Carbohydrates of Food?

How do you figure out which type of food has a good source of carbohydrates? Are foods with a lot of carbohydrates better for you than foods with small amounts of carbohydrates?

You have to find the good carbs versus the bad carbs. Good carbs are simple sugars (such as are found in fruits, some vegetables, and brown rice for example). Bad carbs are refined sugars (soda, candy, white rice, bread, etc).

There are books available that discuss glycemic index diets...get one and study the list of good versus bad carbs.

BTW, your body NEEDS some carbs in order to function properly....carbs are converted to energy that your muscles use, so cutting out ALL carbs is not the way to go.

First off, whole foods will always outperform processed and refined foods.

Apple slices are still a "whole food" by the way. What make it whole is that it is still in its natural, unprocessed state.

When comparing whole foods, temperate fruits always provide a better source of low glycemic carbs than tropical fruits. Tropical fruits tend to be very high glycemic so if you're watching out for such things stick to grapes, apples and other fruits that grow in Northern climates.

Vegetables and root vegetables tend to also out perform any processed food but large Russet potatoes convert to glucose very, very quickly. The red potatoes, which have a lower starch level, convert more slowly.

According to Dr Andrew Weil, eating a high glycemic food with a low glycemic food can have a balancing effect. It's best to not eat the high glycemic foods at all if you have blood glucose concerns, but for example pancakes with a large helping of fresh berries would yield a lower glycemic response than the pancakes by themselves. A berry compote, loaded with sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup is probably not good though. ;-)

Oh and "Are You Serious" is 100% right. Totally cutting carbs from your diet is the single dumbest idea any human has ever come up with. Where she is wrong is that bad carbs are simple sugars too. It's about the processing and also the starch availability which impacts blood glucose levels in a negative way.

The fist answer is not quite right. While the example are correct, what you need is complex carbs found in fruits and whole grains. Whereas, simple carbs are not good for you coz they gets absorbed to you body too quickly and gives a sugar surge! So avoid stuff like pop, sugary sweet etc.

If at one point, it was growing out of the ground, it's a good carbohydrate.

If your goal is to lose weight - sticking with healthier (lower glycemic index) carbs is a better choice.

I'm a triathlete - and when I first started training, I was on Atkins. Almost everything I read said that I couldn't DO triathlons on a low carb diet plan. So, I changed the way I was eating, and started eating more carbs - to be specific, more high glycemic carbs - such as Gu Gels, Spaghetti, etc.

I felt like total crap.

Even with my training (swimming, biking and running) I was gaining weight.

I decided to rethink the whole low carb thing - and in the end - went back to what I knew worked for me best.

If it was a plant, or came off of a plant (except for fruits)- I eat it almost without limits. Green veggies, carrots, tomatoes - lots and lots of veggies! Fruits I limit a bit - sticking with berries and melons.

I eat protiens - pretty much anything that was walking or swimming around.

If something has to be refined, super processed, etc - I stay away from it. The nutrients are gone, and it's just 'filler'.

Good luck!

www.fitday.com is a great (free) website to track your calories/fat/carbs/etc - everything.