Are carbohydrates that bad?
In this article, complex carbohydrates and starch mean the same; the two words will, therefore, be used interchangeably.
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It is very common on many lips the fact that starchy foods cause weight gain. For this reason, some people do not want to eat them. It is very common to see such people eating only vegetable salads or drinking blended vegetables so they can lose weight and stay healthy.
These same people will eat only fruits, say; half of a large watermelon, as lunch. They do not know that watermelon and other fruits are also full of sugar which is also starch or carbohydrate.
Carbohydrates are also just a food group that has to be included in a healthy meal. Without them, one cannot compose a healthy meal.
The World Health Organization advises that these foods (carbohydrate or starch) contribute up to 55 per cent to the energy that a plate of food delivers to us. About 30 per cent must come from fats and oils and 15 per cent from protein foods.
We have three broad classes of starchy foods. These are indigestible, complex and simple starches. The indigestible starches cannot be digested by humans, but they are essential for good health.
These are also known as fibre or roughage. We get these starches or roughage from leafy foods (kontonmire, okro, cabbage, etc.), vegetables (okro, garden eggs, onions, spring onions, green pepper, etc.), legumes (beans, groundnut, etc.), we get them from fruits as well (mango, orange, pineapple, pawpaw, etc.), we also get them from complex carbohydrate sources.
The complex carbohydrates are largely digestible by humans, the end product of their digestion are the simple carbohydrates. Examples of complex carbohydrates are rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, yam, plantain, cassava, potatoes, etc.
Simple carbohydrates include glucose, fructose, etc. These need no digestion. In fact, they are just ready for absorption into the blood once taken in.
Glucose mostly results from complex starch digestion. Fructose occurs naturally in fruits. Another simple starch called galactose results from the breakdown of the starch in milk called lactose.
In the end, all complex starches are broken down into simple ones. They are the forms in which starchy foods energise the body. It is in this form that even the human brain uses starches for energy.
Apart from the indigestible starches or roughage, all other types have to be eaten in moderation. One can hardly compose a healthy well-balanced meal without these starchy foods.
Once eaten in moderation, complex starches will be broken down to energise the body for its activities. If these complex starches are fried, they contain more energy than when they are boiled or roasted.
It is, therefore, better to consume less of the fried ones. Eat them boiled more of the time.
Once boiled, combine them with vegetable stews and soups like kontonmire stew, garden egg stew, okro soup, among others. These stews and soups should however not be full of oil.
Table sugar as a simple starch should also be consumed in moderation. Sugar comes in different forms and colours. We have the usual white sugar, a type many people will shy away from. There is also brown sugar.
A lot of people have now switched to brown sugar. This is not a wrong move at all but I want all to know that there is very little difference if any between the two.
In the end, they both give us glucose in similar quantities if same amounts are consumed. The safest thing to do is to have them both in moderation. Also be mindful of white sugar which has been coloured brown.
Honey also contains sugar. Those who have decided to take honey and not sugar anymore must take note. Taking it in small quantities is just fine. Do not see it as natural sugar and drink so much.