Jake Biggs Featured in The Sunday Telegraph Body + Soul

For years, carbohydrates have been one of the most debated areas of nutrition. Paleo diets pushed them aside, keto made their restriction even more extreme, and calorie counting apps often reduced food choices to numbers on a screen. Now, the conversation is beginning to change.

I was recently featured as a clinical nutrition expert in The Great Carb Comeback, a Body+Soul feature published in The Sunday Telegraph on Sunday, 9 August 2026. The article explored why carbohydrates are being reconsidered and what can happen when people remove them from their diet without considering their individual needs.

This is something I see regularly in nutrition consultations. People can become so focused on avoiding carbohydrates that they lose sight of what their body is actually telling them. Energy, exercise performance, concentration, appetite and mood can all provide useful clues about whether someone’s current dietary pattern is working for them.

When Low Carbohydrate Eating Goes Too Far

Reducing carbohydrate intake is not automatically problematic for every person. The issue arises when restriction becomes excessive or when carbohydrate intake no longer reflects the demands being placed on the body.

Someone who is exercising regularly, working long hours, managing family responsibilities and trying to maintain a restrictive diet may eventually notice that something has changed. They may feel different during training, struggle to concentrate or experience a significant drop in afternoon energy.

These experiences are useful signals that the overall dietary pattern deserves closer consideration. They do not necessarily mean that someone needs to consume large amounts of carbohydrate, but they may indicate that their current intake is not adequately supporting their lifestyle, activity or daily demands.

Persistent Fatigue

Energy requirements do not disappear simply because someone has reduced carbohydrates. When carbohydrate availability remains low, particularly alongside regular exercise, some people may find that maintaining their usual energy becomes increasingly difficult.

Changes in Training Quality

Exercise performance can be particularly revealing. A training session that previously felt manageable may suddenly feel considerably harder, particularly during repeated or sustained higher intensity efforts.

Difficulty Concentrating

Food provides fuel for the brain as well as the muscles. Concentration, mental performance and the ability to manage a demanding working day therefore need to be considered when evaluating an individual’s diet.

The Afternoon Crash Nobody Talks About

Another pattern I commonly hear about is the dramatic shift that happens later in the day. Someone may feel relatively comfortable through the morning before their energy suddenly drops during the afternoon.

When this happens repeatedly, it can become a cycle. A person restricts food earlier in the day, experiences a pronounced hunger or energy dip, reaches for quick energy and then feels concerned about having done so. Restriction can then become even stronger the following day.

Rather than automatically blaming sugar cravings on a lack of discipline, I think it is more useful to consider what happened earlier in the day. Was there enough food? Was there enough carbohydrate? Was there sufficient protein and fibre? And did the overall intake match the person’s activity?

Understanding Glycogen

One of the reasons carbohydrate intake matters so much for active people is glycogen. Carbohydrate is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, which can then be drawn upon when the body needs readily available fuel.

The amount of glycogen available is influenced by dietary carbohydrate intake as well as physical activity. This is why carbohydrate becomes an important consideration when someone is regularly training or engaging in demanding physical activity.

The key message is not that everyone needs to consume a large amount of carbohydrate. It is that carbohydrate requirements should be considered in context. A person with a high level of physical activity has different nutritional demands from someone with a much lower activity level.

Do Carbohydrates Actually Cause Weight Gain?

This is one of the most persistent ideas in modern diet culture. Because carbohydrate foods have been removed from so many popular diets, many people have come to believe that carbohydrates themselves are responsible for weight gain.

That way of thinking overlooks the enormous difference between individual carbohydrate foods and the dietary patterns in which they are consumed. A carbohydrate food does not exist in isolation from the rest of the meal, the overall diet or the person’s energy requirements.

Source Matters More Than the Label

Rather than placing every carbohydrate food into one category, I prefer to look at what the food actually provides. Fibre, nutrient density, degree of processing and the overall dietary pattern all help determine how a carbohydrate food fits into someone’s nutrition.

This is why comparing all carbohydrate foods as though they are nutritionally identical is unhelpful. A meal containing lentils and vegetables has a very different nutritional profile from a highly processed sweet food, even though both contribute carbohydrate.

Look at Fibre

Fibre is an important part of the assessment because it contributes to overall dietary quality and is naturally present in many whole plant foods.

Look at Nutrient Density

Some carbohydrate foods bring considerably more nutritional value to the table than others. Vitamins, minerals, fibre and other nutrients should all be considered rather than focusing exclusively on carbohydrate grams.

Look at Processing

The degree to which a food has been processed is another useful consideration. Highly processed foods can fit very differently within an overall dietary pattern compared with minimally processed carbohydrate sources.

What Happens When We Stop Fearing Carbohydrates?

Moving away from carbohydrate fear does not mean eating carbohydrates without thought. It means replacing blanket restriction with a more considered approach.

