The Ultimate Carbohydrate Guide
Your problem isn’t carbs. It’s which carb. When. And what else is broken.
How To Use This Guide
This is not an article. It is a reference tool. If you have symptoms, start at Section 5. If you want to understand why you react to certain foods, start at Section 3. If you want the full picture, read it straight through once and then use it as a lookup.
Sections:
Section 1 — Why People Get Carbs Wrong
Section 2 — The Carb Landscape: Not All Carbs Are the Same
Section 3 — Why You React: The Real Culprits
Section 4 — Blood Sugar: Spikes, Crashes, and Stability
Section 5 — Symptom Checker
Section 6 — Meal Timing and Structure
Section 7 — How to Identify Your Problem Carb
Section 8 — The Fix Toolkit
Section 1: Why People Get Carbs Wrong
Carnivore cleared your skin. Keto killed your brain fog. Cutting gluten fixed your bloating. Paleo made you lean for the first time in years.
None of that means carbs are the problem.
It means something specific was the problem. A compound. A combination. A gut that couldn’t handle fermentation load. A blood sugar system that was already broken before the carb hit your mouth. You removed everything, felt better, and drew the wrong conclusion.
You’ve been limping for so long you forgot what walking feels like. Now that you stopped limping, you think the road was the problem.
The Camps: What They Got Right and What They Missed
Carnivore / Zero Carb
What they got right: Eliminating plant compounds (lectins, oxalates, FODMAPs, solanine) removed a significant inflammatory load for people with compromised gut barriers. Meat is the most complete, easiest to digest food that exists.
What they got wrong: Long term carbohydrate restriction suppresses thyroid conversion (T4 to T3), raises cortisol, amplifies the sympathetic nervous system, lowers body temperature, causes cold hands and feel, anxiety, inner tension, poor sleep, and tanks reproductive hormones over time (IGF-1, free T3, free T and DHEA-S). The initial relief is real. The long term cost is real too.
Keto / Low Carb
What they got right: Reducing carbohydrate load lowers insulin demand, reduces blood sugar volatility, and forces fat burning. This works when someone is already insulin resistant and metabolically broken.
What they got wrong:
Insulin isn’t the enemy. Chronic elevated free fatty acids (from excess lipolysis, due to excessive baseline sympathetic tone), systemic inflammation, and cellular energy deficiency are. Keto addresses the symptom without fixing the root. A lot of people on long term keto are cold, constipated, and running on cortisol.
A lot of them end up eating massive amounts of fat and start gaining weight.
Eating low carb causes metabolic inflexibility. They would argue that it’s a temporary adaption, but that just confirms it’s not metabolic flexibility.
Same anti-metabolic effects as carnivore.
Paleo / Autoimmune Protocol
What they got right: Removing grains, legumes, gluten, lectins, A1 casein, and lactose, some of the most common gut irritants in the modern diet.
What they got wrong: Not everyone reacts to all of these. Swearing off an entire food category because some people react to some compounds in some preparations is like swearing off all fruit because you got gas from an unripe banana.
Diabetic / Insulin Fear Camp
What they got right: Refined carbohydrates combined with high fat intake and a sedentary lifestyle drive insulin resistance. Blood sugar instability is genuinely damaging.
What they got wrong: It is not glucose that causes diabetes. It is the inability to handle glucose correctly, driven by excess free fatty acids, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and nutritional deficiencies. Avoiding carbs does not fix insulin resistance. It just avoids triggering it. And it’s the overconsumption of glucose + fat that’s the problem. Eat at maintenance or slightly below and reduce either glucose or fat significantly and you’ll achieve insulin sensitivity again.
You reacted to a specific carb, in a specific context, with a specific gut and metabolic state and concluded that all carbohydrates are the enemy.
Section 2: The Carb Landscape
Not all carbs are the same. This is your map.
Before you react to a carb, know what category it belongs to and what its actual properties are. The carb family is as diverse as the protein family. You would not swear off all protein because you can’t tolerate shellfish. Apply the same logic here.
Tubers
Examples: White potato, sweet potato, taro, yam, cassava, parsnip
Warming and starchy with a higher insulin response compared to fruit
Variety matters enormously → waxy vs. glassy, white vs. yellow potatoes produce different reactions in different people
Solanine is present in nightshade tubers (potato, taro) and is a common hidden sensitivity
Preparation method changes everything → pressure cooked is easiest to digest
Fruits
Examples: Banana, apple, orange juice, berries, mango, papaya
Fast oxidising with a cooling effect on the body. The more water, the more cooling.
Fructose content means they require less insulin than starchy carbs
OJ spikes blood sugar differently to apple juice → they are not interchangeable. Always test.
Ripe vs. unripe completely changes tolerability. A green banana and a ripe banana are not the same food. Not just in terms of blood sugar, but gut as well.
Grains
Examples: White rice, oats, wheat, corn
Lectins and gluten present in wheat
White rice is the cleanest grain → most problematic compounds are removed during processing
The downside is that it’s not as nutrient dense as potatoes for example.
