Many diets that have appeared over the past years have tried to convince you that all carbs are bad (Atkins probably being the most well known), although there are some bad carbs that should be avoided, we should not try to completely cut carbs out of our diets.
Carbohydrates are essential in a healthy balanced diet.
As petrol is to cars carbohydrates are to humans! Carbohydrates are the body's ultimate fuel supply.
All Carbohydrates are made up from sugars, our bodies convert sugar into glucose, which is the bodies preferred energy source.
There are two main types of carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbohydrates are made up of single sugars or two sugars joined together.
They are often referred to as the 'bad carbohydrate', this is actually a bit of an unfair accusation.
The problem with simple carbohydrates is that they are easily digested by the body and absorbed quickly into the bloodstream, which causes a sudden rise in blood sugar levels.
This will give you a quick lift in energy, but will soon drop again and leave you feeling even more tired than before.
This sudden rise in blood sugar levels also creates a sudden rise in insulin levels which can cause the sugars to be turned into fat.
That said the natural simple carbs, such as fructose which is found in fruit and lactose which is found in dairy products are perfectly healthy eaten in moderation.
Fruit also contains many vitamins and minerals that the body needs, dairy products are an excellent source of calcium and protein.
Complex Carbohydrates, also known as polysaccharides are the second main group in the carbohydrate family.
They are made up of thousands of sugar molecules linked together.
Complex carbs take a lot longer for the body to digest than simple carbohydrates.
This means that they supply the body with a steadier and longer lasting supply of energy, without the sudden rises and drops in blood sugar.
Complex carbs can be split into two sub groups, Starchy (starch) and fibrous (fibre).
Starchy complex carbs are found in potatoes, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oats, wheat, grains and beans.
The calories in starch are completely absorbed by the body.
Fibrous complex carbs are found in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach and squash.
Fibre cannot be digested by the body, so it passes straight through without absorbing all of the calories.
Fibre helps clean out the body, promoting healthy digestion.
If you are trying to lose body fat these fibrous complex carb foods are great, they have such a low calorie density that they are almost impossible to over eat with and yet they still fill you up! So that covers the two naturally occurring types of carbohydrates.
Now we come to the bad guys! The Processed and Refined Carbohydrates are definitely the bad carbs! The refining and processing removes any goodness that they may have held before, and leaves them as just empty calories with no nutrients, vitamins or minerals that the body can use.
Even worse than that when digested the refined carbohydrates or sugars actually drain the body of nutrients and minerals! Sound bad so far? Well that's just the tip of the iceberg! Refined sugars have been found to contribute to increases in body fat, cholesterol, and an increase in insulin levels.
They have also been linked to a decrease in the immune system and the body's natural growth hormones.
Refined carbohydrates or refined sugars can be found in an abundance of foods, see the list below for starters...
• Cakes • Biscuits • Sweets • Any food with white flour in (white pasta, white bread, etc.
) • Pastries • Ready meals • Table sugar • Fizzy drinks (non-diet) • Any Fast Food meals (thought I'd better not name and shame here!) The list goes on.
The other problem when trying to avoid these refined carbs, is that they are some times quite well hidden.
For example, these low-fat so called healthy meals that you get from the supermarket.
They have no fat in them, but they are full of these refined sugars which are just as bad as the fats (I mean the bad fats here, explanation coming in the next section...
) You need to get into the habit of checking the packaging of the things that you are eating, if the food you are about to buy has any of the following listed in the ingredients then you put it back on the shelf! • Sugar • Brown sugar • Glucose syrup • Rice syrup • Sucrose • Corn syrup Small amounts of refined sugars are also found in many salad dressings, table sauces and pasta sauces.
It is unreasonable to try and completely remove every tiny last trace of refined carbs from your diet, as long as you don't go mad with all the sauces you should be ok.
You can also allow yourself sensible amounts of the only slightly processed carbs.
By these I mean your wholegrain pasta, wholemeal bread and brown rice, avoid the white versions of these foods though (i.
e white bread, white rice and white pasta).
To summarise, when it comes to carbohydrates the more natural they are and the less they have been altered by man the better! The majority of your carbohydrate intake should come from natural complex carbs, but also allow yourself small amount from natural simple carbs especially such found in fruit and low fat dairy products.
Try and avoid refined or processed carbohydrates as much as possible.
