A pretty-young-thing all of 20; an ad executive, just 29 years old, and a housewife and mother of two, 36 years old. What’s common between them? Their heart condition. All three were driven to various hospitals in the city during the last few months — diagnosed with various heart malfunctions, all arising from their unbalanced diet. It was an excess or lack of carbohydrates that had sent the three otherwise ‘hale and hearty’ people to the sickbed.

“Gone are those days when only 50-plus people complained of heart diseases. Nowadays, I know people as young as 25 coming to doctors with various heart complaints. And many of these cases have some link or the other with the intake of carbohydrates,” says Nina Singh, chief dietician, Woodlands Hospital, Calcutta.

So, if you are on a fad diet or skipping breakfasts (which, according to most dieticians should provide you with at least one-third of your daily carbohydrate requirement) in order to catch the early morning bus to office, be careful. Warns Singh: “Don’t listen to those who say that carbohydrates are bad for you. If you get hooked on one of those zero-carb diets, then you might be creating a huge hole in your heart. But yes, too much of everything is bad, and the same goes for carbohydrates.”

Why carbohydrates?

If you want to shed that flab, don’t reduce your carbohydrate intake to nought. Instead, choose the sources carefully, advises Sanghamitra Chakravarty, chief dietician, B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre, Calcutta. “You cannot survive without carbohydrates. In the food pyramid, carbohydrates form the base — cut off the base and the roof will collapse. First and foremost, carbohydrates give us energy; second, they help the body repair its tissues and, third, they aid metabolism,” she explains.

“Take for example the Atkins diet,” she adds. “It was a rage in the West. It advocated the exclusion of carbohydrates. This led to the consumption of very high-protein foods. And then people starting complaining of constipation. Very soon, others suffered from kidney problems and obesity. In fact, there are many cases of rectal cancer that have been linked to zero-carb diets.”

However, not everyone’s carbohydrate requirement is the same. For example, athletes need instant energy for which they have to take carbohydrates like simple sugar (glucose). But if a normal person has glucose frequently, it will lead to an overdose of carbohydrate that his body cannot burn. Hence, it will lead to an accumulation of fat. “Any basic food taken in excess leads to fat growth,” adds Singh.

Safe bite

So play safe and go carb. Include whole grains — cereals and pulses — and loads of fruit and vegetables in your diet. “Having whole grains is better than highly processed foods, such as potato chips, french fries or instant noodles. It will help lower cholesterol, improve blood sugar level and keep the digestive system healthy. This food group brings slower and steadier rises in the blood sugar and insulin, which is healthier. Highly processed foods cause a quick blast of blood sugar followed by a sudden rise in insulin. Then the sugar level falls rapidly, making you hungry sooner than you should be, so you end up eating too much. And when you do that, you run the risk of becoming obese. And your heart worries come in soon after,” opines Chakravarty. So the next time you toss in semi-cooked noodles into the pan instead of cooking dal and rice, know that you are taking in a whole lot of extra salt and calories into your system. Within three hours, your tummy will rumble again and you will reach out for that bag of chips, which is a bigger threat to your health.

Don’t forget…

Carbohydrates should, in fact, constitute 60-70 per cent of one’s daily food intake. But, Singh points out, most professionals — ranging from software to communications — are prone to eating ‘bad’ carbs because “their content is high in the kind of fast food they thrive on. This is true of people doing sedentary jobs. The key is to look at the quality of the carbohydrate. You can eat a very high-carbohydrate diet at fast-food restaurants, but get almost no fibre, only lots of sugar and starch.” She advises, instead of having meals with long gaps thrown in, it’s more useful to have small bites in between. “This way, you keep your stomach filled and also stay away from ordering burgers or frankies.”

So begin your day with a good breakfast. “It should have cereals, cereals and cereals. So take cornflakes, bread or roti. Then you must include fruits, which will give you the much-needed fibre. For lunch and dinner too, take some cereals. You can carry a sandwich or a bowl of sprouts with you to office. It’s a tried and tested formula that a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and otherwise moderate and balanced, leads to a better and healthier life,” says Chakravarty.