Carbohydrates – Energy for our Mind and Body
How to loose weight
The food our brain needs
If you are a typical American you will eat about sixty percent of your calories in the form of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are ubiquitous. You will find them in food ranging from fruit, vegetables and breads to soda, table sugar and cereal. Carbohydrates are foods rich in saccharides or sugars.
Carbohydrates are broken down in our digestive system into glucose (also called blood sugar). Glucose is our body’s key source of energy. It is used by our nervous system, and red blood cells. When we ingest glucose in the form of carbohydrates it can end up in one of several places: it can be used for immediate energy; it can be stored as glycogen in the liver (we can hold about 100 grams of glycogen in our liver) it can be stored in our muscles (muscles can store about 350 grams of glycogen), or it can be stored in triglycerides as fat.
Carbohydrate digestion starts in the mouth with an enzyme called amylase. The digestion continues in part in the stomach until the acids in the stomach stop the digestion. It then reaches the small intestine where, with help from the pancreas, carbohydrates are broken down further into glucose. Glucose then enters the blood stream. In response to the glucose entering the blood stream, the pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin opens up muscles and liver cells to accept the increased glucose as glycogen until the amount of glucose in the blood stream decreases. Excess glucose is converted into fat. Once your blood glucose drops, your insulin levels decrease.
Carbohydrates come in many forms in our food. Carbohydrates include sugars, starch and fiber.
* Sugars * Sugar_Alcohols * Starch * Resistant Starch * Fiber
Sugars
Simple Sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides are glucose, fructose and galactose (the main sugar found in milk). Disaccharides include sucrose (a combination of fructose and glucose) lactose and maltose. You will find fructose in many fruits and honey. Lactose can be found in milk and milk products. Sugars ingested as fruit are healthy. Fruits contain fibers which act to slow the digestion of the sugar and the fiber along with the water content adds bulk and increases satiety. Sucrose, table sugar, is a combination of glucose and fructose.
Refined Sugars are sugars stripped of their nutritional value and added to food to sweeten it. Refined sugar includes table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Sugar Alcohols
Also known as polyols, sugar alcohols are carbohydrates found in a variety of fruits and vegetables and also manufactured from sugar. The amount of calories in sugar alcohols varies but on average they contain about 2.4 calories per gram. They are converted to glucose more slowly than sugar reducing their affect on insulin. Because they have a lower caloric count than sugar and they have less effect on insulin, they are often used with as an additive with artificial sweeteners.
However, sugar alcohols are not as sweet as sugar. Therefore, it takes more sugar alcohol to equal the same taste as sugars. To reach the same taste, more sugar alcohol is added thus reducing the dietary impact. Additionally, sugar alcohol is not fully absorbed by the small intestine. This can cause some bloating and diarrhea if eaten to excess. Starch
Starch is a complex carbohydrate made up of glucose molecules. It is the most common carbohydrate found in foods. Starch foods include potatoes, rice, beans, lentils, corn and grains such as wheat, barley, oats and rice contain starch. Starches, primarily wheat starch, are often added to foods in order to thicken them. Because of its prevalence and cost, wheat is the major source of starch in the United States. Assuming you do not have celiac disease, are not sensitive to gluten or are allergic to wheat, wheat can be a nutritional source of calories. Unrefined wheat products contain dietary fiber in addition to the starch. The fiber increases the digestive process of the wheat and is beneficial to the digestive tract. However, most wheat is stripped of its fiber and any other nutrients. Sugar is often added to increase the palatability of the wheat. Ultimately, you are eating a calorie rich nutrient free food. Resistant Starch
Resistant starch is the starch not absorbed in the small intestine. Starch is broken down to sugar by enzymes in the mouth, stomach and small intestine. The primary enzyme associated with starch breakdown is amylases. Resistant starches are starches that are not broken down by amylases or other enzymes and therefore reach the large intestine where it interacts with bacteria to form short-chain fatty acids. Resistant starch decreases the absorption rate of glucose which in turn lowers the insulin response.
Modified starch is starch that has been chemically or physically modified and used in salad dressings, frozen products and batter as a thickening agent, stabilizer or to moistener. Fiber
Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate (it contains more than two sugars linked together) that is resistant to digestion. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oat, wheat bran and nuts. Dietary fiber is soluble: fiber that is fermented in the colon, or insoluble fiber: fiber with bulking action but is only slightly fermented in the colon. The main source of insoluble fiber is from corn, wheat and bran. The main source for soluble fiber is fruits and vegetables. Oat and barley contain both insoluble and soluble fiber.
Insoluble cereal dietary fiber may play a role in the prevention of diabetes. Other benefits of fiber are numerous. Fiber slows the absorption of food so that fat and carbohydrates remain in the digestive system longer. This aids in the digestion of carbohydrates and fat. The increased time for digestion and the bulk from fiber aids in satiation and the cessation of eating. Fiber also plays a role in satiety which increases the amount of time between meals and reduces the amount of food eaten in the next meal.
While fiber intake has many benefits, over eating fiber without enough water can reduce the absorption of proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Conclusion
Only half a day worth of glycogen can be stored in the body at any given time. Therefore, it is important consume carbohydrate rich foods and beverages to provide the energy you need for all of your daily activities. However, with the addition of sugars and high corn fructose syrup added to many processed foods, you will need to read labels and purposely limit your carbohydrate intake. If your body makes more glucose than it needs for immediate energy or for storage, it is stored in your fat cells and becomes body fat. Continuously overloading your body with processed sugars, without their fiber or water, overworks insulin’s ability to effectively process the incoming glucose. Finally, carbohydrates have been shown to increase the magnitude of atherogenic dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides, low concentrations of HDL cholesterol and increased concentrations of small dense LDL particles.)
Historically, diets have focused on reducing fat intake. However, carbohydrates in processed form are as just as likely to induce weight gain and lead to health risks. As food makers proudly proclaim their low fat alternatives, these “healthy alternatives are laden with processed carbohydrates that have more calories and have lower nutritional value than their fat relative.
Foods high in carbohydrates to eat:
* Fruits * Vegetables * Brown Rice
Foods high in carbohydrates to avoid
* Sodas * Fruit Drinks * White Rice
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