It is an interesting question, because carbohydrate and grains are not the same thing. We absolutely believe carbohydrate matters, glucose is an important fuel for the body, and consistently under-eating carbohydrate can increase the body’s reliance on stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to maintain blood glucose, but recognising the importance of carbohydrate does not mean that grains are necessarily the best way to obtain it.

From a metabolic perspective, there may actually be easier places to start.

A grain is a seed, not simply a carbohydrate

When we look at a bowl of porridge or a slice of bread, we tend to think primarily about starch, fibre and calories, but biologically, a grain is a seed, and its purpose is to survive long enough to reproduce.

That means grains naturally contain storage proteins alongside compounds such as phytates, lectins and enzyme inhibitors. These compounds are not evidence that plants are somehow “toxic”, and they should not be sensationalised, they are simply part of the biology of a seed.

For somebody with robust digestion, this may be relatively insignificant, but for somebody whose metabolism and digestion are already struggling, it can represent another layer of work, and this is where we think the conversation around grains becomes more interesting.

Digestion costs energy

We often talk about what a food contains, but considerably less about what has to happen before the body can actually use it. Food has to be broken down, stomach acid has to be produced, digestive enzymes have to be secreted, the gut has to move effectively, nutrients need to cross the intestinal lining, and whatever reaches the large intestine then interacts with the microbial environment living there.

All of this requires energy, and thyroid function is deeply connected to this because thyroid hormones influence metabolic activity throughout the body, including gut motility and digestive function.

So when metabolism slows, digestion can slow with it, and people may begin to notice constipation, bloating, reflux, feeling excessively full after meals or foods they previously tolerated suddenly becoming much more difficult.

Complex starches and large amounts of fibre can be particularly challenging in that situation because rather than being efficiently digested and absorbed higher up the digestive tract, more carbohydrate may reach bacteria further down, where fermentation can contribute to gas, bloating and discomfort.

It does not necessarily mean the person has suddenly developed ten different food intolerances, sometimes the digestive system simply has less capacity.

This is why we don’t automatically reach for whole grains

“Whole” has become almost interchangeable with “healthier” in conventional nutrition, but metabolically it is not quite that simple.

The outer portions of a grain contain more fibre and micronutrients, but they can also contain more of the compounds that make seeds harder to digest and that can interfere with mineral availability, so if somebody has low energy, poor digestion, constipation, significant bloating or sluggish thyroid function, continually increasing bran, seeds and whole grains because they are supposed to be healthy may not be the most useful strategy.

Sometimes less digestive work is exactly what the body needs.

This does not mean refined flour suddenly becomes a health food, it simply means that the idea that the least processed, highest-fibre version of every carbohydrate must automatically be superior does not always survive contact with individual physiology.

So what do we prefer for carbohydrate?

This is where the metabolic approach differs quite substantially from low-carbohydrate eating, because we are not suggesting removing grains and then removing carbohydrate with them.

Quite the opposite.

For many people, we would rather obtain a good proportion of carbohydrate from foods such as ripe fruit, fruit juice, honey, well-cooked root vegetables and potatoes, and dairy where it is well tolerated, while white rice and properly prepared maize can also work extremely well for some people.

These foods have very different structures and nutritional profiles, but the principle is the same, we are looking for carbohydrate the individual can digest, absorb and turn into energy without creating unnecessary digestive stress.

Fruit is particularly interesting from a metabolic perspective because it supplies glucose and fructose alongside potassium and other micronutrients without the same starch and fibre load as many grain-based foods, honey provides readily available carbohydrate without needing to digest a grain matrix first, milk, where tolerated, provides lactose together with protein and calcium, and roots and tubers can provide substantial carbohydrate while giving us another option beyond eating bread, cereal and pasta several times a day.

It is not that every one of these foods will suit everybody, it is simply that we have far more options than we have been led to believe.

But surely humans have eaten grains for thousands of years?

They have, and that matters, because we are not arguing that grains are incompatible with human health and entire populations have eaten them successfully.

Historically, however, grains were often treated very differently, they were soaked, sprouted, fermented, nixtamalised, slowly cooked or made into long-fermented breads, and these processes were not fashionable wellness practices, they were simply normal food preparation.

Preparation alters the food, which means a traditionally fermented sourdough is not identical to an industrial loaf produced quickly with modern flour and eaten alongside cereal at breakfast, a sandwich at lunch and pasta for dinner.

Dose matters too, because there is an enormous difference between including some grain in an otherwise nutrient-dense diet and using grain products as the primary source of carbohydrate at almost every meal.

What about gluten?

Gluten deserves its own discussion because it is only one component of the grain question.

For somebody with coeliac disease, gluten must be strictly avoided, while for others gluten may genuinely contribute to symptoms, and some people tolerate sourdough beautifully.

We do not think the answer is to become frightened of gluten or to replace every wheat product with an ultra-processed gluten-free equivalent, but nor do we think everybody needs to prove that they can eat bread.

There is no nutritional requirement to consume gluten, and if someone feels considerably better obtaining their carbohydrates elsewhere, that is useful information.

The bigger question is metabolic

This is perhaps the piece we care about most, because if a person is cold, tired, constipated, waking through the night, struggling with blood sugar, relying heavily on caffeine and experiencing increasing digestive sensitivity, simply removing more and more food may eventually make the metabolic picture worse.

We need to ask why the system has become less resilient, whether they are eating enough, whether they are getting enough carbohydrate, whether meals are regular enough to maintain liver glycogen, how thyroid function is looking, how they are sleeping, whether they are constantly running on adrenaline, whether there is enough protein, calcium and mineral support, and how well they are actually digesting what they eat.

The goal is not to construct the smallest diet possible, it is to help the body produce energy well enough that digestion, repair and resilience have the resources they need, and sometimes, while we are doing that, grains simply are not the carbohydrate source we prioritise.

Grains are optional, carbohydrate isn’t necessarily

That distinction changes the conversation enormously, because you can support metabolism without eating bowls of porridge, wholegrain bread and brown rice, while you can also eat some grains and have an excellent metabolism.

There does not need to be a dietary ideology attached to either choice.

At Inna, we are much more interested in whether a food is actually serving the person in front of us, whether it digests comfortably, whether it gives them energy rather than leaving them sleepy or bloated, whether their bowels are working well, whether they feel warm and nourished after eating, and whether their body can actually make good use of it.

For someone metabolically robust, a properly prepared grain may simply be food, while for someone metabolically depleted, we may choose easier sources of carbohydrate first, provide the body with sufficient energy, work on digestion and thyroid function, and see what changes.

Because the aim is not to become better at avoiding food, it is to build a body with enough energy and resilience to handle food well.