You Need to Stop Believing These Myths About Carbs

Myth: Cutting out gluten will help you lose weight

Fact: You might think that at the very least, the diet restrictions of going gluten-free would make people cut calories. But a 2012 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that after nixing gluten, almost 16 percent of people with celiac disease who were at a normal or low BMI moved to an overweight BMI class, and 22 percent of those who were already overweight gained weight.

Myth: Carbs cause type 2 diabetes

Fact: You can eat bread without dooming yourself to type 2 diabetes. A 2013 article in Nutrition Journal found that people who ate whole grain-rich diets had a 20- to 30-percent reduced risk in developing type 2 diabetes. Dietary fat, on the other hand, can increase blood-sugar levels and cause people with type 1 diabetes to require more insulin, according to a 2013 study in Diabetes Care.

Myth: Eating carbs will lead you to heart disease

Fact: Carbohydrates aren’t your heart’s enemy. People who ate low-carb diets had higher risk of mortality than those who ate more carbs, and cutting carbohydrates didn’t help protect against coronary heart disease, according to a 2013 report in the journal PLoS ONE. The study concluded that people avoiding carbs tend to replace them with animal-based protein, rather than plants and fiber.