CUT THE CARB

A nutritionist and personal trainer weigh in on how carbohydrates affect us

- Aaron Pereira

Growing up, I distinctly remember carbohydrates being at the bottom of our national food pyramid—indicating the food category that we need to be consuming the most. To my surprise, that has since changed, but rightly so. Now, fruits and vegetables sit at the bottom of the pyramid.

As lifestyles evolve and science develops, we realise that perhaps we don’t need as much carbohydrates as previously thought. We’re mostly not doing labour-intensive work, which would need us to consume and burn many calories. However, as Asians, we’ve grown up attuned to having carbohydrates as a base, be it in the form of rice, noodles or bread. So, how much do we cut out or include into our diets to be healthy?

We speak to Raanita Krishnamoorthy, a nutritionist attached to HealthifyMe as the service excellence and project management office lead for Southeast Asia, as well as fitness trainer Ahmad Kasyful Azim (better known in fitness circles as Kash Azim) to find out more.