Carbohydrates provide essential fuel for the brain as well as muscle tissue. Complex unrefined carbohydrates such as whole grains break down slowly into simple sugars within the body. Refined carbohydrates release high doses of glucose and other simple sugars quickly. The body reacts by storing the excess fuel, causing blood sugar levels to drop and temporarily robbing the body of energy. Many common snacks and comfort foods contain high amounts of refined carbohydrates.
Flour
Pastries, cereals, pasta and many other products contain refined white flour. Milled to remove bran and the high protein wheat germ, only the starchy core of the grain becomes the final flour. Flour made from other polished grains offers the same imbalance in nutrients as white wheat flour. The starch in white flour breaks down into glucose for storage in muscles and in the liver as glycogen. With a full load of glycogen--about 2,000 food calories--humans perform at low intensity levels for about an hour and a half. Efficient high intensity exercise burns up the glycogen stores in about 20 minutes.
Sugar
Many sweeteners consist of simple sugars. Used in baked goods, candies, soft drinks and other foods, simple sugars provide an immediate blood sugar boost. Glucose sugar passes quickly through the stomach wall into the bloodstream. Other simple sugars commonly found in today's food products include sucrose, lactose, fructose and dextrose. Refined sugars also may be listed as corn syrup, milk sugar, grape sugar and cane sugar. Even though many consider honey healthful and natural, this simple sugar syrup produced by honeybees provides the same temporary boost and crash as any other refined sugar. Natural sugar syrups like molasses or less refined raw sugar do contain more minerals and nutrients than highly processed sugars, but the carbohydrate load still consists of quickly digested concentrated simple sugars.
Starch
Although considered a complex carbohydrate, processed starch lacks the digestible fiber of whole grains and other natural foods. Corn starch, processed potatoes, and other refined starches take longer to digest than sugar but cause some of the same nutritional issues as white flour. For a healthy balance at least half the carbohydrates in the daily diet should be whole grains.
Polished Rice
Usually a part of a meal rather than an ingredient in prepared food, white or polished rice undergoes the same type of processing as does wheat intended for white flour production. Milling removes the hull, bran and germ of the rice grain, leaving a starchy kernel which cooks quickly and digests easily, but without the staying power of brown or whole grain rice.
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