Oats are tolerated better than wheat for most people
Corn is a common hidden allergen
It’s also generally harder to digestion, which is why a lot of people poop it out whole.
Legumes
Examples: Lentils, chickpeas, black beans
High FODMAP and high lectin content
Poor digestibility when raw or undercooked
Pressure cooking reduces anti-nutrients significantly
Black beans are the most tolerable starting point in this category
Legumes aren’t bad as long as you tolerate it well
Legumes also aren’t as magical as the fiber and blood sugar crowd have you believe.
Dairy Carbs
Examples: Milk, yogurt, kefir
Lactose and A1 casein are the two most common culprits (in sensitive individuals)
A2 milk (from Jersey cows, goats, or sheep) is tolerated by most people who react to standard commercial milk
Fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir, hard cheese) has lactose pre-digested and is tolerated by most lactose intolerant people
Natural sugars in milk are balanced with protein and fat; this is not a blood sugar spike food
Refined Sugars
Examples: White sugar, honey, maple syrup, fructose, molasses
Not all equal → honey contains enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that white sugar does not. It’s technically a whole food.
Fructose has an insulinomimetic effect → it lowers insulin requirement
Dark honey has a higher allergen load than light honey for sensitive individuals
The context and quantity matter far more than the source
Honey has flavonoids that are good for the gut, similar to fiber
Maple syrup is a concentrated plant sap with a good amount of certain vitamins, minerals and polyphenols
Fast Oxidisers
Examples: Apple juice, ripe banana, white rice, honey
Quick energy release
Good for raising body temperature (later in the day) and bringing cortisol down
Digests faster than starches and isn’t always as filling
People tend to tolerate fruit better than starches in a lot of cases
Best used after eating a good amount of meat, preworkout, post-workout or a quick “pick me up” when stressed.
Fruit until lunch (Noah Ryan’s approach) can also work, but mainly tends to work better in warm climates. Else it can cause hypothyroid symptoms like cold hands and feet.
Examples of consuming fruit include:
Steak + mango pieces
Ground beef + honey + 2 kiwi
TestoShake with a fruit like banana
Preworkout: 1 cup of apple juice + EAAs
Slow Oxidisers
Examples: Sweet potato, oats, less ripe banana, legumes
Better for heating someone up compared to fruit
Digests longer than fruit, so can make you feel heavier
Sometimes, meat and starch digestion interfere with each other if someone’s digestion is compromised
Steady energy release over a longer window
Better for sustained fuel through the morning or afternoon
Higher FODMAP risk in the legume category
Warming vs. Cooling: Why This Matters
Fruits are high in liquid and tend to make you feel colder. They are common in warm climates for a reason. If you are hypothyroid, cold, and already running low on metabolic energy, loading up on fruit in the morning is the wrong move. You are already slow and fruit keeps you slow.
Starchy tubers and warming carbs raise body temperature and bring cortisol down. This is what most people need earlier in the day. Fruit becomes appropriate once temperature is already up.
Fruit is not bad. It is a cooling food in a cold body. That is a timing problem, not a carb problem.
Preparation Changes Everything
Pressure cooking breaks down starch particles (makes it easier to digest), lectins and anti-nutrients significantly
Cooling and reheating starchy foods increases resistant starch content and changes digestibility → more gut issues for some people
Unripe fruit contains different sugar profiles to ripe fruit → green bananas cause gas, ripe bananas do not
Reheated potatoes from the day before are a viable breakfast option if your gut is healthy
Soaking and sprouting legumes before cooking further reduces FODMAP load
Section 3: Why You React
The culprit is rarely the carb. It is usually one of these.
When you eat a carb and feel terrible, the first question is not which carb should I cut. It is what is actually triggering this reaction. Most negative carb reactions fall into one of the following categories.
FODMAPs
Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. These are short chain carbohydrates that aren’t absorbed. They travel to the large intestine where bacteria ferment them, producing gas. If gas is overproduced, this leads to bloating, loose stool, and cramping. Which then also leads to wide spread low grade inflammation and create symptoms like restlessness, blurry vision, fatigue, brain fog, acne, dandruff, skin issues, low mood, poor erections, etc.
The main FODMAP types:
Fructose (excess): apples, honey, pears, high fructose foods
Lactose: milk, soft cheeses
Fructans: wheat, onion, garlic
GOS: legumes, chickpeas
Polyols: stone fruits, artificial sweeteners (sorbitol, xylitol)
Important:
Just because fructose and lactose might be “mal-absorbed” doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. They also act like prebiotics and can beneficially alter the microbiome. The majority of people with genetically low lactase can tolerate modest lactose loads without symptoms, so only a subset (about 40-50%) of those with malabsorption present as clinically ‘intolerant’.
High histamine reactions are often triggered by high FODMAP foods, not by the carbohydrate compound itself. Fix the FODMAP load and the histamine reaction often disappears.
Symptoms: bloating, gas, loose stool, cramping → see Section 5
Solanine / Nightshade Sensitivity
Solanine is a natural pesticide compound found in the nightshade family: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. It is concentrated in green or unripe portions, the skin, and the eyes of potatoes.
