Speaker A [00:00:00]:
Hello, everyone. So today I’m going to be talking to you about carbs. Yes, carbs. Carbs get such a bad reputation, but the truth is, if you’re going to be eating a healthy diet for paralysis that helps you lose weight, improve your bowels, and feel energetic and amazing, you’re going to need to eat carbs. Yes. Which is good news, right? We love carbs. So let’s get started. Welcome to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast, where changing your eating habits is the key to losing weight in improving bowel health and feeling your best.
Speaker A [00:00:34]:
I’m your host, Fatima Fakouri. I’m a registered dietitian who’s married to a quadriplegic and specializes in nutrition for paralysis. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and motivated so you can take control of your health using the power of food. Let’s get started. This is the Paralysis Nutrition podcast. So the first thing I want to kind of educate everyone about is that carbs are not all bread and pasta and rice. Carbs are all plants, okay? So fruits, vegetables, whole grains, all of these things are carbs. So fruits, vegetables, whole grains, those are really healthy foods.
Speaker A [00:01:14]:
Now, most people don’t focus on those foods when it comes to the carbs that they’re eating. Most people are eating the starchy carbs, right? So your bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, things like that. And to be honest, I will say that the vast majority of people who come through the paralysis nutrition coaching program, and to be honest, people in general, people around the world, everyone eats too many carbs. Everyone who’s not paying attention eats too many carbs. Especially if you are a person who skips meals. Especially if you’re a person who doesn’t know about macros, Right? Macros are your proteins, fats, and carbs. Especially if you’re a busy person who just takes things and runs, you’re probably going to be eating too many carbs. So just wanted to put it out there that carbs are not all, you know, cakes and cookies and breads and pastas and rice.
Speaker A [00:02:07]:
Carbs are also these more wholesome foods, right? These fruits, vegetables, whole grains that have fiber. Fiber is so, so important. And fiber is only found in carbs. There’s no fiber in meat. There’s no fiber in dairy. Fiber is found in plants. And the vast majority of people that I speak with in my coaching program and just, you know, on social media, they’re all constipated and they want to lose weight, Right? Two separate things, but fiber is really important for both of those things. Fiber helps keep you full Right.
Speaker A [00:02:42]:
So if you eat a piece of whole wheat bread that has 4 or 5 grams of fiber, it’s going to keep you fuller for longer than if you eat a slice of white bread. Right. The same can be said about things like quinoa, which is high fiber versus white rice. Right? So carbs get this bad reputation because people are focusing on the. I don’t want to say wrong, right. But I want to say the less nutritious types of carbs. So if you are a person living with paralysis and you want to spend less time pooping, who doesn’t? And you want to lose weight, you’re going to need to eat enough fiber. So when it comes to carbs, you’re going to need to eat the right carbs.
Speaker A [00:03:24]:
So high fiber carbs are usually going to be your fruits, your vegetables, and your whole grains. Right. There’s no fiber in cake. And I know that most people who are exposed to, you know, just like the general wellness culture that’s out there. I think a lot of people are really weary about carbs. Oh, I have to cut carbs. Oh, this week I’m not eating carbs. Carbs make you fat.
Speaker A [00:03:49]:
All of this is nonsense. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains do not make you gain weight. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains help you poop, and they are nutritious, and you should be eating them now. On the flip side, if you’re eating too many of those starchy carbs, the potatoes, the rice, pasta, white pasta, stuff like that, you’re going to gain weight, right? Because when we eat too many of anything, right, Too many calories, we gain weight. People with paralysis are much more likely to be diabetic, and it’s really, really important to focus on those healthier carbs, those fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, so that you can feel full and you don’t end up binging, you know, on chips or cookies or those other types of carbs. So carbs are really important for people with paralysis, not just because, you know, they’re a macronutrient and we need to eat all macronutrients, but because carbs are where you find fiber. If you’re not eating fiber, you’re going to be constipated. So many people I talk to are on laxatives and Miralax, and they’re not paying attention to how much fiber they’re eating.
Speaker A [00:05:03]:
So when I say, you know, this episode is called the Truth About Carbs. So the truth about carbs is you need to be eating them, but you need to be eating more of those Complex carbs. Complex carbs have the fiber versus the simpler carbs, which are your white flours and white sugar and stuff like that. So the truth about carbs is that you should be eating them and that you need to eat them. I have spoken to tons of people who start my program and they say, you know, I tried keto, which I’m going to do an episode on keto. I don’t have the strength to do it right now. I’m not going to get into keto and why it’s not right and why it’s dangerous for paralysis. But I will say a lot of people in the paralysis and sci community, especially lately, have been talking about keto.
