Good vs. Bad Carbs

Carbs are essential for your body because they are the key supply of energy. Carbs consist of sugars and fiber. They break down into simple sugars and get converted into energy. Now, how can you distinguish bad carbs from good carbs? You just have to know the magic term "Glycemic Index (GI)".

GI is a measure of how quickly the blood glucose levels increase after eating a particular food.  The higher the GI, the faster the glucose levels increase. Glucose is the standard and its GI is set to 100. GI for all other foods is in comparison to glucose itself. Foods which has fiber usually has low GI. Fiber slows down the absorption of other nutrients, prevents peaks in the blood glucose levels and makes you feel full.

But, what happens when the blood glucose levels increase??

High glucose--->Insulin secretion--->Excess energy will be stored in fat cells--->Brain thinks you are hungry again.

For example, let us compare GI's of three different rices:

Brown rice (55); Long grained white rice (56); Short grained white rice (72)

Based on above GIs, eating brown rice or long grained white rice (basmati) will make you feel full and satisfied for much longer than short grained white rice.

Therefore, healthy carbs are those with lot of fiber, no added sugars and that get absorbed slowly into our systems thereby avoiding spikes in blood glucose levels.

Examples of healthy carbs are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Bad carbs are usually sugars, added sugars and refined white grains. Always eat carbs along with protein and fat so as to make yourself full and thereby avoiding hunger pangs.

Take away from this article:

1. Try to always include fat and protein along with carbs.
2. Slowly replace bad carbs with good carbs.