Welcom, Carbohydrate Phobia

Welcome,carbohydrate phobias.
http://greens4food.blogspot.com 
You think it is less and less carbohydrates?

Or is it more and more proteins and fats?

Some persons fear to eat carbohydrates. I called them carbohydrate phobia, and they need to have a good second though on the issue. They think they will put on more body weight or body mass index, BMI if they eat carbohydrates like groundnuts along with their meals.

I treat myself to peanuts or groundnuts regularly daily. It is part of my carbohydrate source. 

But many or some persons fear to eat this nutritious and health promoting nuts, and certain roots and tubers that falls within the carbohydrate food bracket.

These sources of carbohydrates or carbs were believed to promote weight gain as I said above.  But this is one negative side of the mindset.

Carbs are very essential food stuffs. They are a primary source of energy. They are hard to digest, while exception can be made for the simple natural complex carbs form as fructose (cane sugar) and in fruits like oranges; they release a steadily flow of much useful energy in the blood stream.

When you wake up in the morning from sleep, you need a good energy source to carry on the day’s activities. Carbs deliver the trick, throughout the day too and not just fats and proteins. These later, fats and proteins are a secondary source of energy for the body.

Persons who feared to eat carbohydrates as grains, seeds and nuts eat plenty of fatty meat, fish or seafood, certain fruits and green leafy vegetables.

Fruits and leafy greens are very low in carbs, but are potent sources of water soluble vitamins, minerals plus antioxidants. The vitamin, mineral matters and antioxidants is the powerhouse of carbs and all food items.

The fat contents of all fruits and greens are very low. That is why the fruits and leafy greens are very best in controlling cholesterol in the diet. 

Grains or cereals like unpolished brown rice, roasted corn or sweet corn, sorghum, guinea corn, and millet have very low fat content as in fruits and green vegetables. 

All these cereals are good source of carbohydrates.

Likewise, barley, oats and rye; and also wheat are cereals that falls under carbohydrates food items.

Eating these in their crude state will not make you gain weight or a significant increase in the body mass index, BMI.

Fats or oils and protein will not yield you the energy to go for the day if you eat them in the morning. It takes a longer time for the fats and proteins to be broken down into smaller pieces for the body to use as energy.

But with carbs, you are at a peak very early and thoroughly. 

With all these said, now let’s get to the subject of complex carbohydrates.

Adonesinetrisphosphate (ATP)

A Chop Plate Of Oat With Peanuts, Banana, Fresh Red Tomato And Egg

When either natural complex carbohydrates or simple refined carbohydrates are digested, energy is released. This energy is in the form of adenosinetrisphosphate or ATP. In the case of the complex carbs it is used for the bodily activities like exercise, breathing, digestion of the foods we eat, movement, work, sleep and relaxation, sitting, http://goodhealthfront.blogspot.comand so on. This is because these complex carbs contained the essential vitamin and mineral matters including antioxidants necessary for the digestive process.  Any extra that is not used up for the bodily activities is easily reserved or stored for later use as glycogen.

But in the case of simple refined carbs, also known as convenience or process foods like refined sugar, white bread and all refined food carbs, the energy released is immediately converted as fats and stored in the body, because the organic vitamins and minerals are not present for the process. Synthetic vitamin cannot and will not work in the same way as the natural vitamin. Hence, the energy yield equates to conversion to fat and the risk to gain weigh increased drastically.

This gain in body mass index or BMI is not a healthy gain. It is an accumulation of waste matters in the body that leads to diabetes and later can results in obesity, high blood pressure, heart diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

This is why most people feared to eat the good and healthy complex cabs. They are misinformed completely. 

Carbohydrates, especially in cereals when unprocessed have all their bran or husk, germ, fibers and vitamins plus phytonutrients safe. So they do the normal and healthy thing during digestion.

Now that you know this, add potatoes whether sweet or Irish to your chop plates.

Potatoes are natural best sources of potassium, an element need by the blood. Potatoes deliver this much better than any other food stuffs. They also contain vitamin C in good quality. Eat them with their skin. Use a knife to scrap off the outward wax or watery lawyers but do not peel. In peeling them, you lost much of their vitamins and minerals. Eating a nourishing chop plate of potatoes will help you sleep well during the night. Try it for an evening meal and observe results.

Complex Carbohydrates

Peanuts, corn or sweet corn, unpolished brown rice, millet and guinea corn; whole wheat, yam and cocoyam, sweet potato, are complex carbohydrates in their natural unprocessed form. Eat them whole with their skin and all.

When whole wheat or unpolished brown rice is processed into commercial form with longer shelf life, it becomes the processed form of the original food stuff.

So, complex carbohydrates are the foods that have not undergo any physical or chemical process of extracting out its biological food nutrients like the skin, the germ, the husks or bran and the vitamin plus mineral matters or phytonutrients. These extract were processed into wheat germ as in the case of wheat; or oils as in the case of corn oil.

Without the vitamin, mineral matters and phytonutrients, no energy or calories can be produced from the foods we eat. That is why refined foods are said to contain empty calories.

Any natural grain or cereal, legumes or beans and root or root tuber is a complex carbohydrate as are fruits and green leafy vegetables.

Nearly all seeds and nuts are contained some carbs.

Brown bread made with whole wheat is a carb. So is brown sugar and brown or unpolished rice.

