What Are Carbs Good For' title='What Are Carbs Good For' />A simple guide to using good carbs for health, fitness, and weight loss. Learn what bad carbs to avoid and improve your diet instantly. For a carbohydrate to be considered a good carb, it needs to provide vitamins and minerals in addition to the carbohydrate. Most importantly, a good. How much and what type of carbohydrate containing foods you eat makes a difference in managing diabetes. For years weve been hearing that cutting carbs should be a cornerstone of most diets when youre trying to lose weight but not so fast Turns out, there are some. Foods with complex or good carbohydrates break down slowly into glucose, while foods with simple or bad carbohydrates will spike your blood sugars. Most nutrientrich complex carbohydrates like potatoes have a welcome role in a healthy diet. Unfortunately, the impact of the starch in potatoes can place them in. Obtaining the facts about good carbs bad carbs is crucial for protecting andor improving your physical, mental and spiritual health. You may feel like youve been warned off them, but healthy carbohydrates will do you a lot of good. Carbohydrates play a dominant role in your diet and health, but some carbs provide more health benefits than others. For example, wholegrain bread is a. Natural Carbohydrate Foods vs. Refined Carbs. Whats the difference between a sandwich made on white bread and one made with 1. Or, the difference between French fries and side salad made with spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and kidney beansAll the foods above are carbohydrates. But the second option in both questions includes good carbohydrate foods whole grains and vegetables. Carbohydrates Good or BadIn the past five years the reputation of carbohydrates has swung wildly. Carbs have been touted as the feared food in fad diets. And some carbs have also been promoted as a healthful nutrient associated with lower risk of chronic disease. So which is it Are carbs good or bad The short answer is that they are both. Fortunately, its easy separate the good from the bad. We can reap the health benefits of good carbs by choosing carbohydrates full of fiber. These carbs that get absorbed slowly into our systems, avoiding spikes in blood sugar levels. Examples whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans. We can minimize the health risk of bad carbs by eating fewer refined and processed carbohydrates that strip away beneficial fiber. Examples white bread and white rice. Why Carbohydrates Matter. In September 2. 00. National Academies Institute of Medicine recommended that people focus on getting more good carbs with fiber into their diet. The following statements are based on information given in the report To meet the bodys daily nutritional needs while minimizing risk for chronic disease, adults should get 4. There is only one way to get fiber eat plant foods. Plants such as fruits and vegetables are quality carbohydrates that are loaded with fiber. Studies show an increased risk for heart disease with low fiber diets. There is also some evidence to suggest that fiber in the diet may also help to prevent colon cancer and promote weight control. The recommendations Men aged 5. Women aged 5. 0 or younger should get 2. Because we need fewer calories and food as we get older, men over aged 5. Women over aged 5. Continued. What Are The Good CarbsMost of us know what the good carbs are plant foods that deliver fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals along with grams of carbohydrate, such as whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits. You cant judge a carb as good without considering its fiber content unless its a naturally low fiber food like skim or low fat milk. Why Fiber in Carbohydrates Counts. Fiber is the part in plant foods that humans cant digest. Even though fiber isnt absorbed, it does all sorts of great stuff for our bodies. Fiber slows down the absorption of other nutrients eaten at the same meal, including carbohydrates. This slowing down may help prevent peaks and valleys in your blood sugar levels, reducing your risk for type 2 diabetes. Certain types of fiber found in oats, beans, and some fruits can also help lower bloodcholesterol. As an added plus, fiber helps people feel full, adding to satiety. The problem is that the typical American diet is anything but high in fiber. White grain is the American mode of operation we eat a muffin or bagel made with white flour in the morning, have our hamburger on a white bun, and then have white rice with our dinner. In general, the more refined, or whiter, the grain based food, the lower the fiber. To get some fiber into almost every meal takes a little effort. Here are three tips Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Just eating five servings a day of fruits and vegetables will get you to about 1. Include some beans and bean products in your diet. A half cup of cooked beans will add from 4 to 8 grams of fiber to your day. Switch to whole grains every single possible way buns, rolls, bread, tortillas, pasta, crackers, etc. Continued. What Are the Bad Carbs SugarsAdded sugars. Refined white grains. Theres no way to sugarcoat the truth Americans are eating more sugar than ever before. In fact, the average adult takes in about 2. USDAs recent nationwide food consumption survey. Thats about 3. 