Carbohydrates Are An Important Part Of A Healthy Diet

Today people seem to equate eating carbohydrates to weight gain which is not all true.  While eating a lot of easily- digested carbohydrates from white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed foods may contribute to your weight gain, and therefore, interfere with your efforts to lose weight. On the contrary, consuming whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, and other intact carbohydrates promotes good health.  A healthy diet is about balance and moderation. A basic knowledge of what carbohydrates are and how you body uses them is essential to understanding how to balance them in your diet.

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that are excellent sources of energy for your body; they are the preferred fuel for your brain and nervous system. Carbohydrates are found in an array of foods such as bread, beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, rice, cookies, spaghetti, soft drinks, corn, and desserts. The most common and abundant forms are classified as sugars, fibers, and starches.

The basic building block of every carbohydrate is a sugar molecule, a simple union of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Starches and fibers forms of carbohydrates are essentially chains of sugar molecules, some containing hundreds.

As mentioned above, most carbohydrates come from plant sources and are in the form of sugars, starches, and fibers. Sugars, also called simple carbohydrates, include fruit sugar (fructose), corn or grape sugar (dextrose or glucose), and table sugar (sucrose). Starches, also known as complex carbohydrates, include everything made of three or more linked sugars. Starches include foods such as breads, cereals, grains, pasta, rice, and flour. Fibers are technically classified as a starch because they are complex carbohydrates that your body cannot breakdown into sugar molecules. Fibers are more abundant in whole grains, legumes, and vegetables.

Regardless of their source, your body breaks down all carbohydrates, except for fibers, into simple sugar molecules  These simple sugars are further converted into glucose, also known as blood sugar. Your body is designed to use blood sugar as a universal source of fuel for energy.

Fiber is the form of carbohydrate that your body cannot break down into simple sugar molecules. It passes through your body undigested. Fiber comes in two varieties: soluble, which dissolves in water, and insoluble, which does not. Although neither type provides energy for your body, they both promote health in many ways. Soluble fiber binds to fatty substances in your intestines and carries them out as waste, thus lowering your low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol). It also helps regulate your body’s use of sugars, helping you to keep your hunger and blood sugar in check. Insoluble fiber helps push food through your intestinal tract, promoting regularity and helping to prevent constipation.

Here’s what happens when you eat a food containing carbohydrates. Your digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which then enters your blood. As your blood sugar level rises, specials cells in your pancreas churn out insulin, a hormone that signals your cells to absorb the blood sugar for energy or for storage. As your cells soak-up the blood sugar, its level in your bloodstream begins to fall. Now, your pancreas starts making another hormone called glucagon, which signals your liver to start releasing stored blood sugar. This interplay of insulin and glucagon ensures that cells throughout your body have a steady supply of blood sugar. 

As you can see, carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet.  However, as with all foods, balance and moderation in your daily consumption is key.

Are the Carbs You're Eating Causing Your Cravings?

 Controlling the insulin level in your blood is very important in your effort to control your weight.  Most food cravings and hunger pains originate from quick rises in your blood sugar level and consequently, spikes in your insulin level.  What causes this rise and fall in your blood sugar level ?  The answer is, your body digesting the carbohydrates in your diet.

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that are excellent sources of energy (measured as calories) for your body; they are the preferred fuel for your brain and nervous system.  Most carbohydrates come from plant sources and are in the form of sugars, starches, and fibers. Sugars, also called simple carbohydrates, include fruit sugar (fructose), corn or grape sugar (dextrose or glucose), and table sugar (sucrose). Starches, also known as complex carbohydrates, include everything made of three or more linked sugars. Starches include foods such as breads, cereals, grains, pasta, rice, and flour. Fibers are technically classified as a starch because they are complex carbohydrates that your body cannot breakdown into sugar molecules. Fibers are more abundant in whole grains, legumes, and vegetables.


 Carbohydrates are an important part of your diet.  The problem is that most people get the majority of their carbohydrates form easily digested sources such as white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed foods.  These kind of foods are quickly converted into blood sugar, thus causing a rapid rise in your insulin level.  Insulin takes the blood sugar and stores it in your muscles for fuel and the remainder of it is stored as fat in your body.  This rapid rise and fall of insulin in your blood stream also causes energy highs and lows and food cravings.

The New Macro Balanced Diet - Part 3, Carbohydrates

 Controlling the insulin level in your blood is very important in your effort to control your weight.  Most food cravings and hunger pains originate from quick rises in your blood sugar level and consequently, spikes in your insulin level.  What causes this rise and fall in your blood sugar level ?  The answer is, your body digesting the carbohydrates in your diet.

When you understand what carbohydrates are and how your body digest them then you can begin to balance them in your diet and therefore control the insulin level in your blood.  Once you know how to do this controlling your weight becomes a lot easier.

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that are excellent sources of energy (measured as calories) for your body; they are the preferred fuel for your brain and nervous system.  Most carbohydrates come from plant sources and are in the form of sugars, starches, and fibers. Sugars, also called simple carbohydrates, include fruit sugar (fructose), corn or grape sugar (dextrose or glucose), and table sugar (sucrose). Starches, also known as complex carbohydrates, include everything made of three or more linked sugars. Starches include foods such as breads, cereals, grains, pasta, rice, and flour. Fibers are technically classified as a starch because they are complex carbohydrates that your body cannot breakdown into sugar molecules. Fibers are more abundant in whole grains, legumes, and vegetables.

 The basic building block of every carbohydrate is a sugar molecule, a simple union of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Starches and fibers forms of carbohydrates are essentially chains of sugar molecules, some containing hundreds.  Your body breaks down all carbohydrates, except for fibers, into single sugar molecules regardless of their source. These simple sugars are further converted into glucose, also known as blood sugar. Your body is designed to use blood sugar as a universal source of fuel for energy.

 Here’s what happens when you eat a food containing carbohydrates. Your digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which then enters your blood. As your blood sugar level rises, specials cells in your pancreas churn out insulin, a hormone that signals your cells to absorb the blood sugar for energy or for storage. As your cells soak-up the blood sugar, its level in your bloodstream begins to fall. Now, your pancreas starts making another hormone called glucagon, which signals your liver to start releasing stored blood sugar. This interplay of insulin and glucagon ensures that cells throughout your body have a steady supply of blood sugar.

As I mentioned earlier, carbohydrates are an important part of your diet.  The problem is that most people get the majority of their carbohydrates form easily digested sources such as white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed foods.  These kind of foods are quickly converted into blood sugar, thus causing a rapid rise in your insulin level.  Insulin takes the blood sugar and stores it in your muscles for fuel and the remainder of it is stored as fat in your body.  This rapid rise and fall of insulin in your blood stream also causes energy highs and lows and food cravings. Thus, you can see that having a constant and  consistent blood sugar level is very important.

In my next post in this series I will explain how to balance protein and carbohydrates in your diet to reset your metabolism to optimize body fat as it's major fuel source.