Low Carb Diets -- my response to a reader's email

I recently received a critical email regarding this post I wrote about eating well on a budget. The critique focused on my statements about the benefits of carbohydrate-dense staple foods such as rice, beans, and whole grains. The reader's basic contention was that carbohydrates have no place in a healthy diet, period, and that extremely low-carb diets are the most sensible and healthy. Rather than responding to the email privately, I decided to post a response publicly with the hope that it will benefit others too.

Up to this point, I've avoided getting into specific biochemistry because I am not an expert in the field, only an interested lay person. I think I should probably describe a few basic concepts to frame my earlier statements, though. (My apologies to the biochem community for any oversimplifications.) First is the concept of bio-individuality, which is the idea that people have unique nutritional requirements. These differences are caused by genetics, past history of food consumption, environmental factors, and overall state of health (characterized by stress level, activity level, amount of sleep, chronic conditions, etc). I think some nutritional principles are universally true, but I certainly do not advocate a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition. There are many healthy people throughout the world who subsist on very different foods. Clearly, humans can thrive on a variety of diets (including high carb diets -- see the Japanese for an example).

The majority of the reader's criticism was leveled at my inclusion of carbohydrates in a "healthy" diet. In case I didn't make it clear before, I do not advocate overconsumption of carbohydrates. That behavior leads to weight gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and degradation of health. For best health, I believe carbohydrates should be eaten in their natural whole format. Americans aren't fat and sick because they over-consume rice and oatmeal. In my opinion, they are fat and sick because they drink too much soda and eat too much processed junk. In the hierarchy of dietary sins, eating processed carbs is near the top.