CARBOHYDRATES, FRIENDS OR ENEMIES?

Carbohydrates, are they good? Are they bad? Do they make us get fat…? So many questions around them and because of them!

One thing that is important to know is that not all carbohydrates are the same – there are different kinds that we can easily sum up in four groups:

• Cereals
• Potatoes and similar stem tubers
• Sugar and Sweets (like cookies, cakes, tarts…)
• Fruit

What makes each group different from the other is the impact they have on our glycaemic index.

The carbohydrates so called “simple” like sugar and sweets (especially if processed) tend to increase our glycaemic index very quickly and release insulin, a hormone that stocks the nutrients and so the fat from the food we eat.

Fruit has the same effect in fact we advise to eat 2-3 portions of fruit per day, even better if you can eat it with the skin – after we wash it properly 😉

The carbohydrates that are called “complex” like pasta, cereals, potatoes have a low impact on our glycaemic index, they make us feel full more easily and give us lots of good energy.

By saying that we don’t want to mean that sweets and sugar have to be avoided, of course not. It is important to be wise when we eat them and do not exaggerate with anything. It is always better to choose home-made, artisanal pastries or cookies more than processed foods that are in general full of sugar, bad fats and food additives.

At Baci di Dama, we believe that no food has to be excluded from our diet (expect for gluten if we are cealic and for all those foods we are allergic, sensitive, intolerant to) – the importance is to vary what we eat as much as we can.

As far as carbohydrates are concerned, we would recommend to:

• choose whole cereals versus more refined ones and eat them with fibres (vegetables, beans, pulses, fruit…)
• keep an eye on the quantity we eat per meal
• privilege sweets, cakes, tarts that are artisanal or home-made. If processed, please buy those with the shortest ingredients list.