Mixing With a Higher Class of Carbs

Carbohydrate confusion.

That's the diagnosis David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, gives to many of the patients he treats.

"In the abstract," Heber says, "people think carbohydrates mean bread and pasta. So a lot of people are shocked when I say that fruit and vegetables are carbohydrates. They're among the healthiest carbohydrates you can eat. They're high in fiber, low in calories and have plenty of vitamins and antioxidants. They're really the best of the carbs."

Not only does eating plenty of fruit and vegetables help with calorie control, but two new reports published this month point to further benefits.

In one study of 1,500 healthy women, Laval University researchers in Quebec measured blood levels of a substance called insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which helps reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer and plays a role in preventing bone loss. Women who ate more citrus and other fruit and vegetables rich in vitamin C had higher IGF levels than those who ate less produce.

In another study, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health researchers report that eating plenty of fruit and vegetables helps reduce blood levels of C-reactive protein, a substance linked to increased risk of heart disease. Led by Walter Willett, the study also found a lower risk of metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by added pounds around the middle as well as increased levels of blood cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar, and which significantly boosts the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Participants who ate the most fruit -- about two cups per day -- had a 34 percent lower risk of the metabolic syndrome compared with those who ate little fruit. And those who ate plenty of vegetables -- about two cups per day -- had a 30 percent lower risk of the metabolic syndrome than those who ate the least vegetables.

Welcome to Week Five of the Lean Plate Club Holiday Challenge. This isn't a diet -- or an attempt to take the joy out of your holiday. It's simply designed to help you maintain your weight until the new year. Research suggests that overweight and obese people gain an average of five pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year's -- and don't shed it in the spring. You can join the challenge at any time. This week's food goal is to improve the quality of carbohydrates you eat. For activity, walk 10 minutes three times daily.

Lean Plate Club member Melanie Miller (see her Holiday Challenge video blog at http://www.leanplateclub.com) has already discovered a benefit of eating more fruit and vegetables: less hunger.

She recently switched to fruit and vegetables from the snack bars she had been eating. "They had so much sugar in them," says Melanie, who now eats mangoes, blueberries, bananas and apples as well as plenty of vegetables, including bean dip and baby carrots. "If I get enough fruit and vegetables during the day, I find that I'm not hungry like I was with the bars."

That's because eating more highly processed carbohydrates, especially food and drink with added sugar, can send blood sugar levels soaring. To cope, the body produces insulin. That reduces blood sugar, but as it drops, you feel hungry again.

Less-processed carbohydrates, which include whole-grain cereals, crackers, bread and pasta as well as low-fat and nonfat dairy products, are less likely to set up that vicious cycle.