Health

Good carbs, bad carbs

Eating bread, potatoes and pasta will pile on the pounds, right? Forget what you've heard—our bodies need carbs. Here's how to enjoy them without adding extra inches

Diane Peters Updated

Is it really carbs that are making us pack on pounds? Are the popular high-protein, low-starch diets a scam, or do they actually work? Here’s what you need to know about carbs and some of the diets that bash ’em:

• What is a carb
• The fat factor
• What you can learn from low-carb diets
• What’s wrong with the low-carb approach
• Not all carbs are created equal
• Carb-bashing diets
• The bottom line