Instead of automatically eliminating bread, rice, pasta, oats, potatoes or other carbohydrate foods, start by asking what role they can play in your overall diet.

This approach creates considerably more flexibility. It also means that food choices can be guided by nutritional value rather than by the latest diet trend.

Carbohydrates and Exercise

Carbohydrate has a particularly important role when physical activity increases. The body needs fuel to train, and the amount required will vary according to the type, intensity and duration of exercise.

Someone preparing for a long cycling event will have very different carbohydrate requirements from someone completing a short walk. Even within the same sport, individual needs can differ significantly.

This principle is not limited to elite sport. It is simply about matching nutrition to what the body is being asked to do.

Training Regularly?

If you are exercising several times a week, carbohydrate can form an important part of your overall fuelling strategy. The goal is to find an intake that supports training without losing sight of the rest of the nutritional picture.

Preparing for a Long Event?

Longer sessions can place much greater demands on glycogen availability. This is where individualised sports nutrition becomes particularly useful, because carbohydrate requirements can change substantially with training load.

You Do Not Have to Be an Athlete to Need Carbohydrates

Carbohydrate discussions often become focused entirely on sport, but carbohydrate availability matters outside competitive training too. People need energy for work, study, walking, family life and everyday movement.

This is why a very restrictive carbohydrate approach may not be suitable for everyone. Nutrition should reflect the person’s actual life rather than being dictated by a diet trend that treats everyone the same.

Which Carbohydrates Deserve More Attention?

Why Food Quality Changes the Conversation

The problem with the phrase “carbohydrates” is that it covers an enormous range of foods. Some are highly processed and relatively low in fibre, while others are whole or minimally processed and provide a broad range of nutrients.

This is why I do not believe the answer is simply to put carbohydrates on a banned list. Instead, people can become more selective about the foods they regularly rely on and make choices that contribute to better overall dietary quality.

The Mistake of Treating Every Diet the Same

A nutrition strategy should reflect the individual. Activity level, lifestyle, energy requirements, food preferences and personal goals all influence what an appropriate diet looks like.

Someone who is highly active may struggle if their carbohydrate intake is consistently too low, while another person may have very different requirements. There is no universal carbohydrate prescription that works equally well for everyone.

Short-Term Effects of Excessive Carbohydrate Restriction

The first signs that carbohydrate intake may be too restrictive can be relatively subtle. Changes in energy, mood, concentration, exercise performance and appetite may gradually become noticeable rather than appearing all at once.

Long-Term Nutrition Matters Too

Nutrition decisions should not be judged only by what happens over a few days or weeks. A sustainable dietary pattern needs to provide sufficient energy and a broad range of nutrients while remaining realistic enough to maintain over time.

Removing an entire macronutrient without considering food quality, individual requirements and activity levels can make a person’s diet more restrictive than it needs to be.

Five Ways to Rethink Carbohydrates

1. Stop grouping every carbohydrate food together. Look at the nutritional characteristics of the actual food.
2. Prioritise fibre. Include carbohydrate sources that contribute meaningfully to your overall fibre intake.
3. Consider nutrient density. Choose foods that provide more than carbohydrate alone.
4. Match carbohydrates with your activity. Your needs can change as your exercise and training demands change.
5. Consider the entire dietary pattern. Carbohydrates are only one component of overall nutrition.

The Great Carb Comeback Is About Better Choices

The return of carbohydrates does not mean abandoning nutritional awareness. It means moving beyond the idea that removing an entire macronutrient is automatically the solution.

The more useful approach is to understand the difference between foods, recognise the role of fibre and nutrient density, consider processing and then match carbohydrate intake to individual activity and energy needs.

For me, that is the real message behind The Great Carb Comeback. Carbohydrates should not be judged by reputation alone. They should be assessed according to the food itself, the person’s requirements and the overall dietary pattern.

If you have spent years avoiding carbohydrates because you were told they automatically cause weight gain, it may be time to look at them differently. Not with a return to excessive carbohydrate intake, but with a more informed understanding of which carbohydrate foods can genuinely contribute to a nutritious diet.

The question is no longer simply, “Should I eat carbohydrates?” A better question is, “Which carbohydrates, how much and when are they appropriate for me?”

My Final Take

Carbohydrates are not inherently something to fear. They are one part of nutrition, and their role needs to be considered alongside the quality of the food, fibre, nutrient density, processing, overall dietary intake and physical activity.

The most important shift is from restriction to assessment. Once you start looking at carbohydrates through that lens, the conversation becomes much more practical and much less about following the latest diet trend.

This article is general information, not personal medical or nutritional advice. Individual carbohydrate requirements vary according to factors including body size, activity level, training demands, health status and individual goals. For personalised nutrition guidance, book a consultation. The quotes reproduced above are Jake Biggs’ contributions to the Body+Soul feature. The original article remains the copyright of its publisher.