Like gasoline is to a car engine, carbohydrates supply the body with fuel. There are two different types of carbohydrates: sugars (glucose or dextrose) and starches. Sugars are referred to as “simple carbohydrates” because the body digests them extremely easily and quickly. These simple carbohydrates have a sweet taste and are not only found in cookies and sweets, but in fruits as well.
Complex carbohydrates are derived from starch and are harder to digest. Complex carbohydrates are found in foods such as bread, noodles, rice and some vegetables. There are two groups of complex carbohydrates: high fiber and low fiber. High-fiber, complex carbohydrates are not digestible, because we do not have the enzyme to do the job. Cows have that enzyme; that is why they can get calories out of grass, and we can’t. High-fiber (high-cellulose) vegetable foods are the healthiest choices for human nutrition, and consumption of these foods is associated with lowered incidences of hypertension, cancer, arthritis and diabetes. Examples of these complex carbohydrates are lettuce and broccoli. Examples of low-fiber, complex carbohydrates are banana, tomato, squash, cereals and grains, (such as rice, bread and pasta) and potatoes.
The purpose of carbohydrates is to fuel the cells in the body with energy. When a carbohydrate is consumed, the body breaks the carbohydrate down into two different chemical reactions. Glucose is produced for immediate energy and is quickly absorbed from the digestive system to the blood stream. The body only needs a limited amount of glucose, so what is left over is stored in the muscles and liver. Any abundance of glucose that is not stored in the muscles or the liver, glycogen, is saved as fat. During exercise, the excess glucose is released into the body as needed.
The healthiest form of sugar is the complex carbohydrates present in high-fiber vegetables; however, it is certainly acceptable to spice up your diet in moderation with simple sugars in the form of whole fruits. Eat the fruits, do not juice them and drink them. Eating the whole fruit results in the inclusion of natural fiber, which allows proper absorption of sugars. If you must have juice, dilute it with twice the recommended amount of water, so as to get the taste without overdosing on simple sugars.
Excess carbohydrates also cause generalized vascular disease. A high-carbohydrates diet which is has been popular, causes the pancreas to produce large amounts of insulin, and if this happens for many years in a genetically predisposed person, the insulin receptors throughout the body become resistant to insulin. Because insulin's action is to drive glucose into the cells, this results in chronic hyperglycemia, also called "high blood sugar." A large portion of this sugar is stored as fat resulting in obesity. Excess insulin also causes hypertension and helps initiate the sequence of events in the arterial wall, which can lead to heart disease.
Carbohydrates are important to proper nutrition, and should be utilized in your well-balanced diet to maintain the energy necessary to get the job done.
By R. S. Wagner