Carbohydrates are a vital part of the human diet - they are our primary source of energy, and in their natural state they are turned into glucose to provide fuel for all the organs of the body.
THERE ARE THREE MAIN TYPES OF CARBOHYDRATES:
1. Simple sugars, or monosaccharides: glucose (blood sugar), and fructose (fruit sugar)
2. Double sugars, or disaccharides: lactose (milk sugar)
3. Complex carbohydrates, or polysaccharides: starches and cellulose (potatoes, rice, grains and dietary fibre).
The simplest carbohydrate of them all is glucose, which is assimilated immediately by the body. The more complex the carbohydrate's structure, the longer it takes the body to convert it into energy - so 'complex' carbohydrates are the slow burners, because they are higher in more complicated sugars and fibre and thus take longer to break down into energy-giving glucose.
So why are carbs the bad guys?
Even though carbohydrates are a vital component of our overall health, there are certain carbs that serve no nutritional purpose whatsoever, and can even cause us harm if consumed too regularly and in large proportions. They are also the main contributors to the escalating obesity problem. So who are these enemies of our health and weight? They are known as refined carbohydrates.
The problems started the minute we began to process our food and strip out the fibre and nutrients from flour and sugar, to make them look appealingly white. In so doing, we made them nutritionally redundant. Food processing removes magnesium, zinc and chromium from flour and sugar - the three minerals that the body needs to metabolize carbohydrates properly. It also drastically reduces vitamins B1, B2, B3, calcium and iron.
Junk foods made up of refined flour and sugar, plus nutritionally empty processed fats, colourings, flavourings and preservatives, make up 75 per cent of many people's diets. These so-called 'convenience foods' are 'empty' calories, which hurtle into the bloodstream, play havoc with insulin and blood- sugar levels and actually deplete the body of essential vitamins and minerals that are needed to perform other important bodily functions. Processed foods have also been stripped of their fibre content, which is essential for controlling insulin production and protecting the body against diseases such as diverticulitis and colon cancer.