Cereal Foods With Carbohydrates

Cereal foods are made from cereal grains such as oats, barley, rye, corn and wheat. Bread, pasta, breakfast cereal and oatmeal are all cereal foods made solely from these grains or from a combination of cereal grains. Cereal foods contain carbohydrates, which are broken down into their simplest form glucose, the primary energy source for all cells. While you need cereal foods and carbohydrates in your diet, some types are better than others.

How Much You Should Eat

Since carbohydrates are digested into a simpler form for cellular energy, they should make up the majority of your calories. Between 45 and 65 percent of your total calories should come from carbohydrates, reports the McKinley Health Center. Carbs have 4 calories per gram, so if you consume 1,800 calories per day, you need 202 to 292 g of carbs throughout the day. At least half of your cereal grain servings should come from whole-grain sources. Whole-grains include all three parts of the kernel: the germ, endosperm and bran. When cereal grains are refined, the bran and germ are removed, leaving the starchy endosperm behind. This process removes most of the fiber, vitamins and minerals that grains provide.

Complex Carbs in Cereal Foods

Cereal foods provide two types of complex carbohydrates -- starch and fiber. Starch has a long, branched complex structure and undergoes a few steps to be absorbed. For starch to become glucose, saliva in your mouth breaks it down into maltose. Certain enzymes in your small intestine break maltose down further into glucose, where it is directly absorbed into the bloodstream. While fiber is a type of carbohydrate in cereal foods, it is processed differently.

The Indigestible Carbohydrate

Cereal foods provide fiber, an indigestible type of carb that is not metabolized into glucose. Fiber pushes through your digestive tract, allowing foods to be fully absorbed before they pass. Soluble fiber, from cereal foods like oatmeal and oat bran, disperses in water creating a thick substance that slows digestion. Insoluble fiber, found in whole-wheat bread, barley and bulgur wheat, sweeps through your digestive tract, making soft, easy-to-pass stools. Fiber is not counted in your carbohydrate intake, since it is not broken down. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that you need 14 g of fiber for every 1,000 calories you consume. Based on an 1,800-calorie diet, you need around 25 g of fiber daily. One serving of cereal foods provides around 3 g of fiber, but different varieties may have slightly more or less.

Grams of Carbs in Cereal Foods

Most of the calories in cereal foods come from carbohydrates. One serving provides 15 g of carbohydrates and approximately 80 calories. Depending on the food, it may also contain up to 3 g of protein and 1 g of fat or less per serving. Single servings of cereal foods include 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, 1/3 cup of pasta, once slice of bread, 1/2 cup of bran cereal or 3/4 cup of unsweetened breakfast cereal. While all these foods have carbohydrates, selecting whole-grain sources is the only way to ensure that you get the fiber you need. Read the label; whole grains should be listed in the first few ingredients to be a good source of whole grains.