Simple Carbohydrates Vs. Complex Carbohydrates And Heart Rate

Carbohydrates generally fit into two categories: simple and complex. Both types are essential in your diet, found in nearly all foods and eventually break down and absorb as their simplest form, glucose. Simple carbs have a shorter structure, while complex carbs have a long, branched structure. During digestion, each type of carb may affect your heart differently. If you notice a rapid heart beat or heart flutter, talk with your physician; it may not be related to diet.

Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates occur naturally in fruits as fructose, in milk as lactose as well as other healthy foods. Additionally, simple carbs come from added sugars, such as table sugar and corn syrup, found in processed foods. Simple carbs break down quickly in your digestive tract. They travel down to your small intestine where enzymatic juices split them apart so they can be absorbed directly in your bloodstream. Since these types of carbs absorb quickly, you may feel a rapid heartbeat from a "sugar rush" after consuming a candy bar or a bowl of fruit.

Complex Carbohydrates

Complex carbs, like starch in grains, potatoes and corn, undergo two steps before they absorb as glucose. While chewing, saliva in your mouth surrounds the complex carb, forming a simpler structure called maltose, which is a simple sugar. During the second step, maltose breaks down and absorbs as glucose in your small intestine. Because complex carbs take a while to absorb into your bloodstream, you may not experience the rapid heart beat you have right after consuming simple carbs.

Normal Heart Rate

Your normal resting heart rate should fall between 60 and 100 beats per minute, explains Medline Plus. The inside of the wrist and soft part of the neck, right below your jawline are two common places where you can feel your pulse. Check your pulse by pressing your index and middle fingers gently on the area and count your beats for one full minute. If you are concerned about your heart rate after eating carbs, check it before you eat and about 30 minutes after you eat, to see if your meal has any effect. While sugars and other types of carbs may affect you once in a while, other factors of the meal, such as protein and fat composition, may cause carbs to have little effect on your heart rate.

Additional Information

One study in the "Metabolism" journal in 2003, published by researchers at the Athens University Medical School, evaluated the effects of high-fat and high-carb meals on the cardiac autonomic nervous system of lean and obese women. Researchers concluded that a meal rich in carbohydrates, not fat, affects heart rate variability by activating your sympathetic nervous system. Heart rate variability is the interval between heartbeats, but the way in which carbohydrates affects your heart rate may depend on your level of body fat. In the study, effects on increased heart rate were noted in lean women, while minimal changes were observed in obese women.

Simple Carbohydrates Vs. Complex Carbohydrates and Heart Rate