Carbohydrates are an important part of the diet, because they are the main source of energy that the body needs as fuel to carry out various activities. Carbohydrates are actually sugars or saccharides that are found in various foods. They can be classified as simple carbohydrates (fast) or complex carbohydrates (slow) depending on their effect on blood sugar after consumption. To be able to plan a healthy diet, you need to learn more about fast and slow carbohydrates. It is also important to understand what harm or benefit they can do to the body.
What are fast carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are made up of starch, cellulose and sugar, which can increase blood sugar after they are consumed. Among the various types of carbohydrates, fast ones are products that cause an immediate increase in blood glucose (sugar).
Simple carbohydrates are made up of sugars that are easily broken down or absorbed by the body. A rapid increase in blood glucose levels is usually reduced to normal levels with a hormone called insulin, which increases when a person eats foods high in carbohydrates. However, in some people, this process can lead to a sharp decrease in blood glucose levels, which may be below normal levels. This occurs in people with diabetes and other metabolic problems such as obesity.
Rapid growth and lowering of blood sugar can lead to hypoglycemia (blood sugar is below normal), which causes symptoms such as extreme hunger, headache, and fatigue.
Fast carbohydrates
The list contains:
- Fruits: banana, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lychee, melon, pineapple, plum, raspberry, watermelon.
- Vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and green peas.
- Cereals: breakfast cereals, millet, white boiled rice.
- Dairy products: rice milk, ice cream, fruit yogurt.
- Snacks: cakes, beans, crackers, corn chips, chocolate, cakes, white bread, sweets, cookies, honey, jam, soda.
Simple carbohydrates: benefits
Fast carbohydrates and their nutrition are often considered unhealthy because they cause a rapid increase in blood glucose, but for some people who consume these simple carbohydrates, there is an advantage.
Athletes and muscle builders need a direct source of energy for their rigorous training. They should consume high levels of simple carbohydrates after hard exercise as an energy source to prevent the breakdown of muscle proteins. Other types of carbohydrates that are healthier for most people are complex carbohydrates (or slow).
What are slow carbohydrates?
Complex carbohydrates are less easily absorbed and absorbed compared to simple carbohydrates, so they are called slow carbohydrates. Because of this, they do not cause spikes in blood sugar levels. Specialists recommend consuming more of these rather than fast carbohydrates, especially in people who are obese or diabetes. They provide a longer-lasting source of energy that also prevents muscle loss or excessive weight loss and is suitable for marathon runners.
Slow carbohydrates
The list includes:
- Fruits: apples, grapefruit, oranges, prunes, pears, peaches, dried apricots, plums, pears, strawberries.
- Asparagus, spinach, lettuce, radish, broccoli, celery, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, turnips, green artichokes, cauliflower, beans and lentils, cucumbers, radishes, carrots.
- Cereals: barley, whole grains and their bran (barley, oatmeal, buckwheat, oat bran), granola, amaranth, brown rice, wheat germ, millet, cornmeal, wild rice.
- Low fat yogurt, skim milk.
- Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, sesame seeds, flaxseed, sunflower seeds.
Fast digesting carbohydrates are effective after exercise to help replenish muscle curved glycogen stores or before exercise if you need a quick boost in energy but don't have time to eat. It is also known that carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, instant carbohydrates come in several forms, which include natural, whole foods and processed or packaged.
White bread and white rice are good sources of quick digestion of carbohydrates. While their whole grain “colleagues” have much lower GI profiles, these two options will give a quick energy boost right away. Half a cup of white rice contains 103 calories and 22 g of carbohydrates. One gram of carbohydrate contains four calories, so 88 of these calories come from rice carbonate. One slice of white bread contains 74 calories and 14 grams of carbohydrates, which means 56 of these calories come from carbohydrates.
Eat fruits and vegetables
Fruits and certain types of vegetables contain instant carbohydrates. Among the best fruits with high Gl (glycemic index) are bananas, grapes, watermelon, dates and peaches. Stay away from apples, grapefruit, pears and prunes when you are looking for a quick replenishment of energy, as these are all low-carb foods. High glycemic indexes of vegetables include green peas, parsnips, white potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.
