for a small piece of raw peeled potato.

What you should do: 

Take a bite of the cracker and begin timing and chewing – resist the urge to swallow! You need to pay attention as you’re chewing, to note when the cracker changes taste.