| There are 2 types of carbohydrates. Complex | | | | - Navy beans |
| carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates. | | | | - Garbanzo beans |
| Carbohydrates are considered simple or complex | | | | - Brussels |
| based upon their chemical structure. So what are | | | | - Sprouts |
| complex carbohydrates, or some call them | | | | - Cauliflower |
| starch? | | | | - Kidney beans |
| Complex Carbohydrates | | | | - Eggplant |
| They are simply sugars bonded together to form | | | | - Soy milk |
| a chain. Because of it's complex chain form, your | | | | - Lentils |
| digestive enzymes have to work much harder to | | | | - Onions |
| access the bonds to break the chain into individual | | | | - Whole meal bread |
| sugars for absorption through the intestines. | | | | - Split peas |
| Because of that, the digestion of complex | | | | Complex Carbohydrates |
| carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption | | | | Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly. Many |
| of sugars provides you with a steady supply of | | | | simple carbohydrates contain refined sugars and |
| energy and limits the amount of sugar converted | | | | few essential vitamins and minerals. People usually |
| into fat and stored! | | | | consider these as bad carbohydrates. |
| Usually people consider complex carbohydrates as | | | | Why bad? |
| good carbohydrates. | | | | These simple carbohydrates are actually smaller |
| Here's a list of complex carbohydrates foods. | | | | molecules of sugar unlike the long chains in |
| - Spinach | | | | complex carbohydrates. |
| - Whole Barley | | | | They are digested quickly because the individual |
| - Grapefruit | | | | sugars are ready to be absorbed immediately plus |
| - Turnip Greens | | | | digestive enzymes have easy access to the |
| - Buckwheat | | | | bonds in the paired molecules. |
| - Apples | | | | You could say most of the work has been done |
| - Lettuce | | | | for the digestive system! Foods like cake, pastry, |
| - Buckwheat bread | | | | biscuits, chocolate, etc (you get the idea) contain |
| - Prunes | | | | lots of "empty" calories. |
| - Water Cress | | | | Because our cells usually do not require that |
| - Oat bran bread | | | | amount of energy at that time of eating, the |
| - Dried apricots | | | | sugar must either be converted to glycogen |
| - Zucchini | | | | (sugar storage within cells) or converted to fat. |
| - Oatmeal | | | | Your body cells can only store a limited amount |
| - Pears | | | | of glycogen, so in many common cases, taking |
| - Asparagus | | | | too much food that contains simple carbohydrates |
| - Oat bran cereal | | | | may contribute to body fat stores. |
| - Plums | | | | Here's a list of simple carbohydrates foods. |
| - Artichokes | | | | - Table sugar |
| - Museli | | | | - Corn syrup |
| - Strawberries | | | | - Fruit juice |
| - Okra | | | | - Candy |
| - Wild rice | | | | - Cake |
| - Oranges | | | | - Bread made with white flour |
| - Cabbage | | | | - Pasta made with white flour |
| - Brown rice | | | | - Soda pop |
| - Yams | | | | - Candy |
| - Celery | | | | - All baked goods made with white flour |
| - Multi-grain bread | | | | - Most packaged cereals |
| - Carrots | | | | - Honey |
| - Cucumbers | | | | - Milk |
| - Pinto beans | | | | - Yoghurt |
| - Potatoes | | | | - Jam |
| - Dill Pickles | | | | - Chocolate |
| - Low fat yogurt | | | | - Biscuit |
| - Soybeans | | | | There are a lot more foods that contains simple |
| - Radishes | | | | and complex carbohydrates. You can using the list |
| - Skim milk | | | | above as a starting point for a healthier diet |
| - Lentils | | | | immediately. |
| - Broccoli | | | | |