It is a challenge to steer clear of nutrition dogma, zealotry, ‘my way or the highway’ diets, and whackadoodle nutrition advice (especially from social media these days).
One of the hottest debate areas remains in the low-carb vs. high-carb arena. Nutrition professionals (or really anyone who has any type of job involving health, exercise, food) tend to polarize and pick on a macronutrient to take much of the blame for increasing obesity and chronic disease rates.
“Your pancakes are too high in carbs. The resulting blood sugar spike contributes to your weight concerns and disease risk.”
vs.
”Your bacon is too high in saturated fat. The resulting inflammatory response contributes to your weight concerns and disease risk.”
These statements are extremely simplistic. Yet, this is the type of messaging that you can easily find on the Interwebs. It is CARB or FAT that is posed as the source of the problem.
Sometimes, this best describes the response to the debate.
While I’m not a fan of the ‘everything in moderation’ argument when it comes to nutrition, try to keep a few things in mind when you are faced with the low carb vs. high carb messages.
It’s just not that simple of an argument, nor a solution. Each of us needs to be considered in our own health, athlete, and lifestyle context. Perhaps this is an immediate “DUH!”, but why do so many of us get easily sucked in to the either/or sides of the carb-fat coin? Take the time to dig into the research from people who aren’t looking to sell you supplements, products, or their agenda. It’s about YOU, not them.
What if we ate bacon AND pancakes in a meal? And let’s not forget the mound of butter and syrup on the pancakes, fake creamer in the coffee, and the glass of juice on the side. No matter whether the meal is primarily carb or fat, one of the (potential) serious issues here is the excess caloric content (and overeating due to the hyper-palatability of a meal such as this).
How are appetite, hunger, and cravings satisfied with the meal? What type of meal composition leaves you the most full for the longest period of time? And eating within your energy needs? There is research to support that weight control can be achieved by selecting a dietary pattern that provides a high level of satiety. Regardless of high carb or low carb. Of course, health isn’t just about body weight and body composition so this argument is just one element of the larger story.
What about food quality? We can’t neglect the importance of micronutrients, anti-inflammatory foods, pre- and probiotic foods, phytonutrients, and so on. These tidbits aren’t given much attention with the high carb vs. low carb debate in the mainstream.
While macros do matter and there is a time and place for manipulating carb and fat intake, it is only a small piece of the metaphorical pie. There are many layers of our nutrition path, including the consideration of who we are…as individuals, athletes, and human beings who want to thrive fully to the End.
-Dina