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My name is Christine Marquette and I am a registered dietitian with the Austin Regional
Clinic and I am going to talk to you about how to select good high density carbohydrates
for the Dr. Atkins' Diet. High density carbohydrates are good carbohydrates and they are those
types of carbs that have a lot of fiber in them so some examples of good choices would
be whole grain items. If you are choosing oatmeal, the highest fiber type of oatmeal
would be the steel cut variety. This type of oatmeal is very minimally processed. The
whole oat groats have basically just been cut in half, they haven't been rolled the
way traditional oatmeal has. Traditional oatmeal when you buy it, it is in flakes and that
is basically indicating that that oat groat was rolled flat. So even though it is high
fiber it is not as high in fiber as the steel cut oats so that is an example of how you
can see choosing a carbohydrate, the actual highest density type of carb. Other examples
are brown rice or wild rice. These types of rice have not had their fiber stripped from
them so they still have that color that indicates they have a lot of fiber. White rice in any
variety whether it is short grain or long grain has had the fiber stripped out of it
and that is why it is a white rice so in that example the brown or the wild would be the
good carbohydrate the high density carbohydrate. Some other examples with vegetables that are
starchy things like potatoes, corn, teas, there are some varieties there where some
of them will have more fiber than others, for example, whole kernel corn. The whole
kernels of the corn, that little covering is very high fiber so that would be another
good high fiber choice of carbohydrates. With potatoes, if you are having a whole baked
potato where you are actually eating the skin that would be another good high fiber choice,
a good dense carb, you wouldn't want to eat potato chips or french fries because in that
case the potato has been stripped of its fiber and it has been deep fried so it has really
lost its benefit. It is not considered a good carb at that point. Some other good choices
of carbohydrates, whole fruits. A lot of people forget about the fruits being carbs but that
is another source of carbohydrates. If you are eating fruits that have a peel, apples,
bananas, grapes, or berries, there is a lot of fiber in that peel so that is another good
dense carbohydrate. So those are just a few ideas for you on how to select good dense
carbohydrates for use in the Atkins' Diet.