Simple vs. Complex Carbs: What's the Difference?
In general, when we think of carbohydrates, we tend to consider them as something we should cut back or cut out completely from our diet - especially if we are looking to slim down or ‘eat healthier’.
Here is the reality: whatever food groups you cut out, you are going to have a deficit, and carbohydrates - the good, healthy ones, are something your body depends on to function normally.
Why our body needs carbohydrates?
YOUR BRAIN NEEDS CARBOHYDRATES TO WORK
Your brain runs on glucose and if you don’t take in enough, your thinking processes can be impaired. You’ll have difficulties learning and memorizing because the neurotransmitters in your brain won’t have enough glucose ( = energy ) to synthesize properly.
GOOD CARBOHYDRATES REDUCE BLOATING
Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains contain fiber which ensures your bowel movement is regulating properly and that means you feel less bloated and lethargic since your body moves waste products more efficiently out of the body.
CARBOHYDRATES PROTECT PROTEIN IN THE BODY
If the body has no supply of good carbohydrates it looks for other sources including fats and protein. This occurs during low carbohydrate diets. As I described in one of my recent Instagram posts, fat is the least effective energy source and protein had a lot to do. It means that your body is not using the protein and fats in the right way - such as muscle building, metabolism regulation from fats, and much more.
FIRST SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR YOUR BODY
Good carbs will be protecting your muscles as the first source of energy for your body. Without carbohydrates, our body will switch to using protein from the muscles - this results in a sluggish metabolism and a slow, effective way to gain weight since our body will effectively eat its own muscle mass!
All training with weights as well as cardio will be ineffective and you’ll be left wondering why you’re exercising so hard with no muscle gain to show for it, why you have no energy and why does your skin looks grey whilst you’re feeling tired and sleepy 💤
To summarise, the good, real carbs play an important role in your body. They are a great source of energy and support proteins and fats that our body needs for so many processes. On top of that, they’re providing nutrients for the gut bacteria in our intestines that help us digest food.
what’s the difference between the good and the bad carbs?
SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES AKA “The Bad”
These are quickly digested by the body and cause your insulin levels to rise and fall suddenly leaving you depleted and craving more.
Products full of simple carbohydrates will usually have ingredients such as fructose, dextrose, and maltose - the higher up they appear in the list, the more added sugar the food has.
Refined sugar in the form of white bread, cereals, sweets, milk chocolate bars, desserts, and white processed products are not in fact real carbohydrates - they have much less nutritious components than the wholesome complex carbs.
Simple “bad” carbs can lead to weight gain, diabetes, PCOS, and many other health issues.
COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES aka “The Good”
These carbs are broken down by the body more slowly.
Complex carbs are still turned into glucose and used by the body and brain for energy in the form of sugar, but at a much slower rate so you don’t get the same massive and sudden sugar spikes as in the case of the simple ‘BAD’ carbohydrates.
Sugars in simple carbohydrates are referred to as ‘simple sugars’. This means that the sugar occurs naturally in fruits vegetables and other real food choices. These are the correct choices.
Why are they “GOOD” for you?
Complex carbs contain fiber that can’t be absorbed by the body so instead, it passes through your small intestines where it helps bulk up and soften the stool.
Providing regular doses of complex carbohydrates can also provide nourishment for your microbiome - the home of trillions of tiny, friendly microbes that live in your large intestine.
Once the fiber coming from complex carbohydrates has been reduced to chemicals, it reduces inflammation and actually lowers your blood sugars.
You’ll notice how your appetite decreases after having a meal rich with fiber since it keeps you full for longer. Complex carbohydrates are an essential part of the food chain.
Complex carbs contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and there is evidence that those who eat healthy carbohydrates in the form of quinoa, brown rice, potatoes with the skin on, oats, wholegrain, legumes, vegetables, and fruit have a lower risk of obesity, reduced cholesterol, and better insulin protection.
When you check product labels to learn about carbohydrates it contains, pay close attention to these three things:
Grams of total carbs per serving (you need to identify the serving size for any particular ingredient).
Grams of fiber per serving.
The ingredient list.
The total carbohydrate tells us how many grams of carbohydrate are in one serving, but bear in mind that there may be more than one serving size in the package!
Some healthy suggestions for complex carbohydrates:
Acorn squash
Amaranth
Black beans
Buckwheat
Butter beans
Butternut squash
Farro
Chickpeas
Lentils
Quinoa
Brown, read or wild rice
Split peas
Wholegrain
Remember that vegetables and fruits, especially fruits with skin on, still contain simple carbohydrates but also have a lot of fiber, proteins, vitamins, and minerals which makes them nutrient-dense foods that can be eaten. My only suggestion is to eat a bigger portion of vegetables than fruits per day though.
Thanks for reading today’s blog! Please leave me a comment on Instagram if you enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions for my future posts - I’d love to hear from you!
Today’s bonus is a very simple yet delicious recipe for a cauliflower pizza with pesto and roasted veggies.
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