Lets Talk About Carbs

Carbohydrates Article

In the article "Carbohydrates" that I read, it helped explain to me (in a simple way) what carbohydrates are all about. If you're like me, all that huge talk of scientific mumbo jumbo might be confusing so here is a little bit about carbs in a more "simple" version.

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for your body so that makes them pretty important. There are two types of carbs- sugars and starches. Sugars are the more simple carbohydrates that are easily digested by our bodies. These carbs include the real tasty foods like candy, pop, cake, and all that good sugary stuff. Starches are much more complex and take longer to be digested. These are more of the foods like grains, pastas, fruits, and vegetables. Some foods like fruits and vegetables are not only good sources of carbs but they are also very good suppliers of vitamins A and C and other minerals.

Statistics show that 60% of the calories that we eat on a day-to-day basis should be carbohydrates. However, that 60% should not be made up mostly of simple sugars. These are the ones that leave waste in your body and cause you to put on the pounds. You should try to focus on eating the more nutritional carbs that give you other good things as well. For example, fiber.

Fiber is a very important kind of carbohydrate that only comes from certain foods such as, grains, fruits, and vegetables(the same things that contain starches!). But of course being healthy can't be as simple as just having any kind of fiber in your diet. Oh no, there are to kinds of fiber- soluble and non-soluble. Soluble fiber helps to control blood sugar and may also lower cholesterol. Non-soluble fiber doesn't seem to help with those problems but may help reduce the risk of colon cancer and helps maintain bowel function. According to the American Dietetic Association, adults need 20-35 grams of fiber each day.

So now that you know some of the science behind what you should eat challenge yourself to have a better diet and eat the healthier things(most of the time =]).