Carbohydrate is an essential nutrient made up of one or more sugar molecules. Sugar molecules are found in fruits, milk, beer, sweeteners, starch and fiber. Good carbohydrates have plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber, necessary for a healthful body. In contrast, bad carbs have been stripped of their nutrients, providing minimal nutritional value for your body. Foods with good and bad carbs have a mixture of healthful and nutrient-poor ingredients.
Bran Muffin
A bran muffin has plenty of fiber from the all-bran cereal used as part of the ingredients. Fiber helps lower your blood cholesterol by reducing your bad cholesterol or LDL, according to "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance." Bran muffins also have refined white flour and sugar, ingredients you should refrain from eating if you're trying to lose weight. If you make the muffins yourself, replace the white flour with whole wheat flour and replace the sugar with a natural, no-calorie sweetener. If you're a diabetic, one bran muffin has a moderate glycemic index of 60; it is a better choice for diabetics than a serving of oat cereal. Eat it with a handful of almonds to further reduce its effect on raising your blood sugar.
Breakfast and Energy Bars
Breakfast and energy bars are packed with plenty of calories from good and bad carbs. Most bars have nuts, especially unskinned almonds. The carbs in almonds are primarily from fiber. Almonds lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol, dietitian Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D. states. Such bars use oats and plenty of dried fruits, enhancing the amount of vitamins and minerals you eat. The sugar content from sweeteners such as honey, cane juice or rice syrup takes up nearly half of the carbs found in these bars.
Super Supreme Pizza
Pizza Hut's Super Supreme pizza has more fiber from all the vegetables piled on the crust compared to a cheese or pepperoni pizza. Two slices have a low glycemic index of 36, making this pizza an optimal food choice for a diabetic as it doesn't cause blood sugar to rise quickly. However, the crust is made of refined white flour, a not-so-healthy ingredient. Ask the pizza maker to go light on the cheese, reducing the amount of fat on your pizza. Cook your own Super Supreme pizza using a whole wheat crust and low-fat meat, increasing the good carbs and lowering the fat content.
References
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Glycemic Index: An Educational Tool for Health and Fitness Professionals; Stephen Wong, Ph.D., and Susan Chung, R.D.N.; November/December 2003
- "The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts"; NutriBase; 2001
- Pizza Hut: Pizza
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