20 calories, which can quickly up to extra pounds. Many adults simply dont realize how much added sugar is in their diets. Sugars and refined grains and starches supply quick energy to the body in the form of glucose. Thats a good thing if your body needs quick energy, for example if youre running a race or competing in sports. The better carbs for most people are unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods that contain natural sugars, like fructose in fruit or lactose in milk. Avoid Excess Added Sugars Added sugars, also known as caloric sweeteners, are sugars and syrups that are added to foods at the table or during processing or preparation such as high fructose corn syrup in sweetened beverages and baked products, explains Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokeswoman with the American Dietetic Association. Added sugars supply calories but few or no nutrients, Gerbstadt says. Americans are very aware of low fat diets and because of that weve been eating more fat free and low fat products, notes Shanthy Bowman, USDA food scientist and author of a recently published study on sugar in the American diet. But what many people dont know is that in many of these products, sugar is being substituted for fat, so weve really been trading fat for sugar, Bowman says. The USDA recommends that we get no more than 6 to 1. Use the Nutrition Label to Track Your Carbohydrates. The Nutrition Facts section on food labels can help you sort the good carbs from the bad carbs. Heres what to look for on the Nutrition Facts label. Total Carbohydrate. For tracking the total amount of carbohydrate in the food, per serving, look for the line that says Total Carbohydrate. Youll find that often the grams of fiber, grams of sugars and grams of other carbohydrate will add up to the grams of total carbohydrate on the label. Continued. Dietary Fiber. The line that says Dietary Fiber tells you the total amount of fiber in the food, per serving. Dietary fiber is the amount of carbohydrate that is indigestible and will likely pass through the intestinal tract without being absorbed. Sugars. Sugars tells you the total amount of carbohydrate from sugar in the food, from all sources natural sources like lactose and fructose as well as added sugars like high fructose corn syrup. Its important to distinguish between natural sugars and added sugars. For example, the average 1 low fat milk label will list 1. Those grams come from the lactose milk sugars not from added sweeteners. To get an idea of how many grams of sugar on the label come from added sugars such as high fructose corn syrup or white or brown sugar check the list of ingredients on the label. See if any of those sweeteners are in the top three or four ingredients. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity, so the bulk of most food is made up of the first few ingredients. Other Carbohydrate. The category other carbohydrate represents the digestible carbohydrate that is not considered a sugar natural or otherwise. Sugar Alcohols. Some product labels also break out sugar alcohols under Total Carbohydrate. In some people, sugar alcohol carbohydrates can cause intestinal problems such as gas, cramping, or diarrhea. If you look on the ingredient label, the sugar alcohols are listed as lactitol, mannitol, maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol, and others. Many sugar free or reduced calorie foods contain some sugar alcohols even when another alternative sweetener like Splenda is in the product. Sources. SOURCES Dietary Reference Intakes DRIs Recommended Intakes for Energy. Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids. The National Academies Press. Brand Miller J. C., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2. Vol. 7. 6 1 5 5. International Table of Glycemic Index and Glucose Load Values. Diabetes Research Clinical Practice, Sept. Vol. 7. 3 3 pages. Riccardi G., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan. Vol. 8. 7 1 2. 69. Common Myths About Carbohydrates That May Be Ruining Your Digestive Health. Carbohydrates have been given a bad reputation thanks to several health and fitness experts who pointed a finger at the public for consuming foods with high percentages of these macronutrients. Among those health conscious, public disdain for carbs continues, leading to confusion about good carbs, bad carbs, whether they are unhealthy, and if they can expand your waistline. The truth about carbs is theyre not all created equal. Rene Ficek, lead nutrition expert at Seattle Suttons Healthy Eating, told Medical Daily in an email Healthy diets include a variety of foods and are rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains. Many health organizations urge people to take a safe and proven route to losing and maintaining weight by including healthy sources of carbohydrates. From net carbs labels to cutting out bread, cereal, and pasta for a low carb diet, here are five of the most common carb myths dispelled, to protect your digestive health. Myth 1 Net Carbs Labels Equals Less Carbs. False Net carbs is a term the food industry created to make consumers believe their products actually contain fewer carbohydrates. Food manufacturers take the carbohydrates coming from fiber or sugars known as alcohol sugars and subtract them