What Are Carbs Really, and What Do They Do for Your Body?
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Loading... - Hamia Messaoudi
- 08 Aug 2022
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You’ve definitely heard the term “carbs” before—okay, like a lot, maybe to the point that you’re sick of hearing about them. But what are carbs, really? And what’s the best way to incorporate them into your diet?
These questions might seem relatively straightforward, but for many people, they can become pretty loaded. That’s because, like many things in the world of nutrition, there has been a lot of controversy (and misconceptions) around carbs.
Carbohydrates have gone through quite the epic journey in the public eye. In 1992, Food Pyramid debuted with bread, cereal, crackers, rice, and pasta at the bottom, suggesting that these high-carb foods should be the most prevalent items in your daily diet (while fats, for instance, should be limited). But just over a decade later, opinions shifted: The Atkins Diet and other low-carb diets surged in popularity, making health-conscious consumers believe that carbs were something that should be limited or even avoided.
Fast forward to today and carbs still get a bad rap in some circles. Some very popular eating plans, like the keto diet, are based on a philosophy of limiting carbs. But others, like vegan diets or the Mediterranean diet, include plenty of them.
So it’s common to feel a bit perplexed about where things stand with carbs, especially when we add specifics to the mix—like the types of carbs, such as refined and complex—as descriptors to consider. (Not to mention, when people waaay oversimplify things and put carbs into two opposing groups: good or bad.) The short answer? Most experts recommend eating plenty of them, especially if you’re active.
As for how carbohydrates function in your body, why you should eat them, how many carbs per day you may want to eat, and how to incorporate plenty of healthy carbs into your diet? Read on to find the longer, juicier, science-backed answers to all your carb-y questions.
What are carbohydrates, really?
Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients (along with fat and protein) that our bodies use for energy—each gram of carbs provides four calories for your body’s fuel. All carbs are sugar molecules, and they come in two main types of carbohydrates: simple carbs and complex carbs.
What are simple carbohydrates? Simple carbs include the simple sugars with the most basic molecular structures: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Some examples include fructose (found in fruit), lactose (found in milk), and sucrose (found in table sugar).
And what are complex carbohydrates? Complex carbs, which are three or more simple sugars bonded together, have more complex molecular structures. They include starches (found in whole grains like wheat and potatoes) and fibers (found in vegetables, seeds, and brown rice). When whole grains are processed and stripped of their outer shell, or bran, they are known as refined grains. These refined carbs, like white rice and white flour, tend to act more like simple carbs in your body (more on that below).
There are two types of fiber: Insoluble fibers, which get their name because they don’t dissolve in water, help food move through your system faster. That’s why they are famous for keeping your bowel movements regular. Soluble fibers dissolve in water and turn into gels as you digest them, and some types have been linked to a reduction in heart disease risk. They can also make your poop softer and easier to pass.
Which foods are carbs?
“Any plant-based food is a carbohydrate,” Bridget Hussain, MS, RDN, CDN, a clinical dietitian at Langone Medical Center, tells SELF. “So all of our fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, even our peanut butter—they all have carbohydrates in them.” So do sugary processed foods, like muffins or cookies.
When a food is made up mostly of carbs or highest in carbs out of the three macronutrients—as opposed to fat or protein—we call it a carb. So the answer to the question of which foods are carbs is a whole lot of them! And even though we slap the label “carbs” on all these foods, that doesn’t mean they necessarily resemble each other very much.
A lot of the most healthy high-carb foods—like complex carbs—aren’t made purely of carbs. Fresh fruits and vegetables, for example, contain lots of water (a raw tomato, about 95%; a raw banana, about 75%; carrots, about 88%. Whole grains, even before they’re cooked, contain some water and other macronutrients. (Uncooked barley, for example, is about 10% water and 9% protein.) And legumes have some protein too. (Dry black beans are about 24% protein.) All these foods also contain some micronutrients like vitamins and minerals as well.
Now, if you’re downing a spoonful of sugar, then you are actually eating literally 100% carbs. And foods composed mainly of added sugars and other simple carbs, like fruit juice and jam, tend to be virtually straight-up carbs too. For example, gumdrops, hard candy, jellybeans, licorice, and Skittles are all more than 90% carbs. A few other processed foods, like dried apples, cornstarch, and cereals (including frosted rice and frosted corn flakes) are similarly carb-rich as well.
What do carbohydrates do in your body when you eat them?
To put it simply, carbohydrates function like a fast source of fuel you—here’s how. Your body breaks carbs down into the simple sugar glucose. Glucose is a carbohydrate and your body’s main energy source that you either burn during physical activity or store in muscles or fat for later use.
Compared with protein and fat, carbs break down more easily into glucose, Hussain says. This allows carbs to be used quickly as a source of energy, like when you’re exercising.
You start digesting carbs as soon as you put them in your mouth. The process continues as food travels down your esophagus and into your stomach and intestines, where the carbs break down further into simpler components. (The process is easier and quicker for simple carbs than complex carbs, Hussain says.) Then your body absorbs the simple sugars, which make their way to your bloodstream. This glucose in your blood, commonly known as blood sugar, then travels throughout your body through circulation to supply energy to your tissues.
All carbohydrates provide energy when they’re digested, but they affect the body in different ways. For instance, because you digest simple carbs faster than complex carbs, they can contribute to quick spikes in your blood sugar, Hussain says. In some cases that’s an advantage—say, if you’re exercising long and hard and you need easy fuel fast. But if you consistently take in lots of simple carbs (not related to exercise), that can lead to chronic levels of higher blood sugar, which can be hard for our bodies to move out of the bloodstream, Hussain says. Blood sugar is essential, but when it is elevated consistently for prolonged periods of time, it can raise your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Plus, if you eat simple carbs by themselves (say, not with fat, protein, or complex carbs), you tend to get hungrier quicker and not stay satisfied for as long.
Complex carbs like fiber, though, can be a more filling choice because your body can’t really digest them—most of it passes through your digestive system. Plus, fiber slows down the movement of food through your system, improving satiety. When you eat carbs with fiber, “your blood sugar won’t spike as quickly because it’s not releasing and dumping all at once,” Hussain says. “It’s gradually releasing out to the bloodstream.” Read More...
