Examples Of Good Carbohydrates

Chemically, all digestible dietary carbohydrates are the same---the digestive tract reduces both sugars and starches into their chemical constituents, which are called monosaccharides, and absorbs the monosaccharides into the bloodstream. As such, the difference between a "good" and a "bad" carbohydrate is not a structural difference---instead, it has to do with the rate at which monosaccharides from the carbohydrate are absorbed into the bloodstream. Good carbohydrates absorb much more slowly than bad carbohydrates, and help regulate blood sugar.

Whole Grain

The primary difference between the sources of carbohydrate, colloquially referred to as "good" and "bad," is the presence or absence of fiber. Fiber, which is called cellulose in scientific terms, is an indigestible material found with most sources of naturally occurring carbohydrate. Because fiber can't be digested, but nevertheless passes into the digestive tract, it interferes with and slows digestion and absorption of monosaccharides from food, explains Lauralee Sherwood, Ph.D., in her book "Human Physiology." Whole grain, which contains lots of fiber, is therefore a source of slow-absorbing, good carbohydrate.

Fruit and Vegetables

Like whole grain, fruits and vegetables have lots of fiber, which means that the carbohydrate in most fruits and vegetables is slow to absorb. Despite the fact that fruit tastes sweet, indicating that it contains high levels of sugar, the absorption of sugar is slowed by the presence of fiber in the fruit. This means that blood sugar increases relatively slowly after consumption of fruit in comparison to the rate at which blood sugar levels increase after consumption of sources of pure sugar, such as juice or soda. Gary Thibodeau, Ph.D., says in his book "Anatomy and Physiology" that slowly increasing blood sugar helps prevent fat storage and various disease processes.

Beans

Dried beans are full of fiber and protein in addition to carbohydrate. Like fiber, protein interferes with and slows digestion and absorption of carbohydrate, because it digests much more slowly than carbohydrate does, explain Reginald Garrett, Ph.D., and Charles Grisham, Ph.D., in their book "Biochemistry." While the carbohydrate in beans, like all carbohydrate, is chemically nothing more than sugar---and is digested into sugar in the gut---the slow rate at which digestive enzymes process beans means that blood sugar levels rise slowly.