Natural Carbohydrates vs. Refined Carbohydrates

Posted by tim on May 28th, 2007 at 07:46am

The most significant indicator of a good carbohydrate is whether it is natural or refined.

Refined carbohydrates loses their complexity when they are processed and refined. Products made from refined carbohydrates like flour and sugar are not a recommended addition to your nutrition program because it does not have the important nutrients anymore which have been sacrificed for the sake of aesthetic appeal.

An example of a food item you have to be on the lookout for are fat free foods. Although the best way to lose weight is to reduce fat and sugar intake, fat free foods do not fulfill this role. Many fat-free foods are almost 100% refined sugar. Refined sugars are considered as bad carbohydrates, worse than fat!

Any type of processed food is bad news! They are the number cause of poor health and obesity than any other single factor.

Beware of Refined Sugars

Not all low fat or fat free food is good for your health because there is a very high possibility that it contains high quantity of refined sugars. It is improbable to completely eliminate refined sugar from your nutrition program because there are small amounts of refined sugar like nonfat salad dressings, sauces, cold cuts including whole wheat bread and whole grain cereals. The better option is to cut down as much as possible on your refined sugar intake by eliminating obvious sources such as candy, chocolate, ice cream, pastries, cookies and cakes.

To make sure the foods you eat (especially supermarket foods) do not contain refined sugar, always check the ingredients list. Keep note however that refined sugar can also be listed as high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, sucrose, glucose syrup, brown sugar or invert sugar.

Always check out a product’s ingredient list verify the different ingredients it contains since product labeling laws require that ingredients be listed in the order of their precedence.

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