Complex carbs

(David Cooke) #1

Over on Reddit I constantly come across people rooting for complex carbs. My impression is that ‘complex carbs’ just take longer to digest, so I guess slightly lowering the immediate effest of insulin spike? Any point in doing that>
thanks…

(Ethan) #2

It’s probably better to have complex carbs than simple ones to avoid spikes in glucose and insulin, but it’s ultimately the same area under the curve unless you are avoiding hypoglycemia

#3

Well it falls into about the food source and nutritional values also.

Like simple carbs we know is like eating junk, like a candy bar. Sugar laden to the ultimate and has really 0 real nutritional value hooked on it…while a complex carb, does have ‘some’ ‘so called nutritional value’ hooked on to it IF you belive in that ‘nutritional value’ they say it has LOL Like I am carnivore so that ‘fiber that is so needed’ is not needed by me but considered value in the eating lifestyles mostly mentioned but many foods can contain ‘simple and complex’ carbs so…what ya eating here?

from the net: just a blurb on it:
Simple carbohydrates (aka simple sugars) are broken down quickly by your body—they have just one or two sugar molecules linked together. Honey (fructose and glucose), table sugar (sucrose) and milk (lactose) all contain simple carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates have more nutrients and take longer for your body to digest, so they help fill you up and don’t cause the same swings in blood sugars as simple carbs. “Complex carbohydrates are larger molecules than simple carbohydrates,” says Molly Cleary, M.S., RD, a registered dietitian in New York City. “This means it takes our body longer to digest and absorb them.”

Grains, beans, fruits and vegetables (yes, even potatoes) all contain complex carbohydrates. Many carb foods have a mix of carbohydrates; for example, fruit contains natural fruit sugar (fructose, a simple carb) as well as dietary fiber (also a type of carb). The most healthful carbohydrates include unrefined plant foods that have low to no added sugars and are high in fiber—they are what we tend to call complex carbohydrates and what we could all use more of in our die

==I think alot of times it is more about people being nutritionally starved literally and yes blood sugar will spike fast on spooning in 1/4 cup of raw sugar into ya…but your body gets NO value also. Then put those carbs in that 1/4 cup of sugar against eating a salad with say, brocc or cauli and some meat protein etc and that roughage/meat fills ya up more, does give the body a few more nutrient intake etc and the body ‘feels more satisfied’ kinda so…we are what we eat :slight_smile:

#4

Simple carbs are the higher glycemic ones, better for bursts of energy, complex (slower) ones better for sustained energy, muscle glycogen replenishment etc. Those are the better/healthier ones.

Difference of Sugar, Cake & Jellybeans (or like the Dextrin I just put in my preworkout), vs oats and sweet potatoes. Both carbs, very different end result. It’s not good vs bad (hard to argue for the cake other than enjoyment of eating it) but different things for different purposes.

#5

It feels WAY better to me. I need a way bigger amount of it to feel a bit bad.
And it’s more proper food but nope, my proper food isn’t carby. Still better than eating simple sugars.

If one handles carbs better, both simple and complex sugars may come from perfectly fine food. Just like crappy food often contains simple and complex carbs alike. Even if simple sugars mean bad food with a greater percentage, probably.

#6

Fruits are mostly glucose and fructose, simple sugars galore. They have a smaller amount of saccharose if I remember right…
I would think sweet vegs contains simple sugars too. Grains and potatoes have starches. Unripe banana has starches and that becomes simple sugar later.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

Since all carbohydrates, except for certain sugars, are merely glucose molecules bonded together in different ways, it doesn’t seem that a low-insulin diet would benefit from all that glucose. The benefit, if any, from complex carbohydrates lies in the fibre, but if someone wants to remain in ketosis, even complex carbs need to be limited.