Carbohydrates are often a vilified nutrient. Messages abound that carbs make you fat, low carb is the pathway to health, and eating carbohydrates is equivalent to eating straight sugar. On the contrary, many of the healthiest diets on the planet, like the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet, are built on a firm foundation of carbohydrates, and the recommended Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDRs) set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine suggest that in fact the majority of our daily calories should come from carbohydrates. These recommended ranges give us targets for how all of our daily calories (or 100% of them) should be allocated to each of the three nutrients that give us calories: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Here’s how it shakes out: Continue Reading →