Better understand the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates
In many movies there are “bad characters” and “good characters.” Well, that's how it is with simple and complex carbohydrates.
In many movies there are “bad characters” and “good characters.” Well, that’s how it is with simple and complex carbohydrates: in the health and nutrition movie there are villains and heroes. Here we are going to help you distinguish them so that you can lose weight quickly. Because there are all kinds of plans that tell us how to lose weight and focus on stopping consuming carbohydrates, we go crazy trying to respect consumption limits because there are diets like the ketogenic diet that is very strict in not exceeding 20 to 25 per day. And in this “military” act, we patients adhered so strongly to respecting them that we ended up cutting out certain products that did us no harm in the fight against obesity. Let’s start by differentiating them between simple and compound.
Simple carbohydrates
These come mainly from sugars and added sugars such as corn syrup or glucose. These, the simple ones, are the ones we should avoid to avoid being overweight. Due to their simplicity, the body digests them quickly, therefore they do not give the feeling of satiety and that makes us eat more and in shorter periods of time. These are some examples:
- Sweets
- Desserts
- Cakes
- Concentrated juices
- Soft drinks
- White rice
- Bread
- Pasta Here there are some exceptions, such as the case of fresh fruit, which, although simple, is also natural, so there is no major problem with the calories if you consume a couple of servings a day.
Complex carbohydrates
The difference with simple ones is that these are mostly composed of fiber, which is more difficult for the body to digest so they make it “think” that it is full for longer, which gives us a feeling of satiety. As if this were not enough, fiber provides energy and protein, which is why they are basic foods in snacks. Here are the examples:
- Walnuts
- Vegetables
- Beans
- Whole grain rice
- Oatmeal
- Corn It is worth mentioning that according to studies by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), complex carbohydrates help to dramatically reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular problems. How to avoid simple carbohydrates? When you shop at the supermarket, let’s look at the labels and compare the fiber and sugar content, that’s the key.
