Just What Is A Carbohydrate Anyway?

During a recent discussion with my father about low carb diets, he pointed to the butter on the table and said "is that a carbohydrate?" when I started to explain, he then pointed to the sugar and said "well, what about that?"

Unfortunately, you cannot just point to a food and label it a "carbohydrate" as each food is made up of protein, carbs and fats in varying degrees. Some foods are almost all carb, and some, like meat, eggs and fish have none.

To make matters even more complicated, there are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. For matters of nutrition, you should always pick the complex carbs which have a low glycemic index.

The simple carbohydrates include foods like desserts, sugar, white bread, candy. Typically, these foods have a little nutritional value. Though they may taste good, they are basically empty calories and are digested quickly causing a high blood sugar spike and then a quick drop off. This is the reason these foods don't really satisfy your hunger and you get cravings for more shortly after having eaten them.

By contract, the complex carbohydrates are extremely nutritious, these are foods like legumes, whole grains, vegetables and most fruits. They are loaded with fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Calorie for calorie, complex carbohydrates will fill you up more and leave you full longer then the simple carbohydrates.

When choosing which carbohydrates to put on your plate, you should try to load up on whole grains, fruits and vegetables but if they are not available in plentiful enough amounts, you should try to balance your simple carbs with your complex carbs and proteins. Use the simple carbs as more of a side dish - maybe filling ? of your plate with them and fill up on the lean protein and complex carbs. This will have a net effect of a more nutritious and filling meal as well as leave you satisfied longer.

Lee Dobbins writes for various websites including sites about health, pets and even carbohydrates visit http://www.carbzine.com to learn more about carbohydrate and your health.

taxi from Midway Barrington Hills ...

In The News:

LastPass said Wednesday it had determined an unauthorized party was able to gain access to certain elements of the password manager's customer information.

The Vatican's official website has been the target of repeated cyber attacks, forcing the site to send users to 404 error pages, officials confirmed.

Spotify launched its long-awaited annual Spotify Wrapped summary on Wednesday, with the top artists including Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd and BTS.

Tech giant Apple announced the best apps and games of this year, including the ultra-popular BeReal social app and fitness tracking app Gentler Streak.

The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman plan to unveil the newest stealth bomber called the B-21 Raider in Palmdale, California on Dec. 2, 2022.

While televisions may be cheaper during this time of the year, it may not guarantee crystal clear resolution.

Meta said earlier this month that it would shift resources to the metaverse, firing thousands of employees. Is its virtual reality headset worth the price?

National security officials and lawmakers are uncomfortable with the rising number of Chinese-manufactured camera drones flying in the Washington, D.C., area.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted a photo of a new t-shirt on his account Wednesday afternoon that seems to troll his critics and others that spoke out against his work policy changes.

The holidays don't have to be stressful if you internalize these tech tips which will help you keep track of your luggage, avoid overpaying, and more.

Some tax filing websites have reportedly been sending financial information, including email addresses and refund amounts, to Facebook through a shared code.

Researchers at Mysk claim that analysis shows that the detailed analytics data Apple records about what users do in the App Store can be linked directly to accounts.

With rumors of a Twitter collapse following the layoffs and resignations of thousands of employees in recent weeks, some social media users are jumping to Mastodon.

Facebook and Instagram accounts are often targeted by hackers. Here are proactive and preventative steps to take right now to ensure your Meta profile stays yours.

Twitter is losing more employees a day after CEO Elon Musk gave them a deadline to choose to work “hardcore” or resign with severance pay.

When it comes to holiday gifting, we're all looking for bargain. Instead of hoping you spot the best deal, let tech do the work for you.

Google has announced new Google Maps features ahead of the holiday season. The search engine giant promoted the releases, including an accessibility function.

Taiwanese researchers found that Apple's AirPods Pro headphones could potentially be a hearing-assistive device for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss.

CommonSpirit Health is continuing to investigate a ransomware attack that forced the health system to shut down of its computer systems last month as a cautionary measure.

IPhone 14 users who are off the grid can now share their locations with friends and family — and emergency call centers — using the Apple Emergency SOS feature.

Just What Is A Carbohydrate Anyway?

Nutrition Nutrition