First off what is a carbohydrate (carb) Carbohydrate means ‘hydrated carbon’, this means that the carbon contains hydrogen (water) and oxygen. Carbohydrate is an excellent source of energy fore the body as well as our brain. Red blood cells and nerve cells primarily use glucose which are found in complex carbs. If you are not consuming enough complex carbs you may feel tired. You can classify carbohydrate in two types simple and complex.
Simple carbs commonly called sugar. List of simple carbs are raw sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup/ high fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose, sucrose, fruit juice concentrate, white bread, white rice most processed foods, candy, ice cream, cookies. You can still eat simple carbs but keep it to a minimum of once or twice a week.
Complex carb or Polysaccharides is the second major type of carbs, which generally consists of a long chain of glucose molecules called polysaccharides. Complex carbs will keep your stomach feeling fuller longer and will help maintain more energy over the day. You can increase your consumption of complex carbs by eating whole grains, Legumes, Lentils, Broccoli and dark green vegetables, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), old-fashioned oats, sweet potato, squash, black beans, 100% whole wheat bread / sprouted grain bread, 100% whole wheat pasta, brown rice, farro, and green peas. When you consume complex carbs, you also increase your fiber intake which most of us are lacking.
How much carbs you consume is based on your activity level. Before I get into the amount I am all going to include fat as well, I will write a follow-up a blog for fat and protein We rely on both fat and carbs to give us energy. Energy from fat is usually used during rest and low intense activity. Even though this is true I would not recommend following high-fat, low carb diets. High fat, low carbs is not a good diet, mainly because red blood cells only use glucose for energy. If you do eat a low carb diet it may affect your energy, mood, and focus. These ratios below are for fat and carbs and are only for healthy adults. If you need more information on diet, talk to your doctor or a dietician Finally, let’s get into activities, light exercising like walking, light cleaning, gentle yoga or any relaxing exercises is 12.5 % Carbohydrate and 87.5 (healthy) Fat
Moderate exercise like biking, dancing, most workout classes, and weight lifting is 45% Carbohydrate and 55% Fat. High intense workout such as swimming, sprinting, running(10k or more), boxing and high intense training workout that elevates your heart rate to vo2 max is 67% Carbohydrate and 33% fat.
I hope you have a better understanding of carbohydrates. The purpose of this blog was to help you to understand carbs. There is a lot more to carbs then what I wrote, this is just general knowledge. If you are interested in a diet I highly recommend that you see a registered dietician or nutritionist to get diet advice.
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nutrition an applied Approach Janice Thompson Melinda Manore
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