What are good carbohydrates and what are bad carbohydrates ?
Carbs aren’t “bad” – excess is bad. ALL carbohydrates (even vegetables) are converted to glucose (sugar). Simple carbs are converted fast & quickly and cause a dramatic rise in blood sugar which triggers a spike in insulin. Complex carbs are converted slowly & slowly raise blood sugar. The body can easily handle rises in blood sugar but long term high levels of blood sugar creates high levels of insulin which creates many health problems. The body can use the fuel calories for energy from carbs OR fats or both. Glucose is the bodies preferred fuel (if you want to get technical, it actually burns alcohol most efficiently, but that doesn’t make it any healthier for the body than carbs), the body can convert 100% of carbs, 58% of protein & 10% of dietary fat into glucose. The body can also be fueled by fat (dietary fat & fat cells) but only in the absence of carbs. Your brain actually prefers (* reference info) to be fueled by ketones (part of the fat burning process), only the heart requ
Carbohydrates are typically the body’s preferred source of energy and are primarily derived from non-animal sources like breads, cereals, fruits and so on. All carbohydrates are digested and converted into blood sugar/ glycogen. This glycogen is primarily stored in the muscle and the liver with the leftover packed away into fat cells and stored to be used at a later date. Carbohydrates (or Carbs; for short) are easily split into 2 categories –Simple Carbs and Complex Carbs. The difference between the 2 types of carbs is that Complex carbs take longer to digest therefore giving the body a sustained release of energy whilst Simple carbs on the other hand, are quickly broken down and streamed into the blood stream rapidly, therefore not offering a sustained release of energy. Because of this Complex Carbohydrates also known as Low Glycemic carbohydrates are more favourable than their Simple Carbohydrate counterparts’ also known as High Glycemic carbs. Blood sugar levels and the Insulin Re