Speaker A [00:05:50]:
And keto eliminates carbs. And almost everyone who does keto and has paralysis has terrible constipation because you’re not allowed to eat fruit, you’re not allowed to eat beans, you’re not allowed to eat so many healthy carbs, right? You’re not allowed to eat any carbs, which is no good, right? Also, another reason why you need carbs is because they give you energy. There’s a lot of ridiculous, I don’t even know what to call it, shenanigans going on about, oh, you don’t need carbs because you can run your body on ketones. The human body is not designed to run on ketones, right? So that’s what the keto diet is about. Your body likes your brain and your body likes carbs, okay? We run on glucose, so we need to be eating the right types of carbs and we also need to make room for those fun carbs. So there is no, you know, good or bad food. I truly believe that in order for anything to be sustainable, it has to be enjoyable. So I get people all the time who start the paralysis nutrition coaching program, and in the first couple of weeks, they’re like, so excited and they’re so ready to turn things around and they almost eat too healthy, right? And so they sometimes will say no to a dessert or try really hard to avoid some of those, you know, more fun foods like dessert or alcohol or any type of carb that’s not, you know, considered, quote, unquote healthy, right? So, like your cakes and your ice cream and things like that.
Speaker A [00:07:29]:
And the truth is, I mean, of course I talk to them and I tell them, listen, it’s not healthy to say no to the things that you love. So if you’re at a party and there’s a birthday cake, I actually think it’s unhealthy for you to skip the birthday cake. It’s a birthday. You’re supposed to eat cake. The problem is when people don’t know which foods are really high in carbs, and they eat them on a regular basis, all the time, kind of mindlessly. So I’ll give you a perfect example. Breakfast. The typical American breakfast foods, what are they? Bagels, cereal, muffins, toast.
Speaker A [00:08:05]:
All of this is carbs. And it’s not complex carbs. It’s those simple carbs that kind of are really lovely to eat, but you need to balance them with some protein and with some healthy fats. Oh. Also other breakfast foods like waffles and pancakes and French toast. All of these foods are carbs. All of these foods can be enjoyed. But when you don’t know which foods have carbs, you will probably be overeating them on a really regular basis.
Speaker A [00:08:37]:
So most of us know, you know, cake and cookies and pies. We all know that that stuff is high carb, high sugar. But for some reason, certain foods get a healthier reputation. Like a muffin. Like a muffin is not a cupcake. Right? But have you read the nutrition facts on, like, a typical muffin? They’re really high in carbs. And unless it’s something that you made by yourself and you, you know, used maybe some nuts and seeds and whole wheat flour and protein powder. Okay.
Speaker A [00:09:03]:
Unless you made some sort of Frankenstein kind of totally healthy muffin, the chances are your muffin is all carbs and sugar. So how is that any different, really, from a cupcake? But a muffin is so much healthier, right? It’s perceived to be so much healthier. So we need to know which foods have carbs. And it’s not that we want to avoid them. It’s that we want to make sure that we’re eating more of the complex carbs and less frequently eating those fun carbs that everyone should be able to enjoy, but not every single day, Right? I think there’s a lot of hidden carbs in things that people don’t realize. So I really encourage you to start reading your food labels. That doesn’t mean read the front of the package. That means turn it around and look at how many grams of carbs, how many grams of protein is in the food that you’re eating.
Speaker A [00:09:57]:
You might be really surprised. I’ll tell you honestly, just today I was surprised because I, you know, very quickly just wanted to make a lunch for myself, and I work from home. My husband’s not home right now, so I just wanted to make a quick Lunch. So I went to the freezer and I grabbed a frozen veggie burger and just as I was, I put it in the toaster oven and I, you know, I was just standing there waiting for it to be done and I turned over the label. Now I know that this veggie burger that I get has 19 grams of protein. I know that that’s why I bought it, because it’s high protein. What I neglected to tell myself or what I did not realize is that that veggie burger also has 18 grams of carbs. Now that’s not a lot of carbs, right? Me personally, I, I don’t track, you know, on a daily basis, I don’t track my meals.
Speaker A [00:10:49]:
But me personally, I aim for about 125 grams of carbs per day. Now, I have a history of diabetes in my family. I am not the most active person. I am stressed and so I don’t have great blood glucose control. Actually, last year I wasn’t going to share this, but last year I was pre diabetic, right? And I’m not overweight. It’s just there’s a lot of reasons why people, you know, have poor blood sugar control. So I’m sitting there waiting for my veggie burger and I’m thinking, wow, I didn’t even realize this has 18 grams of carbs. Now that’s totally fine.
