You don’t have to look far to find foods that are high in carbohydrates in our modern diet, as most foods contain carbs aside from meat. There have been several low-carb diets popping up recently, advocating a drastic reduction in carb consumption. These diets have become fairly popular, causing more and more food companies to sell low-carb foods.
We could all stand to benefit from eliminating bad carbohydrates, such as sugar, from our diets. However, removing carbs from our diets entirely means that we miss out on some foods that have potential cancer-fighting benefits, such as whole grains and fruits.
All carbohydrates can be classified as either simple or complex. Foods that contain high amounts of sugar, such as candy, soda, and even some fruits, are typically made up of simple carbs. Foods such as whole grain bread and cereal and other fruits contain complex carbs.
The most important difference between simple and complex carbs is in their chemical structure. Complex carbs are made up of hundreds or thousands of sugar molecules, while simple carbs are made up of just a few. Our bodies convert all carbohydrates to glucose, whether they’re simple or complex.
Simple carbs and complex carbs are also different in the time that it takes for our bodies to digest them. When you consume 100 calories of simple carbs, your body digests them much faster than it does when coming 100 calories of complex carbs.
The reason that simple carbs digest faster is because they’re closer to the chemical structure of glucose. Thus, complex carbs take longer to digest and keep us feeling full longer.
It’s easy to add lots of calories to your diet by consuming simple carbs such as soda and candy. Even worse, these simple sugars have been shown to increase risk of obesity and diabetes, with children especially at risk.
However, it’s been shown that healthy, complex carbs help fight off cancer. So when you hear about the new low-carb craze, ignore it and grab yourself an apple instead.
In addition to nutrition, this writer additionally frequently writes about post and beam construction and steel beams.
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