Simple and Complex Carbohydrates. Simple Answers to a Complex Subject!
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| Low Carb? No Carb? High Carb Diet? Finally Understand the Truth About Diets, Calories, Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats. |
What you particularly need to watch out for is simple carbohydrates in the form of refined sugars. These are empty calories and if not burnt will simply turn straight to fat.
High sugar foods cause your blood sugar to spike as they are absorbed rapidly into the blood stream, disappearing quickly causing blood sugar levels to drop dramatically. A drop in blood sugar triggers starvation mode and unavoidable cravings, which would be expected.
Complex carbohydrates are released more slowly, keeping your blood sugar and therefore energy levels even.
You need to avoid simple sugars like the plague. They do a lot more damage than you would expect. Even though fruit contains vitamins and minerals, high GI (Glycemic Index) fruit such as tropical fruits, bananas and any dried fruit are very high in sugar and should be kept to a minimum.
The majority of your carbohydrates (along with vitamins and minerals) should come from fibrous vegetables which are released slowly and less likely to cause spikes in your insulin.
The Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index is a numerical measure from 0 –100 of how long your blood sugar will be affected after you have eaten carbohydrate foods. All carbohydrate foods are measured relative to glucose which is absorbed quickly and is taken as 100. A low Glycemic Index (GI) is regarded as 55 and below, intermediate 56 – 70 and high 71 –100.Foods with a low GI release glucose slowly and steadily into the bloodstream and do not over stimulate insulin secretion (spikes in your blood sugar).
A high protein, Low GI diet:
1. Promotes a toned muscular body. Fat and muscle depletion occurs on high protein and low carbohydrate diets. A low GI energy restricted diet will burn only fat and not muscle.
2. Sustains energy levels. Glucose is the food used by the brain and muscles. Low GI foods help prevent tiredness by maintaining blood glucose levels, giving a constant flow of energy.
3. Helps maintain ideal weight. Low GI foods are natural appetite suppressants and help keep hunger at bay, filling you up and keeping you satisfied for longer.
Always read labels.
In order to find out what exactly it is you are eating you really need to become a careful label reader.
If a sugar based product (glucose, fructose, corn syrup) is close to the top of the list of ingredients, that is what that product mainly consists of. Food manufacturers are required to list the ingredients in order so there is a lot of sugar, it will be listed somewhere near the top.
If it is mostly sugar, it will be listed first.
Move on to Part Five: Foods That Burn Fat
