Good Carbs Vs. Bad Carbs — How To Tell The Difference [Infographic]

In my opinion, carbs are the golden ticket to weight loss. And I’m not talking about cutting them out altogether — they’re an absolutely ESSENTIAL macronutrient that should never be removed from a healthy diet, especially if you’re concerned whatsoever about sports and fitness performance. They’re HQ fuel. Athletics aside, considering that performance in the gym, on the track, or in your TRX class is what drives results and transformation, an intelligent approach to carbs is just a little bit integral.

Carbs are a misunderstood and complicated beast. They can be your training buddy, fountain of energy, and muscular growth magnet, or they can be a fat-plastering bogeyman. It all depends on the TYPE of carbs you eat — complex vs. simple, aka “good carbs” vs. “bad carbs” — and their TIMING.

In terms of timing — a small dose of simple carbs is okay directly before a workout, during lengthy endurance exercise (think Gatorade), or directly post-workout as a means of rapid replenishment. Otherwise you should focus your carb efforts on the complex variety 100% of the time, without exception.

The infographic below from online-nutrition-degress.com does a nice job breaking down complex carbs vs. simple carbs, their impact on weight-loss, and a few examples of both. It also introduces one CRITICAL concept — The Glycemic Index (GI) —  which measures how quickly different foods raise blood sugar, impact insulin, and effectively trigger the body to store body fat. Healthy, complex, lean carbs have a LOW GI score; unhealthy, fattening, simple carbs have a HIGH GI score, typically 70+.¹²³

The GI is a simple way to assess carbs and make lean choices — use it as a tool to upgrade your nutritional decision-making process. A full searchable database is available from The University of Sydney here, and Harvard Medical School here.

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References, Notes, Links

1. NutritionData.com — Glygemic Index [↩]
2. Glycemicindex.com [↩]
3. Harvard Medical School — Glycemic Index [↩]

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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP

Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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