Common symptoms: eye irritation, nasal congestion, joint pain, dandruff, skin flare-ups
Practical test: if you react to potatoes but not sweet potatoes or other tubers, solanine sensitivity is likely → not a starch problem
Symptoms: eye irritation, nasal congestion, joint pain → see Section 5
Lectins
Proteins found in legumes, grains, and some vegetables that bind to gut lining cells and can increase intestinal permeability in susceptible individuals.
Raw or undercooked legumes are the main offenders
Pressure cooking destroys most lectins
Fermentation (sourdough) significantly reduces wheat lectins
White rice has negligible lectin content after processing
Gluten and Gliadin
Gluten sensitivity exists on a spectrum. The key question is: are you reacting to gluten specifically, to fructans in wheat (a FODMAP issue), or to something about the processing method?
Celiac disease: autoimmune reaction to gliadin → strict elimination necessary
FODMAP overlap: many so-called gluten reactions are actually fructan reactions → spelt sourdough is tolerated by some who react to regular wheat
Modern wheat problem: hybridised high-yield wheat has significantly higher gliadin content than heritage varieties
Lactose and A1 Casein
Two separate issues that are constantly conflated:
Lactose intolerance: insufficient lactase enzyme. Fermented dairy is usually tolerated because the lactose is pre-digested.
A1 casein sensitivity: the A1 beta-casein protein in most commercial dairy converts to BCM-7 in the gut, which is inflammatory for some people. And then intestinal inflammation reduces digestive enzymes in the small intestinal, including lactase. So lactose intolerance can actually be caused by intestinal inflammation. A2 milk from Jersey cows, goats, or sheep does not produce BCM-7 and is tolerated by most A1-sensitive people.
Gut Dysfunction and SIBO
The most underdiagnosed reason people react to carbohydrates is not the carb itself. It is a gut that cannot handle fermentable material without producing symptoms.
Your gut is setting the building on fire and blaming the fire alarm. The alarm isn’t the problem.
SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth): bacteria colonise the small intestine where they do not belong and ferment carbohydrates before they reach the colon. This produces hydrogen and methane gas, bloating, and nutrient malabsorption.
Intestinal inflammation: inflammation reduces the expression of enzymes in the small intestine, needed for proper starch and lactose digestion, worsening carb intolerance.
Removing all fermentable carbs manages symptoms but does not fix the root. The gut needs to be treated, not just starved.
Symptoms: chronic bloating, loose stool, fatigue after eating, feeling poisoned in the morning → see Section 5
Insulin Resistance and Free Fatty Acids
If you have excess free fatty acids in the bloodstream (from high dietary fat, chronic stress, poor sleep, low grade inflammation, sleep apnea, sleep loss or obesity) these directly block glucose uptake at the cellular level and cause insulin resistance. When you then eat carbohydrates, the system cannot handle them properly.
The carb is not causing insulin resistance, the elevated FFAs are
High fat meals combined with carbs worsen this significantly
This is why diabetics often improve on low carb, it removes the trigger without fixing the root
Solutions: see Section 4 and Section 8
Nutritional Deficiencies
Magnesium, zinc, manganese, chromium, potassium, B-vitamins, etc, are cofactors in glucose metabolism. Deficiency in either one directly impairs insulin function and worsens blood sugar handling, creating reactions to carbs that would be perfectly manageable in a replete individual.
Solutions: see Section 8
Want to Know Exactly Which Carbs Are Breaking You?
You just read the most common reasons people react to carbohydrates. Maybe one of them hit close to home. Maybe two or three did.
But knowing the category is not the same as knowing your answer.
A FODMAP reaction looks identical to a solanine reaction from the outside. SIBO looks like insulin resistance. A zinc deficiency looks like a carb intolerance. The symptoms overlap. The fixes do not.
If you want to know exactly what is happening in your body (not the general framework, but your specific pattern, your specific triggers, and your specific protocol) ask directly.
Reacting to a specific carb and can’t figure out why? Just Ask Hans
Not sure if your symptoms are a gut issue or a blood sugar issue? Just Ask Hans
Want to know which carbs are actually safe for your specific situation? Just Ask Hans
Ask Hans is trained on everything in this guide and everything behind it. You get a specific answer to a specific question in under a minute.
If you want a full picture of your patterns across every system, not just carbs, the Health Report gives you a personalised protocol built around your symptoms, history, and goals.
What’s Coming in the Rest of This Guide
Section 4: Blood Sugar → what actually causes spikes and crashes, why insulin is not the enemy, and the four compound stack that can halve your glycaemic response
Section 5: Symptom Checker → find your symptom, get the likely cause, and know exactly which section solves it
Section 6: Meal Timing and Structure → the rules for morning, lunch, dinner, and pre-bed that determine how well you handle every carb you eat
Section 7: How to Identify Your Problem Carb → the five-step elimination protocol that tells you exactly what to remove and what to keep
Section 8: The Fix Toolkit → quick reference solutions for blood sugar instability, gut reactions, hypothyroid patterns, and insulin resistance