If you do go for these, choose wholegrain over white every time! Also start to get into the habit of reading the labels of foods, try and spot the hidden refined carbs and avoid them.
Carbohydrates are essential in a healthy balanced diet.
As petrol is to cars carbohydrates are to humans! Carbohydrates are the body's ultimate fuel supply.
All Carbohydrates are made up from sugars, our bodies convert sugar into glucose, which is the bodies preferred energy source.
There are two main types of carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbohydrates are made up of single sugars or two sugars joined together.
They are often referred to as the 'bad carbohydrate', this is actually a bit of an unfair accusation.
The problem with simple carbohydrates is that they are easily digested by the body and absorbed quickly into the bloodstream, which causes a sudden rise in blood sugar levels.
This will give you a quick lift in energy, but will soon drop again and leave you feeling even more tired than before.
This sudden rise in blood sugar levels also creates a sudden rise in insulin levels which can cause the sugars to be turned into fat.
That said the natural simple carbs, such as fructose which is found in fruit and lactose which is found in dairy products are perfectly healthy eaten in moderation.
Fruit also contains many vitamins and minerals that the body needs, dairy products are an excellent source of calcium and protein.
Complex Carbohydrates, also known as polysaccharides are the second main group in the carbohydrate family.
They are made up of thousands of sugar molecules linked together.
Complex carbs take a lot longer for the body to digest than simple carbohydrates.
This means that they supply the body with a steadier and longer lasting supply of energy, without the sudden rises and drops in blood sugar.
Complex carbs can be split into two sub groups, Starchy (starch) and fibrous (fibre).
Starchy complex carbs are found in potatoes, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oats, wheat, grains and beans.
The calories in starch are completely absorbed by the body.
Fibrous complex carbs are found in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach and squash.
Fibre cannot be digested by the body, so it passes straight through without absorbing all of the calories.
Fibre helps clean out the body, promoting healthy digestion.
If you are trying to lose body fat these fibrous complex carb foods are great, they have such a low calorie density that they are almost impossible to over eat with and yet they still fill you up! So that covers the two naturally occurring types of carbohydrates.
Now we come to the bad guys! The Processed and Refined Carbohydrates are definitely the bad carbs! The refining and processing removes any goodness that they may have held before, and leaves them as just empty calories with no nutrients, vitamins or minerals that the body can use.
Even worse than that when digested the refined carbohydrates or sugars actually drain the body of nutrients and minerals! Sound bad so far? Well that's just the tip of the iceberg! Refined sugars have been found to contribute to increases in body fat, cholesterol, and an increase in insulin levels.
They have also been linked to a decrease in the immune system and the body's natural growth hormones.
Refined carbohydrates or refined sugars can be found in an abundance of foods, see the list below for starters...
• Cakes • Biscuits • Sweets • Any food with white flour in (white pasta, white bread, etc.
) • Pastries • Ready meals • Table sugar • Fizzy drinks (non-diet) • Any Fast Food meals (thought I'd better not name and shame here!) The list goes on.
The other problem when trying to avoid these refined carbs, is that they are some times quite well hidden.
For example, these low-fat so called healthy meals that you get from the supermarket.
They have no fat in them, but they are full of these refined sugars which are just as bad as the fats (I mean the bad fats here, explanation coming in the next section...
) You need to get into the habit of checking the packaging of the things that you are eating, if the food you are about to buy has any of the following listed in the ingredients then you put it back on the shelf! • Sugar • Brown sugar • Glucose syrup • Rice syrup • Sucrose • Corn syrup Small amounts of refined sugars are also found in many salad dressings, table sauces and pasta sauces.
It is unreasonable to try and completely remove every tiny last trace of refined carbs from your diet, as long as you don't go mad with all the sauces you should be ok.
You can also allow yourself sensible amounts of the only slightly processed carbs.
By these I mean your wholegrain pasta, wholemeal bread and brown rice, avoid the white versions of these foods though (i.
e white bread, white rice and white pasta).
To summarise, when it comes to carbohydrates the more natural they are and the less they have been altered by man the better! The majority of your carbohydrate intake should come from natural complex carbs, but also allow yourself small amount from natural simple carbs especially such found in fruit and low fat dairy products.
Try and avoid refined or processed carbohydrates as much as possible.
If you do go for these, choose wholegrain over white every time! Also start to get into the habit of reading the labels of foods, try and spot the hidden refined carbs and avoid them.