We often blame Carbohydrates or "Carbs" for our excessive weight gain. You often hear people who are looking to lose weight say "I must cut down my intake of rice or I am taking out potatoes from my diet". Some even go to the extent of taking out bananas from their diet. However, this is an overly simplistic view of this very important Macro Nutrient. There are countries where for over a millennia, the main staple of their diet has been the "starchy carbohydrates" such as rice or sweet potatoes. Staple means that the bulk of the daily calories are derived from this food. In countries like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh etc rice and rice based products such a noodles are the staple food and are eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Potatoes or sweet potatoes has been a staple in a number of south / central American countries for centuries.
It is well researched and documented that as long as the people of these regions stayed with their ancestral diet of simple foods, the rates of obesity, various types of cancer, heart diseases, liver and kidney diseases etc were very low. As the western diet of processed and deep fried foods started to encroach these regions, the rate of various diseases have also skyrocketed.
Now we must make a distinction between whole (unrefined) carbs and processed (refined). The processed carbs have their fiber removed and include white breads, pasta, doughnut, cookies, cakes, pizza etc. More often than not, the processed carbs include oil/butter/salt and sugar which spikes up the blood sugar. Since they are addictive in nature, they become a cause for weight gain. On the other hand, whole or unrefined carbs include all your fruits, vegetables, beans and grains in their whole form.
In order to lose weight and regain your health you must stay within the limits of "whole or unrefined carbs". You can eat all the fruits and vegetables (including potatoes and sweet potatoes) and even grains like rice. However and this is very important, you must be willing to stay away from "Oil" while preparing them. e.g. If you eat a boiled potato or a sweet potato, you are going to be just fine. The moment you cook the same potato in oil (e.g. potato chips or potato curry) the caloric density increases tremendously. Same thing goes with Rice. If you eat your boiled rice with vegetables / beans/ lentils that are not cooked in oil you are fine. The problem comes when you combine rice with foods that are cooked in oil.
Now does that mean one should eat rice and potato morning till night? No! The point I am trying to make is this eating Rice, Potatoes, rotis etc is not the reason one gains a lot of weight. It's how we choose to cook or eat them that matters.
I have said it many times and I'll say it again. Base your diet around primarily fruits and "nutrient dense" vegetables and lentils/beans. Add to these other starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, corn and grains such as brown rice, millet, quinoa etc. Learn to cook your food with no oil or a minimum amount of oil. Stay away from processed stuff (That is NOT food). Exercise 30 mins a day (yoga, weight training or even a brisk walk). That is pretty much all that is required to get your health back.
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