What are simple and complex carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates, sometimes called carbohydrates, are the main source of energy for the body and include both simple sugars and larger complex carbohydrates. Your body can use carbohydrates right away or convert them to a storage form called glycogen. Excess carbohydrates can also be converted to fat.

Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet, but there is a lot of discussion about good and bad carbohydrates. So how do you know which is which? The answer is simple and complex.

Carbohydrates can be simple (nicknamed “bad”) or complex (nicknamed “good”) depending on their chemical makeup and what your body does with them. Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and potatoes, contain longer chains of sugar molecules; these generally take longer for the body to break down and use. This, in turn, gives you a more even amount of power.

Simple carbohydrates are made up of easy-to-digest basic sugars with little real value to your body. The higher in sugar and lower in fiber, the worse the carb is at remembering those leading indicators when it comes to figuring out if a carb is good or bad.

Fruits and vegetables are actually simple carbohydrates that are still made up of basic sugars, although they are drastically different from other foods in the category, like cookies and cakes. The fiber in fruits and vegetables changes the way the body processes their sugars and slows down their digestion, making them a bit more like complex carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates are considered “good” because of the longer series of sugars that make them up, and they take longer for the body to break down. They generally have a lower glycemic load, which means you’ll get lower amounts of sugars released at a more consistent rate rather than peaks and troughs to keep you going throughout the day.

Choosing complex carbohydrates over simple carbohydrates is a matter of making a few simple substitutions when it comes to your meals. “Eat brown rice instead of white rice, eat whole wheat pasta instead of plain white pasta

Total carbohydrate abstinence is not a healthy long-term option. A necessary nutrient, carbohydrates supply energy and fiber to the body. Bulkier carbohydrates that are low in calories fill you up. Even the human brain reacts to the ingestion of carbohydrates, releasing chemicals upon absorption. A certain amount of carbohydrate is needed to function properly, and insufficient intake can cause fatigue, muscle cramps, and poor mental function. Although carbohydrates are an important part of our diet, the body can produce energy only from fat and protein; While this may last for short periods of time, avoiding all carbohydrates will negatively affect the body.