Simple Carbohydrates
There are two types of carbohydrates: simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. We will be discussing simple carbohydrates in this post.
Simple carbohydrates are sugars composed of a single sugar molecule (monosaccharide) or two joined sugar molecules (a disaccharide), such as glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose.
Simple carbohydrates include sugars found naturally in foods such as fruits, vegetables milk, and milk products.
Simple carbohydrates also include sugars added during food processing and refining. Sugars have been added to foods such as cake, cookies, pastry, candies, sweetened gum, sweetened sodas, and muffins. In general, foods with added sugars have fewer nutrients than foods with naturally-occurring sugars.
You should limit foods with added sugars. You can tell if a food has added sugars by looking at the ingredients list on the package. Look for terms such as:
- Brown sugar
- Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
- Corn sweetener
- Corn syrup
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Malt syrup
- Raw sugar
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Syrup
Healthy carbohydrates include:
- Natural sugars in fruits, vegetables, milk, and milk products.
- Dietary fiber.
- Starches in whole-grain foods, beans, peas, and corn.