There is a low carb version of almost every food on the supermarket shelves nowadays. There is low carb ketchup, salad dressings, and even low carb beer!

Is the carbohydrate content of our diet responsible for our size and our weight? I have two answers... yes and no. Stick with me, it gets crazy here.

The low carb option in weight loss dieting continues to gain popularity. It seems like we are saying that carbohydrates are the reason we become overweight. Far from it.

Carbohydrates are not the cause of our weigh problem

Carbohydrates are a part of all the foods that nature prepares for us - nuts and grains, fruits, and vegetables. If you get the idea that I am saying it was not originally intended for humans to eat meat, you are right.

I'm assuming you can follow my premise that humans came about according to the Creationists' view of origins. I hope you're comfortable with this. Grab a cool drink and try to relax in case this gets a bit hot for you. (And by the way, watch the carbohydrate content of the drink!)

According to the Genesis account, there was no sin in the beginning, no animal got hurt, no animal died. So there was no beef, chicken, nor pork on the plates. In fact, the instruction was, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food (Genesis 1 verse 29)."

You and I were designed to eat carbohydrates... and lots of it, too. And since that was perfect for our health then, it should still be great for us today. But that's only half the story.

But we made smart carbohydrates, and a disaster...

We invented machines and processes that refine our food. We can even extract and preserve the nutrients from these foods, make them into pills and punches that are easy to carry around.

Why eat an orange when we can drink the juice from a bottle of a cute box? Hey, we can even make vitamin C tablets. After all, it's the vitamins we are after, we don't need to eat the orange and let the juice run down our cheeks and soil our clothes.

We can make low carbohydrate content foods too. We want to be able to drive all day or sit on our couches. It's the 21st Century, we don't need to walk anymore. Drive. Fly. Use the computer - we don't have to move. So...

Who needs all that carbohydrate in our food? Sugar tastes good anyway, so we add it to peanuts, cakes, even to our meat. You can hardly find anything without sugar.

The no-so-sweet truth

It's not the carbohydrate that is to blame for our problem of being overweight, it's our lifestyle. It seems we have decreased our level of physical activity, altered the natural quality of the food prepared for us by nature, and are taking in more calories that we need (or can use.)

It's not just one factor that is at the root of our problem of being overweight. It is all the habits and practices that constitute our lifestyle.

So don't blame the carbs. There is no need to switch to low carb diets. We just need to do simple things like, having a good breakfast, avoid snacking (avoid acid reflux problems too), eat complex carbohydrate and high fiber foods, exercise daily, and get enough rest.

We were designed to function a certain way. If we don't follow the Manufacturer's recommendations we wreck the machine through improper operating procedures.

Are you overweight or obese? Don't blame it on the carbs. Change the habits.

Bentley Thompson

Bentley Thompson works with an Atlanta-based engineering consulting firm as the director of Ground Penetrating Radar services. He is very passionate about health and healthy living.

In his spare time he reads health books and periodicals. His hobbies include computer networking, the Internet, and music.

For years he spent several hours per day at the computer but has recently developed diabetes. Now he manages his illness with daily exercise and diet. He shares his "come-back" experience on one of his his websites.