How To Tell Good Carbs From Bad

[Guest guest]

Here is a great article I read today from Health. Very

informative with layman's terms of the process of carbohydrate

formation. And check out the last paragraph!

 

 

Think of your body as a car. Carbs are the gas.

 

But not all carbohydrates are super premium. When nutrition experts

advise us to get at least half of our calories from carbohydrates,

they don't mean cotton candy.

 

Whole grains, starchy vegetables, beans, soy foods, green vegetables

and fruits — foods served as nature grew them - are the carbohydrates

that pack the highest nutritional octane. They're rich in compounds

that support good health, including fiber, nutrients and

phytochemicals. A dietary pattern based on these foods lowers the

risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many major cancers.

 

Highly processed carbohydrates, which are stripped of their

nutritious germ and fiber, are another story. Unhealthful diets often

contain too many carbohydrates processed into concentrated forms

(corn syrup, white flour) that provide calories and little else. The

bottom line: When you fill up with carbohydrates, only nature

reliably pumps out high octane.

 

Here's a quick carbohydrate primer:

 

 

Refined starches, such as the white flour used for white bread and

most crackers, are complex carbohydrates that have been stripped of

their fiber and nutritious germ.

 

Whole grains, fruits and vegetables provide complex (and some simple)

carbohydrates, along with fiber, vitamins, minerals, trace elements

and health-protective phytochemicals.

 

Cotton candy is pink sugar.

 

 

What Is a Carbohydrate?

 

It all starts with the sun. Plants use solar power to combine carbon

dioxide with water to create carbohydrates (carbo means carbon;

hydrate means water); this is photosynthesis. The basic unit is

glucose, a single molecule, which is referred to as a simple

carbohydrate. Glucose is a form of sugar. Plants then use their

chemical skills to make different kinds of carbohydrates from the

single glucose molecule:

Other sugars. For instance, a small change to glucose turns it into

fructose, the main sugar in fruits.

Complex carbohydrates, also known as starches. Plants form long

chains of glucose molecules.

Fiber. These are even more complicated forms of carbohydrates, used

to build various plant structures. Like starch, they contain energy,

but our bodies lack the digestive enzymes to break them down.

Nevertheless, fiber is essential to health.

 

 

Aren't Carbohydrates Fattening?

 

It's a dominant nutrition myth of our time. Excess calories will

promote weight gain, and many of us consume excess calories in the

form of refined carbohydrates. But there's little evidence that

carbohydrates themselves promote weight gain — or that restricting

them will help in long-term weight management. The truth is almost

the opposite.

 

The high-protein/low-carbohydrate crowd contends that dietary

carbohydrates cause " insulin resistance " and weight gain. The reality

is that insulin resistance, an all-too-common condition in which the

body becomes less sensitive to its insulin signals and thus produces

excess insulin, results from taking too many calories and being too

sedentary - a direct result of having too much body fat. The problem

is excess calories, regardless of the source.

 

The kernel of truth in the anti-carbohydrate movement is that many

people consume too many calories from carbohydrates, particularly

refined starches and sweets. Both foods are easy to overeat because

they contain no fiber or water. As a result, a small package provides

a lot of calories.

 

So yes — cutting back on these refined carbohydrates often helps

control calories, but don't switch to meat, as some folks would have

you do. Switch to whole grains, vegetables and fruits (rich in fiber

and water). They're healthier — and more filling, making it easier to

control calories.