Good carbohydrates

If you are looking to create a healthy diet plan then you must understand what a healthy balanced diet is made up of. Many people that are looking to lose weight will make stubborn mistakes such as eliminating fat or carbohydrates, or just starving themselves until they lose the weight. Truth be told, if you want to lose weight or have a healthy diet then you will have to balance your diet accordingly.

You need a healthy balance of carbohydrates, fat, calories, protein, and more. There are custom diet plans you can choose from (such as a low-carb/ketosis diet) but these are designed to be safe and only a temporary diet. A healthy diet that you can remain on for the rest of your life would require a balance of everything. This includes carbohydrates as it is one of the most important parts of your diet.

The common misconception amongst people with limited information on nutrition is that all carbohydrates are bad. While most sources of carbohydrates are not good, there are still many good sources of carbohydrates available. There are a few ways of referring to these types of carbohydrates. A more basic way of doing so would be to refer to them as “good” and “bad” carbohydrates. However, many health gurus refer to “good” carbohydrates as “complex” carbohydrates, and “bad” carbohydrates as “simple” carbohydrates.

What Are Complex Carbohydrates?
You should avoid simple carbohydrates as much as possible. It is fine to consume trace carbohydrates from bad sources but you do not want to focus your whole diet around foods that only offer simple carbs. There are many ways you can get the majority of your carb intake from good sources. You just need to know what carbohydrates are good and what foods you should have in your diet. You should also look into what types of foods to avoid as bad carbs will affect your body negatively.

Complex carbohydrates take a lot longer to convert to glucose than simple carbohydrates. This allows the carbohydrates to be used as energy whenever necessary (basically an extended release). The simple carbohydrates will convert to glucose very quickly and will provide your body with too much energy at once. If this occurs then your body will just store the extra glucose and this could lead to a weight gain.

Foods That Provide Good Carbohydrates
The most common characteristic of a good carbohydrate food will be a high fiber content. The high amount of fiber will allow for the digestion process to be improved. There are various benefits of the fibre content which affect the process that your body digests carbohydrates. Most grains and breads are a great source of carbohydrates as they are high in fibre. Other foods that offer good carbohydrates include the following: pasta, porridge oats, soy milk, potatoes, many other vegetables, and more.

Consuming these foods will allow your body’s energy to be neutralized, not give you an unsatisfied feeling after eating, and keep your blood sugar at a safe level at all times. Get as much of these foods in your diet as possible to make sure you are consuming a healthy amount (and type) of carbohydrates each day.

Foods That Provide Bad Carbohydrates
If you are going to go through the effort of adding good carbohydrate sources to your diet then you should spend just as much time at making sure you avoid the bad carbohydrate sources. Sugar is possibly the worst source of carbohydrates as it does not require any serious digestion to be used as energy in the body. Candy, table syrup, cake, and soda are all prime examples of poor sources for carbohydrates. Avoid foods like these as much as possible so your diet remains healthy.

Consuming these foods will cause unwanted mood changes, cravings for unhealthy foods, overeating, unstable blood sugar levels, and more. A diet that is high in bad carbohydrates will also likely cause a weight gain but there are still other determining factors as well. Consuming too much sugar can also be unhealthy as there may be a strong sickness feeling after digesting the food. High sugar consumption could even lead to withdrawal symptoms if severe enough.

The smart choice would be to create a healthy diet plan and get regular exercise. Living a healthy balanced lifestyle is the key to happiness and success. Your health directly affects everything in your life and modifying it can change how you live your life. If you are looking to make changes for the better to your diet then start looking at your main carbohydrate sources.

Get informed on what foods you should consume for good carbohydrates and add them to your diet. At the same time, make sure you remove any bad carbohydrate sources as they can have very unhealthy effects on your body.

Last updated on Mar 23rd, 2011 and filed under Healthy Eating. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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