Carb food diary HELP

  • Hi ! Can anyone suggest a free, food diary link which will separate out how many carbs are good vs bad? i.e., food diaries that I've seen will tell you the break down as 'your diet is 50% carbs'. how can one tell if that's enough or if that 50% is good or bad carbs. I love white bread so I think that accounts for some of the 50%.

    Sorry, if this is confusing. there seem to be carbs in everything !!!
  • There is no hard line between "good" carbs and "bad" carbs. Diets like the South Beach Diet made the terms "good" carbs and "bad" carbs popular.

    Usually, the glycemic index is used to help determine carbs that are better for us rather than those that may not be so good for us. If you look up the glycemic index and the foods you are eating, then that might help you get some direction.

    Foods that tend to have fiber in them and aren't as processed tend to be considered "good" carbs. I believe white bread is either the highest item on the glycemic index or pretty close. I think sourdough bread is an exception to that because the acidity lowers the insulin response for sourdough bread.

    Anyway, as a response to your question, I don't know of any diary that would give you exactly what you are looking to do. It would really be up to you to look at how processed the carbs you are eating happen to be as well as look at the glycemic index if that is something you care about.
  • South Beach Diet has a companion book about Good Carbs and Bad Carbs, however I haven't found any online diaries that are implementing this since there is still some debate on how well the glycemic index works.
  • Isn't it pretty much common sense?

    Broccoli (and most other vegetables) = good carbs.
    Cookie dough (and other things that are highly processed, sold in the junk food aisle or in a big rack at the front of 7-Eleven, some form of sweets or sweets-and-fats, and so forth) = bad carbs.