Question about "Carbs"

  • I am so lost in the 'carb' world. I think of carbs as bread. I don't eat 'bread' or any type of bready products such as: muffins, donuts, crackers etc.

    But, I have recently begun eating 94% Fat Free Microwave popcorn. A few bags a week.

    I've noticed my weight loss stall and slightly creep up.

    Minus the possibility of 'sodium' factor, could it be that popcorn is a carb and now that I am eating it my weight loss is going haywire.

    Any information and input would be wonderful!

    thanks....gail
  • Quote: Minus the possibility of 'sodium' factor, could it be that popcorn is a carb and now that I am eating it my weight loss is going haywire.
    Popcorn most definitely is a carb. 1 cup of air popped, unsalted popcorn contains 4.6 grams carbs. I'm sure you are most likely eating more than 1 cup & since you mention the "sodium factor"..it is salted. You might want to eliminate it completely and see if your weight loss improves
  • definitely carb, i'm afraid. i'm sure that the sodium makes your weight go up as well, so you could try eating unsalted popcorn, but for best results, eat less and less of it, not to develop a habit out of eating it.
    i adore popcorn, so the calorie factor of corn in general makes me very sad
  • I'd guess the extra calories from the popcorn before I'd jump to the conclusion that it is carbs. I'm not sure what diet you follow but for most of us carbs (healthy ones that is) are not the enemy.
  • Thank you for your help! I thought popcorn was too good to be true!
  • Popcorn can be a great snack but yeah it can have lots of sodium and oil. I buy unsalted/oilfree popcorn and use that once in a while. It is pretty filling and fairly low in calories.
  • While it's a good idea to keep your intake of "bad" carbs in check, many dieticians and health experts recommend that carbohydrates should make up at least 55 percent of a person's total caloric intake, while others say that number should be as high as 65 percent.

    It's clear these people aren't talking about the carbs you'll find in candy, cookies and other highly processed foods.

    Good Carbs:
    Fruit, Vegetables, Whole grains and foods made from whole grains- such as bread and cereal, Beans, Nuts, Legumes

    Bad Carbs:
    Refined grains like white bread and white rice, Processed foods such as cake, cookies and chips, Soft drinks & Alcohol


    Also I definitely agree with Nelie I dont think the problem is the popcorn, I think it is the type of popcorn, definitely check ingredients for oil.
  • Excellent article regarding Grains
    http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/be_kind.html

  • Ooh...thank you so much for the input and information!

    I simply love this site!

    gail
  • Off the topic...

    That article is interesting although it has some information that is contradictory to what I've read before. Like 4 stomach herbivores need the stomachs to digest grass, not grain and even such herbivores have issues with grains themselves. Trying to feed a herbivore just grain when they are designed to eat grass can cause major malnutrition unless the grain is fortified which is what you get with grain fed cows. Also carnivores have an extremely short intestinal tract especially compared to humans and certain animals such as canines were 'evolved' into omnivores, they have a longer intestinal tract compared to their carnivore friends but still shorter than humans. Of course humans have issues with uncooked grains and we do need to cook them similarly with legumes in order to make them more digestible.

    Overall whole grains are awesome, provide lots of nutrients and fiber and are part of a healthy diet. The Whole Foods forum we have here is a good place to discuss eating healthy as part of a weight loss diet.