What is a Carbohydrate?

• Carbs can be found in all six categories of foods. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that grains, vegetables, fruits, and milk all contain some type of carbohydrate. There are two different types of carbs: Complex carbohydrates, and simplecarbohydrates.
  
  

Complex Carbs

• Complex carbs provide your body with a healthy dose of fiber, and are broken down into glucose at a slow rate. There is sugar in complex carbohydrates, just as there is sugar in simple carbohydrates. However the sugar is natural, and is delivered, in the form of glucose), slowly to the blood. Three or so oz., or about the equivalent of three slices of whole grain bread, is the amount recommended for a healthy adult each day. Complex carbs are found in whole grain bread or pasta products, legumes, brown rice products, and oatmeal.
  
  

Simple Carbs

• Simple carbohydrates include sugar found naturally in fruits, vegetables, and milk. However simple carbohydrates are also products that contain refined sugar. .
  
  

Not All Simple Carbs are Created Equal

• While some simple carbohydrates are OK to eat, such as those found naturally in fruit, vegetables, and milk, other simple carbs--the simple carbs added as sweeteners--should be avoided. High fructose corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, and sucrose are all no-no's, and will stand out in an ingredients list. The problem is the body delivers these sugars to the blood quickly, and the body can't readily use them all so it stores them as fat
  
  

The Bottom Line

• If you choose a low-carb diet lifestyle, try to avoid white food such as white bread, white rice, or plain pasta, and avoid packaged foods. Packaged foods almost always contain some type of unnecessary sweetener, and after a while, will pack on the pounds.