All The Most Delicious, Bad-For-You Carbs Are Beige

Did you ever notice that all the really delicious food is beige? Grilled cheese. French toast. Baked potatoes. Doughnuts. Turns out there's a reason for that, as some carbs are worse for you than other carbs. Some low-carb dieters are also set on cutting down on the carbohydrates in fruit and vegetables as well. But Dr. Xand Van Tulleken, from the documentary The Truth About Carbs, points out that these dieters would do well to stick to "green carbs" and avoid the other ones.

The BBC website features an interview with Dr. Van Tulleken today, in which he outlines three different kinds of carbs: starch (beige), sugar (white), and fiber (green). he explains: "Most of the starch and sugar in these beige and white carbs are broken down into glucose for energy, and if you eat too much, the glucose is stored as fat." Conversely, the fiber in green carbs not only helps to keep you full: "It's good for your teeth and gums and good for your guts, keeping everything moving and feeding your gut bacteria."

Yes, a lot of this advice seems pretty basic, but is also well worth a reminder. It's also a fairly easy color-coded way to steer your diet. After all, Van Tulleken points to a small two-week study in which the participants ate green carbs instead of white or beige ones; not only did most of them lose a significant amount of weight, but "patients had altered their diets as requested and opted for more green carbs."