What are carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the main suppliers of energy for our body. This is because the conversion to energy is faster than fat.

They are divided into three groups:

Monosaccharide: glucose as grape sugar and fructose as fruit sugar and galactose.

Disaccharides: composed of two Monosaccharide’s, . sucrose (better known as sugar and composed of glucose and fructose), lactose (milk sugar, composed of glucose and galactose) and maltose (malt sugar, composed of two glucose units that are linked together).

Polysaccharides: also called complex carbohydrates, made up of multiple Monosaccharide’s. This form is better known under the name of starch.

Glucose is made in chlorophyll  from carbon dioxide and water

To free up energy incineration is necessary. The main fuel is glucose:

when glucose breaks down slowly you get less heat and more power output. Starch consists of a chain of glucose molecules and must first be broken down into maltose and glucose. Starch consists of a chain of glucose molecules and must first be broken down into maltose and glucose. In that process is in first instance converted into glycogen. Glycogen is a reserve substance and stored in the muscles and liver. It's important to make dosed glucose available from the glycogen storage

It is important that the glucose levels (more commonly known as blood sugar levels) in the blood remains approximately equal. Especially the brain is very sensitive to changes in the glucose content. You notice that the action of fatigue, confusion, and aggressiveness. In the science is this phenomenon called hypoglycemia.

Glycemic index

The glycemic index (GI) of a carbohydrate is a number that indicates how strong the glucose level in the blood goes up after eating  food. The lower the number the better.

High or Low glycemic

 Official site: Glycemic Index

Bad carbohydrates

Are all carbohydrates that are above the GI of 50. This includes:

* all refined flour

* sugar

* honey

* milk chocolate

* some sweeteners

* dextrose

* corn

* cooked carrots

* beetroot

* potatoes

* rutabaga.

Good carbohydrates
Are not so strongly absorbed by the body and thus have a weak increase in blood glucose results. Good carbohydrates are:

* whole wheat bread,

* rye bread,

* milk products,

* fructose (fruit sugar)

* apples

* oranges

* strawberries

* nuts

* olives

* pulses (no beans)

* mushrooms