What Are Good Carbs?

If you're wondering what good carbs are then hopefully this article will answer the question for you. Good carbohydrates are generally sources of carbohydrates that are low on the glycemic index and/ or provide an enormous amount of beneficial nutrients to the body.

A low glycemic index carbohydrate does not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels compared to other sources of carbohydrates.

The beneficial nutrients that are provided by carbohydrates include, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (nutrients from plants that provide a range of health benefits and include antioxidants) and possibly protein and good fats.

The good carbs that contain the most beneficial nutrients are fruits and vegetables and that is why they should make up the majority of your diet.

Good carbs may be simple carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates and are not just complex carbs as was previously thought.

In the past many people thought that all complex carbohydrates were better to eat because they are 'complex' and that it was best to avoid 'simple' carbohydrates because they are 'simple' and would absorbed into the body faster than the complex carbohydrates.

This was in fact, an incorrect assumption and Dr David Jenkins' research in the early 1980's on the glycemic index demonstrated that some so-called good carbs were causing rapid rises in blood sugar and some simple carbohydrates were actually causing a slow, sustained release of glucose into the blood stream.

Here are some of the reasons why certain sources of carbohydrates weren't acting as expected:

The structure of the carbohydrates

The reason for this apparent aberration has to do with the structure of the carbohydrates and how the body digests and utilises them.

You see, complex carbohydrates are long chains of glucose molecules bonded together and when they are eaten our body starts to break down these chains into smaller chains. By the time these smaller chains reach our small intestine, they are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream causing a significant increase in your blood sugar level.

However, this only relates to complex carbohydrates that mainly contain amylopectin, which is made of highly branched glucose polymers. This structure means that digestive enzymes can break down many different parts of the polymers at the same time and this results in a rapid increase in your blood sugar level. Amylopectin makes up most complex carbohydrates (about 70%).

The other type of complex carbohydrate, amylose, has a different structure and therefore, is broken down by digestive enzymes more slowly. Amylose has a linear structure, which means the enzymes can only target the two ends of a single chain at once compared to a branched structure. There are certain types of complex carbohydrates that are now promoted as being healthier due to their higher amylose content. Certain types of rice are an example of these good carbs.

Some simple carbohydrates may also be considered to be good carbohydrates. For example, when you eat an apple, even though it contains simple carbohydrates (fructose molecules), which are individual sugar molecules, these sugar molecules need to be taken to the liver for processing first since the body cannot utilise fructose; it must be converted into glucose.

The process of converting fructose into glucose takes quite some time because fructose has a 5-carbon ring structure whereas glucose has a 6-carbon ring structure. As a result, there is a slow release of glucose into the blood stream from the liver. This is why some simple carbohydrates, like fructose and galactose (from milk) are considered to be good carbs despite being a simple carbohydrate.

Other components within the food

For example, broccoli is considered to be one of the good carbohydrates because it is very high in fiber and fiber is one food component that slow down the absorption rate of the carbohydrates from the food.

Protein and fat may also play a role in slowing down the absorption rate of the carbohydrates from the food too and therefore, play a role in determining whether or not a carbohydrate source is considered to be one of the good carbohydrates or not.

One very important consideration though is the fact not all foods that are low on the glycemic index are good for. Therefore, there are some exceptions to the rule that all good carbs are low glycemic index carbs.

An example, of a low glycemic index carb that is not one of the good carbohydrates is chocolate! Chocolate is a very concentrated source of calories and therefore should only be consumed in very small quantities.

There are several reasons why it is a low glycemic index carbohydrate. Firstly, it contains milk sugar (galactose), which takes time to be converted into glucose in the liver. Chocolate also contains fat and protein, which may slow down the absorption rate of the carbohydrates even further. As a result, chocolate is a low glycemic index carbohydrate but is unfortunately not considered to be one of the good carbs!

Overall, if you focus your diet on fruits and vegetables as your main source of good carbs and reduce your intake of the rest, you will go a long way towards improving your overall health as well as losing weight.

If you would like to find out more about good carbs, complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and all other aspects of carbs including the glycemic index, I recommend reading my e-book, Look Good, Feel Great!

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