People mostly categorize the food in terms of carbohydrate they contain, because food with a high amount of carbohydrate can make you fatty. Food items that are high in carbohydrates are rice, candies, cakes, and other items with high sugar content and starch.
What Are Carbohydrates?
In the field of biology and chemistry, carbohydrates are one of the organic molecules which are mostly composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen elements. These are classified as macronutrients which are required by our body to produce the energy. Carbohydrates are not produced in our body, we have to eat food to obtain them.
According to the National Institute of Health, an average sized person can eat up to 135 grams of carbohydrates to meet its daily requirement. But not everyone should follow it because if you are already obese, you need to follow your own diet plan and try to cut the amount of carbohydrates.
Use of Carbohydrates
Our body needs the energy to survive and stay alive which it gets mostly from carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. We require a large number of carbohydrates every day as compared to other nutrients because it is the main source of producing energy. When a person eats more carbohydrate than his daily requirement, his body will convert the excess into fats. The fat is the stored form of energy in our body which it uses when there is a need.
Types of Carbohydrates
There are many forms and types of carbohydrate but all these forms can be divided into two broad categories, which are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
- Simple Carbohydrates – These carbohydrates are mostly obtained from refined sugar, and are sometimes called simple sugars. The white sugar that most people use for sweetening is the source of simple carbohydrates. The simple sugars are also contained in many fruits and vegetable. So, eating these items is good for acquiring simple carbohydrates as compared to white sugar. Because fruits and vegetables also contain other useful nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, which helps our body functioning.
- Complex Carbohydrates – These carbohydrates we usually obtained from starchy food which includes rice and bread. We can obtain complex carbohydrates in many ways, for example preprocessed items in the market like processed flour and But processed food lacks some vitamins and minerals that are usually contained in an unprocessed food item. It is better to take unprocessed flour and rice to get the maximum benefit. For a healthy lifestyle, it is better to have both kinds of carbohydrates in the diet.
Facts
- Cutting on a daily intake of carbohydrates in the key to losing weight, but the diet should include some food items which contain necessary vitamins and minerals for our body to function properly.
- There is a type of carbohydrate which helps the body for the absorption of calcium minerals.
- When there is an insufficient intake of carbohydrates and the body has less reserves of fat, then the body could produce energy by burning proteins.
