Your carb macro target is your total daily calorie target less your protein and fat intake. Focus on getting around 28 grams of fiber a day, keeping your sugars to less than 50g a day for women and 70g a day of sugar for men and try to avoid added sugar and refined grains. Choose complex carbs (i.e. starchy carbs) instead of simple carbs and foods with a GL of 15 or less.
As a rule of thumb, you should aim to eat less than 50g of sugar a day for women and 70g a day of sugar for men based on a 2,000 a day calorie intake. And you should try to minimize the amount of added sugar you consume (ideally keeping it as far below 24g per day as possible). It is also a good idea to try and reduce your consumption of refined carbs as these are usually have been stripped of almost all fiber, vitamins and minerals and for this reason can be considered as "empty" calories. Try to bulk up on starches and fiber instead of sugar as these types of carbs also have a number of other benefits such as positive mental health benefits, weight loss, good source of nutrients, heart health and regular bowel moments.
Focus on the fiber
Fiber is probably the most important thing to thing to focus on when choosing your carbs as it has benefits beyond just slowing digestion. It has been shown to reduce your risk of diabetes, promote healthy digestion, reduce inflammation and help protect against heart disease. Ideally you want to target 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories, so around 21 to 28 grams for women and 28 to 35 grams for men.
Eating foods with a good carb profile profile (sugar, starches and fiber) is important for managing your glycogen, triglyceride and blood sugar levels. You want to focus on eating whole, complex carbs that will be digested more slowly and contain a bounty of other nutrients such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes. Try and focus on complex carbs (i.e. starchy carbs) instead of simple carbs and foods with a GL of 15 or less.
Good carb profile | Bad carb profile |
· Low or moderate in calories · High in nutrients · High in fiber · Low GL (below 10) · No refined grains · No added or refined sugars | · High in calories · Low in nutrients · Low in fiber · High GL (above 20) · High in refined grains (like white flour) · Full of added and refined sugars |
Some examples of carbs to focus on include fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains (like oats, barley, whole-grain couscous, brown rice, quinoa, millet, and sprouted whole-grain bread), starchy vegetables (like potatoes, corn, and yams) and legumes (like black beans, peas, and pinto beans). If you are hitting your total carb macro and fiber target then you will be getting a good carb profile overall.