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The Significance Of Carbohydrates

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Carbohydrates_from_breads

Carbohydrates play a significant role in sustaining the metabolism of a human body and enable them to execute their day to day activities. For a majority of us, carbohydrates are an easy source of energy to the body without which the it is precisely like an automobile in absence of fuel. In recent times, despite the rise in popularity of low carb diets, the intake of these macronutrients cannot be shunned away completely from our diet as they are present in starch, sugar and fiber that we consume which are necessary to keep a human body healthy.

A single gram of carbohydrate holds in them about four calories. Nearly 40 to 60 percent of our daily requirement of calories comes from the vegetables, fruits, grains, and dairy products that we include in our diet. The human body uses these foods to generate glucose with the assistance of enzyme amylase and let them in to the bloodstream. Following which the cellular respiration takes place – a series of complex process, through which the glucose in the blood is transformed to a fuel molecule known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a fuel that is required to power all cellular activities to carry out a variety of metabolic tasks.

When a body possess adequate amount of glucose to power the cell activities, the excess quantity of glucose produced will be stored in the form of glycogen for later use. Liver and muscles are the two primary sources which stores the glycogen. Approximately, liver stores 100 grams of glycogen while muscles stores 500 grams.

Why are carbohydrates important?

Carbohydrates are very essential to preserve the muscles in the human body, promote digestive health, influence heart health and diabetes level, and perform various cellular activities. Besides every organ in a human body need carbohydrates in the form of glucose in order to stay healthy and function properly. When one follows a low carb diet for a long period of time, without significant amount of proteins, it weakens your body, as in order to provide energy to the body muscles will be broken down in to amino acids to form glucose.

Unlike refined carbs, intake of dietary fiber is very beneficial for heart and plays a crucial role to regulate blood sugar levels.

Are all carbohydrates same?

Certainly, not all carbohydrates are the same. There are two major types of carbohydrates simple, complex and an additional refined carbohydrate in the foods that we consume.

Simple_and_complex_carbs

Simple carbohydrates:

Simple carbohydrates are the quick source of energy to the human body. It has one monosaccharide or two disaccharide sugar units. Monosaccharide is made up of fructose, glucose, and galactose, while disaccharide is made up of Sucrose, maltose, lactose, and treholose.

Fruits, vegetables, honey are the great source of monosaccharide. Sugar cane, beet, table sugar, malted wheat, barley, beer, mushrooms, dairy products and sweet root vegetables such as beetroot, carrot are the great source of disaccharide.

Complex carbohydrates:

Complex carbohydrates are the most relatively sustained source of energy to the human body. Complex carbohydrates are made up of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Oligosaccharides are made up of raffinose, stachyose, verbascose, fructo, inulin and galacto-oligosaccahrides, while polysaccharides are made up starch, and non starch polysaccharides.

Legumes, onion, and asparagus are the great source of oligosaccharides. Cereal foods, potato, unripe fruits, pulses and few root vegetables are the great source of polysaccharides.

Refined carbohydrates:

Generally, carbs acquired from processed food and beverages come under the refined carbohydrates category. Processed baked food products, candies, in general foods that contains added sugar, fat, sodium comes under this category.

Opt for healthy carbohydrates

Human body has the astonishing ability to break down all carbohydrates in to glucose. But the type of carbohydrates that you intake is essential for your health. When you intake too much of added sugar, your body generates a great amount of carbs from the added sugar which is quite harmful to the human body. Hence it is better to avoid consumption of too much of packed foods, as majority of the packed foods contain added sugar in them.

Here is a list of foods that can supply you with healthy carbohydrates.

Banana, orange, apples, mangoes, grapes and blueberries are some fruits that are rich in carbohydrates.

Vegetables like chickpeas, beets, corn, brown rice, sweet potatoes, kidney beans, spinach, broccoli, collard greens, and oats are the best way to intake healthy carbs in to the human body.

Foods that are high in fiber like whole grains, nuts, beans, and bread are also the best source to get healthy carbohydrates.

Why you should have a low carbohydrates diet?

People who follow low carbohydrates diet for a long span of their life time are more likely to stay fit and free from heart related diseases, specifically from cardiovascular failure as it amplifies the levels of high density lipoprotein, which in popularly known as good cholesterol, in the blood. Besides these following a low carb diet has a lot of benefits to offer to a human body, it reduces the appetite of an individual in a healthier way, it plays a major role in helping individuals to shed their weight, and they are found to be effective against metabolic syndrome.

Following a low carb diet means that you are opting to stay away from foods that contain a lot of extra added sugar. The less amount of sugar intake helps to minimize the inflammation in the body joints, which is one of the biggest bothersome issues at the older age. Also, it makes one to feel energetic and builds their ability to stay focused even in spite their age as there will be no unnatural highly processed food in the low carb diet.

Low carb diets are scientifically proven to be effective in a human’s life as not only it can help you to reduce weight, to keep blood glucose level under control but they also improve your cholesterol, blood pressure and enhance your overall health. So opt to have a low carb diet with healthy source of carbohydrates to stay health.

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