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Introduction
In the last couple of decades, carbohydrates have experienced an increasing amount of negative campaigning. In general, the main argument is that carbohydrates have been viewed as the root cause for obesity, diabetes and several other diseases including heart disease and behavioral disorders. However, there can often be a lack of appreciation that not all carbohydrates are equal in their health effects.
Beyond this, now there has even been confusion as to whether high fiber diets with whole grains are good for you or bad. This is mostly a result of strong claims made by people with large online followings and promoting specific diets.
What does the best evidence tell us about different carbohydrate types and impacts on health outcomes? Should carbohydrates be viewed as inherently harmful? How solid is the evidence on whole grains, legumes and other high-fiber carbohydrate-rich foods?
To help us tease through the science in this area, in this episode we get some answers from nutrition epidemiologist, Dr. Andrew Reynolds.
Related resources
- Join the Sigma newsletter for free
- Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium
- Become a member of Alan Flanagan’s Alinea Nutrition Education Hub
- Further Reading:
- Carbohydrate quantity – Is there a U-shaped curve of risk?
- What is carbohydrate “quality”?
- Evidence to date on carbohydrate quality and health
- Pros and cons of using GRADE to rate nutrition research
- Evidence on fiber and whole grains intakes in people with diabetes
Guest Information
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Dr. Andrew Reynolds is a nutrition epidemiologist working with achievable lifestyle and environment change in the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He primarily conducts randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses. Much of his work is to inform evidence-based dietary or clinical guidelines, policy, and food reformulation.
Danny Lennon has a master’s degree (MSc.) in Nutritional Sciences from University College Cork, and he is the founder of Sigma Nutrition.
Danny is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Sports Nutrition Association, the global regulatory body responsible for the standardisation of best practice in the sports nutrition profession.
Introduction to this Episode
In the last couple of decades, carbohydrates have experienced an increasing amount of negative campaigning. In general, the main argument is that carbohydrates have been viewed as the root cause for obesity, diabetes and several other diseases including heart disease and behavioral disorders. However, there can o en be a lack of appreciation that not all carbohydrates are equal in their health effects.
Beyond this, now there has even been confusion as to whether high fiber diets with whole grains are good for you or bad. This is mostly a result of strong claims made by people with large online followings and promoting specific diets.
What does the best evidence tell us about different carbohydrate types and impacts on health outcomes? Should carbohydrates be viewed as inherently harmful? How solid is the evidence on whole grains, legumes and other high-fiber carbohydrate-rich foods?
To help us tease through the science in this area, in this episode we get some answers from nutrition epidemiologist, Dr. Andrew Reynolds.
Dr. Andrew Reynolds is a nutrition epidemiologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He is working with achievable lifestyle and environment change in the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He primarily conducts randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. Much of his work is to inform evidence-based dietary or clinical guidelines, policy, and food reformulation.
Connection to Previous Episodes
#480: How Much Fiber Do We Need for Good Health? – Prof. Joanne Slavin
- In this recent episode, Prof. Joanne Slavin discussed an overview of the evidence on dietary fiber.
- Specifically, we discussed questions like: What are current fiber recommendations based on? What outcomes have the strongest evidence for benefit?
- Similar to the current episode, we also mentioned some of the early fiber research (by Burkitt and others) and current recommended fiber intakes.
- You can find the episode page here.