from the total amount of carbohydrates to arrive at a net carb number. However, there is no legal definition of the net, active, or impact carbs on food labels. The Food and Drug Administration FDA only regulates the carbohydrate information in the Nutrition Facts label, which only lists total carbs and breaks them down into dietary fiber and sugars. The concept of net carbs is based on the principle that not all carbohydrates affect the body in the same manner. Carbohydrates in the form of fiber found in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, move slowly through the digestive system, and much of it isnt digested at all insoluble fiber, Ficek said. However, the insoluble fiber is not seen as a net carb by food manufacturers because it has a small impact on blood sugar, and provides less calories than other types of carbs. Moreover, a low carb diet requires carb intake to be super low, around 2. Jayde Lovell, a biological scientist and science communicator at Did Someone Say Science told Medical Daily in an email. Consuming this amount of carbs puts the body into ketosis, which means the body is using fat as an energy source. Many high proteinlow carb foods, shakes, and bars also contain over 2. Myth 2 Bread, Cereal, And Pasta Are All The Nutrients The Body Needs. False The body needs carbs to survive since its the bodys preferred energy source. Therefore, many people believe that carbs only come in the form of bread, cereals, and pasta, but this is not the case. These foods tend to be made with grains that are modified and contain proteins that the body is not designed to break down efficiently, which especially affects those diagnosed with celiac disease, or a gluten intolerance. Jenny Giblin, a therapist, and certified nutrition coach featured on the Dr. Oz Show, among other others told Medical Daily in an email If if you read the ingredients on many processed food labels, you will see that they contain many ingredients that are not healthy for your body at all for example, high fructose corn syrup or modified corn starch. Many are made with GMOs genetically modified ingredients and GMOs are now being linked to many health issues, including cancer. Moreover, these carbs take longer to break down in the body, and may end up beign stored as fat rather than metabolized as energy. If theyre not stored as fat, they may end up being converted to sugar, which causes a surge in blood sugar, and then causes it to crash. Myth 3 Cutting Out Bread, Cereal, And Pasta Is Enough For A Low Carb Diet. False Sugar tends to be the main problem, along with the way those types of carbs have trouble adapting to our body for digestion. Giblin doesnt recommend going on a low carb diet from personal experience. Trust me, I have tried everything, and from personal experience and years of research, I have learned that the easiest way to be the perfect weight for you and your body is by being healthy, repairing digestion, and eating foods that are naturally assimilated as energy, making you both look and feel like the healthiest version of yourself, she said. Its best to not just look at the numbers on a label, but read the actual ingredients to find sources of sugar, artificial flavoring, and artificial sweeteners to avoid an increase in sugar cravings. Plantain here. Myth 4 Carbs Are Bad For You. Maybe There are different types of carbs simple and complex. Simple carbs include candy bars, soda, and baked foods, while complex carbs include whole grains, fruits, and beans. Complex carbs provide fiber to aid gastrointestinal health, slow released carbs for sustained energy levels, and fuel for the brain. Unlike complex carbs, simple carbs create a surge in blood sugar that wreaks havoc on energy levels, Ficek said. Lisa A. Reed, fitness expert, trainer, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and owner of Lisa Reed Fitness LLC, suggests being wary of ingesting large amounts of carbs because it can lead to weight gain. Reed told Medical Daily in an email Bad carbs are called bad because they contain little nutritional benefit. Bad simple carbs include friend foods, sweets, and whole milk. Good carbs, known as complex carbs, include potatoes, whole wheat bread, rice, cream of wheatoatmeal, high fiber cereals, whole grain pasta low in salt, sugar and fat, noted Reed. These carbs can also be found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products. Good sources of fibrous carbs include beans and asparagus, among many others. Myth 5 Avoid Carbs After A Workout. False Food and drink are essential to recovery after a good workout no matter what time of day you exercise. It is important to follow up with meals that combine protein, which helps the muscles recover, and carbs, which replenish energy stores. The intensity and duration of your training determines how relevant simple carbs are post workout. Typically, after 9. The reality however, is that most people do not even come close to meeting this criteria, so indulge in your post training, simple carbohydrates sparingly, Chris Weiler, a performance expert to athletes and author of the nutrition book, The 34 Rule How to Eat as An Athlete, told Medical Daily in an email. He considers fruits as one of the best carbs to have after training. Avoid these common carb myths and eat your way to a happy and healthier you.