In his new book, The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life (out this Tuesday), Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren outlines a faith-based, holistic wellness program that he developed with the help of three experts--brain specialist Dr. Daniel Amen, metabolic expert Dr. Mark Hyman, and cardio-thoracic surgeon and TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. (The main title of the book refers to the prophet who championed healthy eating.) The excerpt below highlights the carbs we should be eating.

Now is the time for us to blow up the calorie myth. Here's the myth: All calories are created equal.

The lesson we have all learned is that calories are a form of energy, and according to the laws of physics, a calorie is a calorie--the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one liter of water by one degree centigrade. This law is true for physics, but all bets are off when you put biology in the mix. If it was all about "eat less, exercise more," we would all do it and be skinny and fit. But there are different kinds of calories: healing calories and disease-causing calories. Let us explain.

Let's compare a 20-ounce soda with 240 calories to the equivalent number of calories from broccoli (which is about 7.5 cups). The soda has no fiber and no vitamins or minerals, but has 15 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and phosphoric acid--which causes osteoporosis. The sugar in the soda spikes your insulin, causes a fatty liver, increases triglycerides, lowers good cholesterol, raises bad cholesterol, increases cortisol (the stress hormone), and causes diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and dementia.

The broccoli (if you could actually eat the 7.5 cups!) has the same number of calories but about 1⁄2 teaspoon natural sugar and 35 grams fiber and is rich in vitamins and minerals, including folate and magnesium. Broccoli also contains powerful phytonutrients, which are healing plant compounds that help reduce your risk of cancer and boost your detoxification capacity. And broccoli has very little ability to raise your blood sugar. In fact, when it enters your body, the broccoli has the exact opposite effect of the soda. It creates health rather than destroys it. Same calories--very different results.

Clearly, all calories are not the same. It is a matter of quality. So we want to help you focus on becoming a "qualitarian."

Low-glycemic vegetables are your new best friends. Go ahead and fill up on these life-giving plants. They should make up 50 percent of your plate. keep a list of these as you walk through your grocery store, which is your new FARMacy, where you will find the best medicine for body and soul. Have two or three veggie dishes at dinner. Make a salad with arugula, artichokes, and avocados, and have a side of sautéed zucchini with garlic and olive oil and some roasted mush- rooms. Go crazy!

The one type of vegetable you can never get enough of is the cruciferous vegetable family, which includes kale, collards, broccolini, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and bok choy. They contain powerful detoxifying chemicals called glucosinolates that prevent cancer and support your health. We recommend a cup or two every day.

Most of us grew up on peas, carrots, and sweet corn as our side vegetables. These starchy plant foods have a place in a healthy diet. You still want to think of them as a side dish. They are sweeter, and for some people, they can raise blood sugar. But they are full of antioxidants and healing phytonutrients. Use starchy veggies--including beets, carrots, corn, green peas, Jerusalem artichokes/sun chokes, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, rutabagas, sweet potatoes or yams, turnips, winter squash--in a larger proportion to grains on your plate.

Now let's go back to phytonutrients. Your body is lazy--biochemically, that is. It doesn't do things one way that it can get done by some other means. The magic of your body is that you can use the power of plants to run important functions that keep you healthy. There is an entire class of compounds (phytonutrients) in our plant foods that work hard to reduce inflammation; rid our bodies of toxins; improve the way our bodies metabolize food and boost calorie burning; optimize immune function; prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and dementia; and contain powerful antioxidants that literally prevent our bodies from rusting and aging too fast.