Posted by kathryn in Carbohydrates, Protein and Q & A Thursday

Kicking off this week’s Q & A Thursday is a question from Kylie:

Are carbs that consist primarily of white flour something to be avoided, particularly for vegetarians? I’ve recently had a massage therapist recommend that I eat meat. I’m wondering if it’s more of a case that I need to cut back on the carbs (pasta, basmati rice, soy + linseed bread) and replace with quinoa, rolled oats, and wholegrain breads like pumpernickel. what do you think?

The best carbohydrate foods

Carbohydrates provide our bodies with energy. They’re broken down into glucose, which is the primary fuel used by the cells of your body. We need carbohydrates in our diets. Most foods, except for meat and oils, contain carbohydrates, for example:

• grain based foods like pasta, rice, bread, coucous, oats, biscuits and cakes
• dairy products like yoghurt and milk
• fruit and vegetables contain carbohydrates
• nuts and seeds
• avocadoes
• legumes, including tofu, chickpeas and lentils
• even eggs contain a tiny amount of carbohydrate

There is a difference betweent the nutritional value and usefullness of the different carbohydrate foods. Concentrating on the grain based foods, then wholegrains like oats, millet, quinoa, wholegrain bread and brown rice tend to have a higher nutritional value than white bread and white rice. They contain more vitamin E and fibre, as well as minerals like potassium, magnesium and zinc.

The GI value of wholegrains and legumes tend to be lower than their white alternatives, for example grain breads have a lower GI than white bread. These a longer list of the GI value of different grains here.

Protein and muscles

However, if your massage therapist is encouraging you to eat more meat, then they are most likely concerned about your protein levels, rather than your carbohydrate intake. Our muscles are made of protein and we need plenty of it in our diet to maintain that infrastructure. While it is definitely possible to eat a healthy, well balanced diet as a vegetarian, protein is often the group that vegies neglect and miss out on.

As a vegetarian, your protein sources are:

• legumes, including the soy foods like tofu and tempeh
• nuts and seeds
• eggs (if you’re a lacto-ovo vegie)
• grain foods
• dairy foods (again if you’re a lacto-ovo vegetarian)

In order to get enough protein you need to eat several portions of at least two different sorts of protein food each day. There’s more information on protein in the two posts covering vegetarian protein sources and how vegetarians can get enough protein.

To sum up

• Before worrying about your carbohydrate intake, I’d check the amount of protein you’re eating first.
• Pasta, basmati rice and soy + linseed bread are all fine to include in your diet – they are low GI carbohydrates, however why not vary your diet by also including oats, quinoa, brown rice, and rye breads. By eating a wider variety of foods, you’re getting a wider intake of nutrients
• Include wholegrains, in combination with the legumes, nuts, eggs, and dairy, to make sure you’re getting a balanced protein intake.
• As a guide, use the dinner plate rule I’ve blogged about before.

This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical and sensible answers to food, diet and health dilemmas sent in by readers. If you have a question you’d like answered, then either leave a comment or send me an email.

23 August, 2007