Do Carbohydrates Make Me Fat?

No, but that dress does.  Just kidding!  Your body requires 3 macro-nutrients:  Proteins, Fats and Carbohydrates.  You should not eliminate any one of these categories from your diet.  In fact, ideally, you should eat from each of these categories at every meal!  Now, carbohydrates come in all different shapes and sizes . . . and qualities.  Some carbs are pure fluff and provide little to no nutritional value to your body.  These include refined sugars and overly-processed flours: i.e. candy, cupcakes, white bread, white rice, crackers, and even pretzels and bagels.  When you eat grain carbohydrates, make sure they are made from whole-grains: i.e. oatmeal, whole wheat bagels, quinoa, and brown rice.  But realize, too, that vegetables and legumes are a great source of the carbohydrates that your body needs!  The key here is to eat as naturally as possible and avoid too many processed products.  If you do choose to eat from a package, read the ingredients and look for higher fiber numbers and lower sugar numbers. And combine the carbs that you eat with a protein and a fat.  This will help moderate your body’s uptake of the food and keep your blood sugar more stable.  And this really is the key to avoiding the fat accumulation that occurs in response to “feast” and “famine” blood sugar spikes and dips.  So, eat carbs.  Just try to eat mostly good quality carbs and eat a lean protein and a good fat with those good carbs.  You’ll feel the difference in the energy you have to face each day!