Are you eating too many or too few carbohydrates? Here's how to tell

Most Indians love their rice, roti, and comfort carbs, but how much is too much? Nutrition experts warn that both excessive and insufficient carbohydrate intake can disrupt your health.

If your day feels like a cycle of hunger pangs, mood swings, or energy crashes, your carbs might be to blame. From rice and rotis to biscuits and buns, carbohydrates make up most of the desi plate. Nutrition experts warn that both overindulging in carbs and cutting them too drastically are growing dietary problems in India, especially as the nation faces a rising diabetes burden.

 

Spotting the signs of carb imbalance

 

“Eating too many carbs shows up as persistent hunger soon after meals due to rapid sugar spikes and crashes,” says Pooja Shah Bhave, Consultant Clinical Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator based in Mumbai. She adds that common signs include weight gain, fatigue, bloating, irritability, and muscle pain.

 

On the other hand, eating too few carbs, especially through restrictive diets like keto, may lead to constant tiredness, mental fog, bad breath, and digestive issues. “You may lose weight unintentionally and feel irritable or weak,” she notes.

 

Sumaiya Ansari, Clinical Dietitian, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan, echoes this, “Too many carbs can cause constant hunger, belly fat, and fatigue after meals, while too few can lead to dizziness, poor concentration, and constipation.”

 

Why Indians tend to over-carb

 

Indian meals traditionally centre around grain-heavy staples like rice, chapati, or paratha. “More than half of an average Indian plate comes from carb sources,” says Bhave.

 

This is reinforced by affordability and accessibility as rice, wheat, and maida remain the cheapest, most filling choices. Add to that a growing dependence on restaurant meals and processed snacks, and it’s easy to see why India derives nearly 62 per cent of its calories from carbohydrates, according to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research-Indian Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study, published in Nature Medicine last month.

 

"Common myths also fuel overconsumption. Many believe 'carbs give strength, so more is better,' or that 'skipping carbs makes you weak.' There is also a cultural habit where a meal isn’t considered complete without rice or chapati,” adds Ansari.

 

Hidden dangers of a carb-heavy plate

 

Experts warn that a high-carb diet, especially when dominated by refined grains, worsens India’s diabetes burden. “Excess carbs increase insulin resistance and raise the risk of Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, and heart disease,” says Ansari. Women may also experience hormonal imbalances and menstrual irregularities.

 

Finding the right balance

 

For most adults, 45–65 per cent of daily calories should come from carbohydrates, roughly 225–325g on a 2,000-calorie diet, suggest experts. Sedentary individuals or those with diabetes may need less, while athletes may need more.

 

Simple carbs like sugar, white rice, maida, and sweets, digest quickly, giving a brief energy rush followed by a crash.

Complex carbs, found in whole grains, millets, oats, legumes, and vegetables, release energy slowly, keeping you full longer and supporting gut health.

 

Choose complex, fibre-rich carbs and practise carb pairing, combine grains with pulses and vegetables. Swap white rice for brown rice or millets, and cut down on sugary drinks and refined snacks, suggest experts.

 

"Start with one or two swaps, like using brown rice twice weekly or adding a salad at lunch. Slowly increase protein and fibre sources instead of changing everything at once," says Bhave.   

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This report is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.