Hello,
I know a lot of people in calorie counters pay attention to good carbs versus bad carbs. (I don't want to post this in the carb section because I think maybe they don't eat much carbs at all.) I am trying to stay around 100 grams a day. I understand that foods like candy, white bread and white pasta are bad bad carbs and raise insulin levels ect. I am curious about about other carbs like yogurt, low carb bread, whole wheat pasta, Potatoes, Smartones Quesdilla's (LOL).

If something is whole wheat but not whole grain is it still a good carb? I am noticing a lot of whole wheat items do not have a whole lot of fiber in them and this raises my question. hmmmm?

Thanks,

Heather

That made me laugh cause I love Smartones Quesdilla's among other things. Shrimp Marinara is my current fav.

Have you tried their Feista Beans and Rice? Yum.

I just bought some yesterday! And I agree, yum! Sorry, I'm not help with the good carb/bad carb thing. I'm totally focused on the yummy smart ones.

Well, I'm not a carb counter but I do prefer whole grain products better then processed "white" products mainly do to the fact that they stick with me longer and don't cause me to have sugar crashes. When selecting a whole wheat bread, make sure the at the first ingredient is a whole grain or whole wheat, some products that are "whole wheat" have the first ingrediant of "enriched flour" which, in my book, doesn't cut it. If it was "whole" you wouldn't have to enrich it.

You may already know, but beware "wheat flour" which does not mean whole wheat flour.

I didn't know the difference either so i decided to do some research and i thought i would post this lil article here too.

Whole Grain Vs. Whole Wheat

We have all seen it, 100% whole wheat bread that sits next to the white bread. It looks like white bread, but it says enriched.

When wheat is harvested the whole grain is taken to the refinery. The wheat is heated to a point when the germ and the bran fall off. What is left is the starch, the white part, the not good for you part.

After the refinery takes the grains apart and makes white flour, which has no nutrition, they add some vitamins, some minerals, and some fiber, but not even a gram worth. The white bread is enriched with some of the very things they just worked so hard to take out. However, they do not add in as much of the grain they take away, otherwise it would be whole grain. Just enough to add some flavor and calories to it.

What is whole grain? It is the WHOLE grain used in the process of making bread, cereal and the building blocks of many other foods. For it to be truly healthy whole grain needs to be listed on your bread, cereal or other food in the number 1 or number 2 position on the ingredients list.

No, whole wheat flour which is followed by (enriched white flour, niacin, and iron) is not healthy, it is a way of making people believe that they are getting a whole grain bread. They are not lying, it is whole wheat flour, but not whole grain. It did come from the wheat plant and it is all wheat, but not all grain. Whole is just another word like all. If you look a little farther down on the list you will see molasses, why molasses you ask? It colors the bread to make it look brown. Yup, white flour plus vitamins and minerals still does not bring the bran back into the bread. Bran is what helps to give the natural brown color to bread. So, they again, add something to it, to try and make it look like something it is not.


whole wheat = white flour + vitamins/minerals + molasses

whole grain = whole grain..with all the natural properties it contains such as Low GI.

so don't be fooled by whole wheat, buy whole grain.

Kim I was hoping you would reply - you always have such great answers! Congrats on the 102 pounds - you obviously know what you are doing.

Thanks everyone else for clearing up my confusion on whole grain bread vs whole wheat- I can't wait to get home and see how my low carb bread stacks up.

Cdeim4994 and raindancer - both of those smartones are way too yummy. Unfortunately I think the smartones are stalling my weightloss ...sob...sob...

Does anyone know if apples are good carbs?

Any sort of fruit or vegetable is considered a good carb...as long as it isn't canned in heavy syrup.

Fruit would only be considered something to severely limit if you ARE following a low carb plan. If you are a calorie counter, and eating a nice balance of protein, fat, and carbs...then there is no need to worry about it.

I try to eat fruit, veggies, oatmeal, brown rice, and SMALL amounts of whole grain bread for most of my carb intake.

This is a great thread. I've been looking for good carb information. The whole wheat/whole grain thing has always confused me. You cleared this up!
Thank you!