• Empty carbohydrates come from foods that contain little or no fiber, vitamins or minerals. Examples are soda, cookies and cakes -- foods high in sugar.
• Healthy carbohydrates are just the opposite. They come with fiber, vitamins, minerals and even antioxidants to help promote health and prevent disease. Examples are potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, milk, yogurt, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, apples, oranges, bananas, whole grain bread and cereals.
• ''Sugar-free'' or ''no added sugar'' on food labels simply means that the product has had no sugar added during processing. The food, however, may naturally contain significant amounts of sugar, or it may have been sweetened with fruit juice concentrate (which contains natural sugar).

So what should I eat?

It's simple. Choose foods that contain healthy carbohydrates most often. Avoid foods high in added sugar such as soda, sweetened breakfast cereals and sweet desserts. It's okay to eat empty carbohydrates sometimes; everybody has a birthday with a cake, or pie at a holiday, or even a piece of candy just because it tastes good. That's fine as long as most of our foods choices are wholesome, healthy foods. And the beauty of this guideline is its simplicity. Don't bother checking grams of sugar or searching out sugar-free foods. You won't need to if you simply choose healthy foods in the first place.