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List Of All Carbohydrates

19th March, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

The buzz word around town today is carbohydrates and much debate has ensued over whether they are all that good for you or not. In fact there are diets which even forbid their inclusion in a diet. Getting a complete list of all carbohydrates is very helpful when planning a diet. Made up of carbons, hydrogen, and oxygen, these often misunderstood essential nutrients help to provide energy to the body and are an important part of any diet, but to make an entire list would take many pages.

There are two basic categories for carbs; good and bad. It sounds simplistic, but it is really that easy. They are called simple (bad) and complex (good) because of their structure and the way the body processes them. Regardless of which they are, they should not be totally avoided, as some diets advocate, but complex food sources should be selected over simple ones if given the option.

Complex carbohydrates are foods such as whole grains and edible parts of plants like stalks and leaves. Because they contain longer chains of sugar molecules as well as a lower “glycemic load, ” they take longer for the body to process. In turn this provides energy for a longer period of time while lacking the substance that turns sugar to fat.

Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, are made up of high sugar foods that are processed very quickly. When fiber is low and sugar is high, the food is processed before it can be burned off turning most of it into fat. These would include foods such as cakes and cookies.

Many think that any fruit and vegetable is good for you; however, many are actually simple carbs as they are high in sugar. They differ from traditional simple foods in that they do contain fiber which is processed more slowly by the body which makes them react more like complex carbs.

Of course, many people know that foods such as soda, pastries, candy, and desserts should be avoided, but so should many other forms of simple carbs. These include foods such as white rice, bread, and pasta as well as potatoes. Although eating these occasionally would not kill a diet, if given an option one should choose the more traditional complex carbs.

So, how do you tell the difference? One way is to read the labels. The law now requires that carb counts be included on labels. Additionally, labels now include a “glycemic index” which explains how quickly foods are digested by the body. Both of these need to be considered when evaluating which foods to select especially if one is watching their weight. When researching a list of all carbohydrates from which to select, it’s important to select those that are complex in nature in order to ensure a high energy level is maintain which sugar converted to fat is limited.