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Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are your body’s primary and preferred fuel source. Carbohydrates,
combinations of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, are grouped into three
categories: Monosaccharides or one-molecule sugars such as glucose (dextrose or
blood sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar); Disaccharides, two monosaccharides
linked together like sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar), and maltose
(malt sugar); and Polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates), which are made up of
simple sugars (monosaccharides) or their derivatives linked together in
different ways. Examples of polysaccharides are starches and dietary fiber.
To utilize carbohydrates for energy, your body converts them to glucose.
Monosaccharides are transported unchanged to the liver, then routed where
needed in the rest of the body. Other carbohydrates need to be broken down
first before being sent to the liver, and distributed.
When simple carbohydrates are ingested, the blood glucose level raises quickly,
hence the “sugar rush”. The hormone insulin is then released by the pancreas
into the blood. One of the main jobs of insulin is to take the high amount of
glucose in the blood and shuttle it out of your blood into the liver, muscle,
and then the excess into fat storage. As a result, insulin will bring the blood
sugar levels way down resulting in low blood sugar, hence the following “sugar
crash”.
A healthy diet should be composed of 40% to 60% carbohydrates. The bulk of these
should be low glycemic (see Glycemic Index), complex
carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are where we find fiber. Though we cannot
digest it (We are missing an enzyme that cows have. That’s why we cannot eat
grass), fiber is important in controlling our cholesterol and transporting
toxics out of our digestive system. Your diet should include 25 to 35 grams of
fiber per day. Though classified as carbohydrates, fiber provides very little
if any food energy, so be sure not to count it in your total carbohydrate
target.
Eat your fruits and vegetables. Not only are they comparatively low in calories,
and high in fiber, and vitamins, they also help your brain. According to Jean
Carper, author of
Your Miracle Brain, “Eating fruits and vegetables is an easy
way to make a dramatic impact in saving your brain cells from destruction. And
you can do it rapidly – within several days. In young people antioxidant
capacity rose dramatically in five to six days. People over age sixty needed
ten to eleven days to reach the same heights of antioxidant capacity …”
| This
page is a help entry for the Free
Simplebean Health Guide. To plan a healthy diet,
use this MS Windows software to quickly calculate important health info such as
your BMI, BEE, personalized daily calorie requirements and targets in carbs,
proteins, and fats, and the target weight for your build. It is great for
weight loss or maintenance. Click
here for additional Help Topics. |
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