These have a shorter life span when processed into flour and contain less gluten the essential binding ingredient in refined white flour. Without this gluten, bread made with whole wheat will not stick well. But using three parts whole wheat flour to one part refined flour will solve the problem.

The same thing can be said of corn bread made with ground whole corn flour. But if you take one part refined white flour to two parts of the whole corn flour and knead it into dough, you can have a good delicious and nutritious corn bread. The refined white flour only serves as gluten to make the corn bread firm and spongy. 

Alternately, use egg white as the gluten in mixing the corn dough. You will have a nourishing and well improved corn bread.

All complex carbs contain of fibers, starch and cellulose. Refined carbohydrates are just pure starch. They lack fibers and cellulose including their natural and organic vitamins and minerals, but synthentic chemicals is added as alternative to improved shelf life. All complex carbs are made up of more than two molecules, in contrast to simple carbs which is a simple sugar and consist of least one molecule in the food chain. The cellulose is plentiful in leafy greens. 

Simple carbs which are refined lacks natural vitamins, fibers and minerals except that they are fortify with them. These fortify vitamin and mineral or synthetic chemical are not of the same quality as the natural and organic products. The later cannot release any calories from the foods we eat talk less of the aiding in the digestion of the foods.

More Complex Carbohydrates

Here are examples of more complex carbohydrates and you can add yours to fill in the gap.

·        All leafy greens including basil leaves, broccoli, mint, cabbage and parsley.

·        All legumes or beans including soya bean, green bean, Lima and kidney bean, navy bean and peas.

·        All root vegetables as potatoes and carrots.

·        Tubers like yams and corms.

·        Berries as fresh red or green tomatoes.

·        Rhizome such as ginger.

·        Products of the vine plant like unfermented wines because these contain sugar.

·        All fruits including mangoes, apples, bananas, peach and passion fruits.

·        Dairy products like milk contain some carbohydrates in the form of milk sugar.

·        All cereals or grains. It is already exemplify and discussed above.

·        Generally, all the products of the flowering plants suitable for eating and preparing meals like seasonings chili, garlic, onions and  are a complex carbohydrate exception is beverages like tea and coffee.

Salient Features

Complex carbohydrates have the following salient features.

·        Natural Antidotes: they act as antidotes to some serious ill-health. Eating more than two servings of the complex carbs will help in the reducing diabetes, cancers, decreasing bad cholesterol, normalizing both the blood sugar and insulin level. These illnesses are the very thing caused by the simple refined carbs.

·        Complex carbs helps in the digestion processes. They help produce and release enzymes and hormones the body need in the digestion of the foods we eat. They prevent constipation and diverticular diseases.

·        When you eat complex carbs, the energy these released is steady and slowly released into the blood stream and will keep you on the go all day instead of being jittery. 

·        Fuel for the brain: complex carbohydrates when digested produce glucose. Glucose is sugar and it is the fuel the brain needs to function well. Without the sugar, you would feel jittery and unable to focus the mind well on the issue at hand. It further equates to not being able to concentrate. Add lots of carb rich in natural and wholesome fiber, cellelus and vitamin in your chop plate and all this problem of mind wandering is taken care of.

·        Sleep: eating complex carbs will help you sleep better. Many complaint of too much sleeping disorders and one wonders if this were not caused by eating unwholesome refined carbohydrates for a long time. I easily noted that after eating polished rice in the evening, I found it hard to sleep during the night. So I do not eat polish or white rice or white bread in the evening or night. This is because the B-Complex in the products has been stripe off. B-Complex helps sedate the nerves of the body and when this is lacking in a diet, it can wreck the nervous system and sleep at times become an issue. So eat plenty of greens half in raw state, plus fruits, nuts and seeds along with your chop plates of semi-polished rice, white bread, bean, yams or any of your favorite carbs. It will be a sweet sleep.

·        Complex carbs like green bean with peanuts, corn and leafy greens will help you loss weight if eaten regularly as breakfast and the last meal in the evening.

·        Bowel health: all complex carbs help in bowel health especially leafy greens and fruits eaten with their skins like mangoes and apples, because these have lots of fiber and cellulose. They help promote the life of the beneficial or friendly bowel bacterial and produce stool and at the same time help in the movement and elimination of the stool from the large intestine. Otherwise, the result will be constipation. 

·        Physical activities or aerobic exercise: complex carbs are very essential for exercising effectively. I usually take 100% whole fruit juicy for a moderate short time exercise of 10 to 15 minutes in the morning. If I want to jog, I will need a chop plate of whole oat meal, peanuts, fresh red tomatoes, bananas (it provide the sugar or sweetener for the oat) instead of white sugar one to two hours before the jogging. It will give me the much need energy for the activity. 

So much health benefits from the complex carbs.

Conveniently Packed Complex Carbohydrates

All the complex carbohydrates can be packed in a convenient manner for commercial purpose.

Some will undergo a processing stage and it is certain these will lose some of their vitamins and phytonutrients. 

Therefore, when buying such items, ensure on the label it is 100% whole or natural and no added chemical preservatives. The preservatives can destroy the food nutrients. It is much better if you buy them in their organic natural form.

One more thing on the issue is that some packed complex carbs are usually preserved with citric acids. Natural citric acids from fruits like lime and lemons are beneficial to the human body. If this were used as the preservative, you can be sure of a safe and healthy nutrition.

To your good health!

Miebakagh57 (miebakagh Fiberesima) Copyright 2015.