Most replayed moment: Carbs: the good, the bad, and the misunderstood | Tim Spector
3/17/202616 min
Today we’re talking about carbohydrates. Pasta, potatoes, fruit and beans - carbs crop up everywhere. However, few topics in nutrition cause as much confusion. Are they essential fuel or the enemy of weight loss? Should we cut them down, or just choose our carbs more carefully? I’m joined by Professor Tim Spector to help untangle the truth and answer your biggest carbohydrate questions. Stick around to find out if freezing your bread makes it healthier. 🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+ *Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks Better Breakfast Guide Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know hereListen to the full episode here
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJonathan Wolf· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to ZOE Recap, where each week we find the best bits from one of our podcast episodes to help you improve your health. Today, we're talking about carbohydrates. Pasta, potatoes, fruit, and beans. Carbs crop up everywhere. However, few topics in nutrition causes much confusion. Are they essential fuel or the enemy of weight loss? Should we cut them down or just choose our carbs more carefully? I'm joined by Professor Tim Spector to help untangle the truth and answer your biggest carbohydrate questions. Stick around to find out if freezing your bread makes it healthier. [upbeat music] So what is a carb and what is it that can make it unhealthy?
Tim Spector· Guest0:49
Well, a carb is a macronutrient. So in, in the, so the old school world that we used to know, you d- they were, everything was divided into these three groups of proteins, fats, and carbs. And most of the things we eat are mixtures of those rather than one thing. You don't actually eat a carb, you eat a plant, and that plant will have different amounts of proteins, fats, and carbs in it. And within the carbs, it's gonna have different types of carbs in it. And some of the foods we eat, which you say, "Oh, that's a carby food," like, say, bread, is also gonna have, uh, some protein in it and a little bit of fat