The three Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates

First I wanted to start off with, DON’T BE SCARED OF CARBS! Our bodies need carbs in order to survive, but there is a difference between good carbs and bad carbs. We always want to have good carbs to help with energy and recovery of physical activity. But we do want to stay away from bad carbs which in the end will get us to gain weight. So there are three different groups of carbs: simple, complex, and fiber. All three carbohydrates are broken down in the body differently and have different nutritional value.

Simple Carbohydrates

This is simple sugars like fruit, dairy products, and vegetables because they contain natural sugars. Simple carbs can also be bad because of food that uses added sugar to foods like processed honey, sugar, molasses, and corn syrup. This is what our sweet tooth calls for, but if you keep it natural instead of eating food with additives of sugar, much better off choosing fruits and veggies.

Complex Carbohydrates

These are called starches, which are several linked chains of sugar which make complex carbs. Complex carbs are much healthier than simple carbs. Since they are starches, they provide you with healthy sugar and fiber. The types of food that are considered complex carbs are: bread, cereal, pasta, rice, and corn. While our bodies break complex carbs down, its converted into glucose during digestion but can also cause a spike your blood glucose levels and some people can build an insulin resistance.

Fiber

Fiber is categorized as a complex carb but doesn’t act like simple or complex carbs. Our bodies digest fiber easier and it isn’t broken down into sugar. Fiber helps regulate blood glucose levels and helps our body lower our cholesterol levels as well as regular digestion. The foods that contain fiber are: Whole grains, fruits and veggies. Dark greens and orange colored fruits and veggies are the richest in fiber. Also lentils, peas, dried beans are also healthy forms of fiber. Watch out for processed whole grains or refined white flower for example. That means the fiber is removed and now has changed into a simple carb instead of a fiber.

 Some Simple Carbohydrates

Table sugar                         Corn syrup

Fruit juice                            Candy

Cake                                      Bread made with white flower

Soda                                      Pasta made with white flower

Most packaged cereals  All baked goods made with white flower

Some Complex Carbohydrates

Spinach                                Whole Barley

Turnip Greens                   Buckwheat

Apples                                  lettuce                                 

Zucchini                                oatmeal                                                                              

Asparagus                           pears

Artichokes                          Museli

Strawberries                      Wild rice

Cabbage                              Brown rice

Yams                                     Multi-grain bread

Potatos                                                Yams

Fiber

Raspberries                        Pear (with skin)

Banana                                                 apple (with skin)

Bran flakes                          split peas (cooked)

Black beans                        almonds

Broccoli (boiled)               sweet corn (cooked)

Potato with skin (baked) carrot

Carbohydrates are preferred fuel by the body and it is the critical energy source for an active person before and after exercise. The complex carbohydrate is preferred carb because it sustains energy needs and supplies fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The fuel that is made from carbohydrates comes from two sources: circulating blood glucose and glycogen stored in the muscle and liver tissue. Complex carbs are also called starches. Starches break down slowly, helping maintain blood glucose levels avoiding hypoglycemia and maintain glycogen storage as a constant primary fuel source.

A low-carbohydrate diet decreases the body’s ability for capacity work. This makes the body less efficient for maintaining energy homeostasis.

A high-carbohydrate diet enhances muscle glycogen concentrations and exercise performance. When exercising consuming small amounts of carbs improves whole-body carbohydrate oxidation and metabolic efficiency.

Food sources of Carbohydrates

Starches (the most important of carbohydrates) are whole grain such as rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes.

Sugars (good from fruit and veggies, not from candy or drinks) bananas, orange, and apples

Fiber (the cleanser of the body) rye, nuts, and beans

Carbohydrates recommended daily intake is 45-65%
this translates to 225- 325 grams of carbs a day
1  gram of carbs = 4 calories

Refined carbohydrates are the carbs you want to stay away from. Refined means it’s a high carbohydrates and it has been strip out everything and only keep the highly digestible carb (starch or sugar). Refined carbs are produced from an whole plant but has been broken down so that the body processes it very quickly.

Refined Carbohydrates are-sugar (granulated, high fructose, corn syrup), grains that have been made with white or enriched (white flower, white rice, white pasta, enriched rice, soy, almond milk), starch (corn starch, modified food starch)