Speaker A [00:11:25]:
But it just surprised me, right, because I emphasized the fact that it had 19 grams of protein, which is great, but I just kind of, I didn’t read it. It’s plain and simple. I didn’t read it. And so there are hidden carbs and things. 18 grams of carbs is nothing to worry about. So in the case of the veggie burger, it was high protein and it had almost equal amount of carbs, which was fine. But in other cases it might be a little more problematic. For example, Greek yogurt.
Speaker A [00:11:53]:
Okay, so if you look at a Greek yogurt, they’re pretty high in protein. I love them as a snack. But some of these Greek yogurts are really loaded with sugar, and sugar is carbs. So sometimes you’ll get a Greek yogurt and It’ll have like 28 grams of sugar, meaning 28 grams of carbs. Actually, more probably because the sugar is only part of the carbs and it’ll have, you know, a good amount of protein, 15 grams of protein or something, but it’s actually more carb than protein. So if you were to compare a flavored sweetened yogurt with A plain Greek yogurt. You’ll see the plain Greek yogurt has so many less carbs. So to me, you know, yogurt is a healthy snack.
Speaker A [00:12:34]:
It should taste good. But I’m not trying to eat 28 grams of sugar from a yogurt. I would rather have a cookie or a piece of chocolate, you know? So it’s really important to be aware of how many carbs that we’re eating and what the foods that we’re eating contain in terms of macros. Right. So my veggie burger was a 50, 50 split, really, between carbs and protein. Now when you go for something like a sweetened Greek yogurt, you’re eating it thinking that, wow, this is really a good protein source, which it is, but you’re not realizing that it also has a good amount of carbs, Right? So label reading is super important. A lot of times I get people who are afraid of carbs, which is kind of sad because carbs are delicious. No matter what we try to tell ourselves we like carbs.
Speaker A [00:13:23]:
Fruit is delicious and sweet and, you know, nature’s candy. That was corny. But, you know, carbs get a bad reputation. And there’s so many diets out there that are anti carb, and they really prey on people who want to lose weight. So using carbs as, like, a scary, you know, thing to avoid, it’s really not necessary. I mean, it works, right? But that’s kind of yuck, right? That’s not good. We don’t want to avoid an entire macronutrient. We want to learn to balance our carbs so that we can enjoy them, eat them.
Speaker A [00:13:59]:
And for people with paralysis, you need to eat carbs because of the constipation issue, because of, you know, blood sugar issues. You don’t want your blood sugar to be low, and you also need to eat carbs because they taste good. What is a life with no dessert ever? What is a life of never eating bread? That’s just, like, sad to me, you know? So today’s episode was all about carbs. And I know there are lots of different diets out there that are trying to make you afraid of carbs. But what I want you to know is this. It is necessary. Necessary for you to eat carbs. Just think about that.
Speaker A [00:14:38]:
It’s necessary. A registered dietitian who specializes in paralysis is telling you it is necessary to eat carbs. Your body wants to use carbs for energy. What your body doesn’t want is excess energy. That means more calories than your body burns, right? And a lot of these kind of favorite, fun carby foods are high in calories. So when you practice portion control, when you eat more of the complex carbohydrates, when you eat regular meals that you enjoy, you will be able to eat carbs and still lose weight. It is so much more enjoyable, sustainable and healthy to eat balanced meals that you enjoy than to try to avoid things that you love. Right? So I hope that you are feeling a little more relaxed and what’s the word? You’re feeling more confident about the role of carbs in your diet because it is a vital role.
Speaker A [00:15:39]:
You need to eat carbs. Your body wants you to eat carbs. Your bowels need fiber and it only comes from carbs. So big carb lover here. And I think that the real truth about carbs is that there’s so much misinformation out there that needs to be corrected. So that is what I am attempting to do today. I want you to feel happy around your meals. I want you to feel like nothing is off limits.
Speaker A [00:16:08]:
I can eat all the foods that I like if I learn how to balance my carbs and if I learn portion control. So that’s it. That’s my take on carbs. That’s our episode for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new. Remember, if you want to lose weight with paralysis, improve your bowel health and feel your best you can. It’s possible you just have to change your eating habits.
Speaker A [00:16:34]:
If you need inspiration on how to get started, check out the paralysis Nutrition Cookbook 101 recipes to help you lose weight and improve bowel health. The cookbook comes with a bonus 30 day meal plan and is the perfect way to start eating healthier. You can find it online at paralysisnutrition.com cookbook I’ll talk to you again soon.
