It’s not how many carbs you eat, but what kind—whole grains and fiber are good, sugar and white flour are bad—for your heart and how long you live.

Eating more carbs might raise your chance of having a heart problem, but it doesn’t seem to make you more likely to die from anything else or from cancer — so carbs could be hurting your heart on their own.

Eating more carbs each day might raise your risk of heart disease — for every extra 50 grams of carbs (about the amount in a large potato or a big slice of bread), your risk goes up by 11%, even if those carbs don’t spike your blood sugar much.

Eating more carbs each day — like bread, pasta, and sugar — might raise your risk of heart disease by 11% for every extra 50 grams you eat, and it might matter more how much you eat than what kind of carbs they are.

People who eat more whole grains like oats and brown rice, and fewer white breads and sugary snacks, tend to have less heart disease — and this pattern has been seen in many different groups of people.

People who eat more whole grains like oats and brown rice instead of white bread and sugary cereals tend to have a lower chance of getting heart disease, according to studies that watch what people eat over time.