CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are a very important energy source for your body. Someone who eats healthy gets between 40 and 70% of his or her energy from carbohydrates. The term "carbohydrate" refers to a combination of carbon and water (so-called hydrates). The term carbohydrate comes from the Greek language. Carbohydrates are also regularly called sugars. Do you want to lose weight, eat healthy or just some background information. On this page you will find a lot of relevant information about carbohydrates.

The function of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates supply energy to your body. Without energy we can not think or move, so everybody needs them. Especially your brain and red blood cells need carbohydrates every day. Everyone knows that brains are crucial for living. The red blood cells are also crucial, because they ensure that all tissues in your body are supplied with oxygen and carbon dioxide from the lungs.

In addition to energy, the carbohydrates ensure that your body can store fats. In general, it is assumed that it is healthy when your body gets around 20-40% of its energy from fats.

Fat and proteins are also an important source of energy. If you want to lose weight quickly, then some knowledge of these energy sources is desirable.

Besides being a source of energy, carbohydrates are also important nutrients because they provide your body with fibers, vitamins and minerals. Too many carbohydrates can mean that your body gets too little protein and fat.

Too little carbohydrate

If you consume too few carbohydrates there is a risk that you are consuming too little fiber, vitamins and minerals. This is bad for your health. For example, vitamins and minerals are necessary for healthy growth and skin, for healthy teeth, good working heart and blood vessels, to prevent illness etc.etc.

Too little can also mean that you are losing muscle mass. Your body will then search for another energy source that it finds in proteins (and fats). Proteins are very important for building and maintaining muscle mass. If your body has to deal too much with this, this will be at the expense of your muscle mass.

A good balance is therefore important. In general, it is recommended to consume about 5 to 7 grams per kilogram of body weight every day.

Good and bad carbohydrates

If you want to lose weight this means that you can eat the multiple or the slow carbohydrates. But what does this mean for your food. Good carbohydrates can be found in high-fiber foods:

vegetable

fruit

whole-wheat products

fish

fries

Rye bread

kidney beans

frog peas

mushrooms

leafy vegetable

banana

cherries

semi-skimmed milk

The bad carbs are in:

pretzels

White bread

potatoes, potato puree

rice

dried fruit

corn flakes

baguette

rice cracker

watermelon

beer

Products with good and bad carbohydrates:

potato chips

muesli

beets

pineapple

Kiwi

jam

fizzy drink

For people who are interested in the underlying idea of ​​good and bad carbohydrates, a piece of theory follows.

Types of carbohydrates

In order to determine which carbohydrates you need and which you can consume less, it is necessary to have insight into the different types. They can be divided into three different ways:

Well digestible - not digestible

The energy from carbohydrates is absorbed into the body through your small intestine. This happens because your small intestine digests them, thereby giving glucose to your body. Glucose is also called sugar. The carbohydrates that your body can convert into glucose are called the digestible carbohydrates.

The non-digestible are broken down by the bacteria in your colon but not absorbed in your body. These therefore do not constitute a source of energy; hence the indication "not digestible" and counted among the dietary fibers.

Single and multiple

Carbohydrates consist of sugar molecules. On the basis of the amount of sugar molecules, the carbohydrates can be divided into single or multiple. The most important examples of simple carbohydrates (monosaccharides) are grape and fruit sugar and galactose (milk products). The sugars mentioned are very common in fruit and honey. Galactose is common in dairy products.

The most important examples of multiple carbohydrates are starch, animal products, beet and cane sugar and milk and malt sugar.

From chemistry the following practical classification can be made:

Simple carbohydrates. These consist of 1 molecule. Think of grape and fruit sugar.

Twofold carbohydrates. These consist of 2 molecules. Think of sugar from the store and milk sugar.

Multiple carbohydrates. These consist of more than 2 molecules. A good example is starch.

The ankle and two-fold carbohydrates are quickly absorbed into your blood and provide immediate energy for your body. They are therefore also called fast sugars. Multiple are absorbed much more slowly by your body and result in a less rapid increase of sugar in your bloodstream. The multiple carbohydrates are therefore often called slow sugars.

Fast and slow carbohydrates

With fast carbohydrates the ankle and twofold are meant. With the slow carbohydrates the multiple are meant.