Telling people carbs are bad is one of the most common advice false fitness gurus will give you while at the same time trying to sell you their special diet. generalizing about carbs and insulin seems to get more popular by the year. Many people believe that the glycemic index and the insulin index ranked foods by how dangerous they are. I already explained the flaws of the glycemic index in an earlier lesson. But you should also know that insulin itself is not bad. Actually, it is required to store glucose which is the sugar in your blood and to use it for energy.

So then, what is this anti carb propaganda all about? While there's some evidence that carbs can cause insulin insensitivity? This is pretty much only the case for people with pre diabetes that are at the same time overeating simple high sugar carbs. So yes, if you don't exercise and your diet consists mostly of candy bars and chocolate, then such carbs will negatively affect your health. However, if you follow a well balanced diet and exercise regularly, then quality carbs will actually be necessary to fuel your workouts. This is also why I usually don't recommend a low carb diet unless you're completely sedentary or your stomach simply doesn't digest them well.

Most people, however, will be better off sticking to quality carbs because cutting them from their diet means restricting their energy source and limiting their potential for muscle growth. So if someone tells you that you need to go low carb to lose weight or to be healthy, you now know that they're probably trying to sell you their alternative superior diet that most often is nothing but hype.