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What are
Carbohydrates ?
Carbohydrates are the principal source of energy for
the body. Foods we eat contain two types of carbohydrates
- simple and complex.
The simple or refined carbohydrates include : sugar white
flour, sweets, chocolates, cakes etc. and are poor in
fibre content. The complex or natural carbohydrate
include whole-grains, vegetables, beans and fruits and
are rich in fibre -content.Which
carbohydrate is better among the two? Kindly explain.
Upto the middle of 1900's about 40 percent of our
energy intake came from such fibre-rich natural
carbohydrates as vegetables, whole-grain, cereals and
fresh fruits. In those days, obesity was not so common.
Today, only about 20 percent of the average Indian's
daily energy intake comes from natural carbohydrates.
Fibre-rich carbohydrates have been replaced by refined
carbohydrates which are often enriched with sugar, salt
and fat. As a result, the incidence of obesity and
associated killer diseases has risen dramatically.
Because of this, the trend is now back to liberal use of
natural carbohydrates in a balanced diet. There are of
course, many good reason why you should eat generous
amount of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain
products.
In addition to being rich in stomach-filling bulk in the
form of water and fibre, natural carbohydrates are rich
in essential nutrients. Although carbohydrate foods do
not contain all the essential amino acids ( the building
blocks of protein) the protein they supply in a balanced
diet are enough to form a complete protein that reduced
your need for fat-rich animal protein.
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