Snack
Snack foods are known to be rich in fast carbohydrates, which is why they make a big contribution to heavy waists. It is worth using these types of products sparingly. Although they are a quick and easy source of high GI carbohydrates , they do not have a lot of fiber or other nutrients. Sweets, chocolates, corn and potato chips, cookies and cakes, energy bars, desserts such as ice cream and frozen yogurt, and tapioca or rice puddings are fast carbohydrate foods.
Carbohydrate and Weight Loss
If you pay attention to carbohydrate intake for weight loss or diabetes control, you can find out that some foods cause a quick surge in blood glucose levels, which is why they are sometimes called “fast” carbohydrates.
GI is a useful tool
The American Diabetes Association suggests using the total carbohydrate content of food, rather than the type of carbohydrate, as the primary management tool. This is relatively simple because you can get grams of carbohydrates per serving from a nutrition label.
Assessing whether a carbohydrate is “slow” or “fast” is slightly more active, and this is usually done using a measure called the glycemic index, or GI.
GI measures the effect of food on blood sugar and compares it with a standard reference point - usually with pure glucose, and sometimes with white bread, which is known to provoke a sharp jump in blood glucose.
A GI of 55 or less is considered low, 55-69 is average, and 70 or higher is high. If you are looking for slow carbohydrates, stick with foods that have a GI of 55 or lower; whereas GI 70 or higher definitely identifies fast carbohydrates.
Few rules
As a rule, the less food is processed, the more its dietary fiber, the slower its carbohydrates. Several foods are easily classified as fast or slow carbohydrates on this basis without looking at them. For example, candy is very high in refined sugars and has a correspondingly high GI. So is baking made from refined white flour and white sugar, so white bread is sometimes used instead of pure glucose as a guide.
Other foods clearly contain slow carbohydrates. Most vegetables have low or very low GI levels. Legumes usually contain slow carbohydrates. Other products are more difficult to evaluate, so it’s safer to view them through an online resource.
List of fast carbohydrate foods: corn flakes, potatoes, jasmine rice, sweets, rice cakes, white bread, pretzels, pudding, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, energy bars, dried fruits and fruits, sports drinks and soda, quick oatmeal.
Carbohydrates were once classified as “simple” or “complex”. The latter, such as brown rice and many vegetables, were considered healthier carbohydrates, while simple ones, such as sugar and fruit sugar, were considered less healthy. However, this classification system has some limitations, because some complex carbohydrates are less healthy, and some simple carbohydrates are an important part of the diet. For example, fries are in the group of complex carbohydrates, but they are considered unhealthy foods. In contrast, fruit sugar is fast carbohydrates. But besides it, fruits contain other important nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins and minerals. Thanks to them, they are included in the list of products with fast carbohydrates for weight loss. Studies have shown that a high-carb diet is not only good for athletes, but also helps a person lose weight.
High Carbohydrate Diet Plan
The basic theory of a high carbohydrate diet is that carbohydrate intake causes an increase in serotonin levels, which increases metabolism and therefore contributes to weight loss. The following is a typical diet plan to lose weight following a high-carb diet.
- Breakfast: 1 whole grain bagel, 2 tablespoons of light cream cheese, fresh juice from 1 orange, 1 cup fat-free latte.
- Snack: ¼ cup roasted soy nuts.
- Lunch: 1 cup pasta, 1 cup steamed broccoli, 1 grilled chicken breast. Snack: 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt, 1 banana.
- Dinner: 1 cup of green salad, 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette, 1 tuna fillet, 1 large baked potato, 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Snack: 1 cup skim milk, 2 salted crackers, 2 tablespoons peanut butter.
It has also been found that obese or overweight people are more likely to follow a high-carb diet than a diet that prevents them from eating carbohydrates. This, in turn, makes them more prone to motivation and weight loss in the long run. Many people mistakenly believe that a diet rich in carbohydrates causes them to increase weight. Thus, they go to extremes and eliminate foods such as potatoes, root vegetables, white rice, pasta and beans, which are fast carbohydrates, from their diet. This not only increases their cravings for these products, but they also lose important sources of nutrition and fiber. This was discovered in a study of people who followed a high carbohydrate diet. Because of such nutrition, they lost an average of 6 kg over 12 weeks.
Although a fast carbohydrate diet for weight loss has shown a lot of positives, there are some drawbacks to this diet. The most important thing to remember: if you follow a diet high in carbohydrates, you need to reduce fat intake.