Carbohydrates are often dreaded by many, but that shouldn’t be the case. These are energy-rich nutrients that provide the body with the required energy to function.
Carbohydrates are nutrients that act as a good source of energy for our body. It is made up of sugar, starch and cellulose, and it contains hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio 2:1, which is the same as that of water. Although carbs can be digested a lot easier than fats or protein, they aren’t considered an indispensable nutrient for the body.
There are two kinds of carbohydrates that we normally tend to consume. Simple and complex. To understand what they’re about, we’ll take an individual look at the list of carbohydrate rich foods and all that is essential with respect to carbohydrates.
Simple Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates are sugars composed of monosaccharides (single sugar molecules) or disaccharides (two joined sugar molecules) such as glucose, sucrose, lactose, and fructose. This category of carbohydrates is best found in fresh fruits and are best recommended to people who would like to lose weight the healthy way. Although they have a natural sugar content which provides the body with the much required energy, it does so without adding on calories to a person’s weight and body.
On the other hand, however, there is a grade of foods that contain simple carbs, but are of no help towards losing weight. This class of foods is processed foods. The trouble with these foods is that they provide energy in abundance, and in addition they also provide calories in abundance. It is for this reason that these high-calorie products must be kept away. Apart from that, simple carbohydrates that the body obtains from natural foods are also easier to digest than those obtained from processed foods.
We’ll now take a brief look at complex carbohydrates, and then graduate to the simple carbohydrate food list.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates or polysaccharides are those which are made up of three or more sugar molecules that are bound together. Since these carbohydrates get digested slowly, they release sugar into the system very gradually, thus allowing the body a consistent level of energy.
Often referred to as starch, foods that contain these complex carbs, are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and fibers. In fact, studies say that the intake of complex carbohydrates is better than that of simple, only because the former is a healthier option for the body. The old belief that starch is bad for the body, is rapidly dying, because starches by themselves contain only 4 calories per gram, while fat contains 9 calories per gram. Also, the advantage with complex carbs is that they fill you up quicker, thus allowing a reduced intake of food, which very simply leads to a reduced calorie intake.
Now that you know a little something about each of them, we can move on to examples of simple carbohydrate foods.
~ Grapefruit
~ Strawberry
~ Peach
~ Raspberry
~ Lemon
~ Lychee
~ Plum
~ Melon
~ Cranberry
~ Cherry
~ Banana
~ Apple
~ Pear
~ Mango
~ Pineapple
~ Papaya
~ Blackcurrant
~ Chocolate
~ Candy Bars
~ Cookies
~ Jam
~ Dairy sugar (lactose)
~ Jellies
~ Pizza
~ Ice creams
~ Fruit juice (unsweetened)
~ Bread (white flour)
~ Packaged cereals
~ Pasta (white flour)
~ Sodas
~ Honey
~ Sweet potatoes
~ Soft drinks
~ Table sugar
Strange, isn’t it, that most foods that make it to this list are either fruits or anything with a large sugar content. Oh well, at least you know now. While we are at it, we may as well get a slight idea about foods that are all about those complex carbs as well.
Now that you have this foods list as a reference, and the category of complex carbs, you can decide what works best for you and allows you to stay healthy.
