Carbohydrates Guide: Complex Carbs vs. Processed Sugars

Carbohydrates serve as an essential energy source, but processed versions can lead to inflammation and weight gain. Understanding the difference between complex carbs like oatmeal and simple sugars is key to metabolic health.

Young man reading newspaper eating bread and cheese

Is Eating Carbs REALLY Bad for Me?

I’m pretty sure carbs are trying to kill me. It’s not like they’re meeting in a diner and exchanging envelopes and calling each other later to say, “That thing? It’s done.

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Young woman drinking water after cycling

Healthy Alternatives to Gatorade

Sports drinks like Gatorade are designed to give you an [energy boost](https://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1011517-8-noncaffeine-ways-boost-energy/) before and during training or sporting competition and help you [recover afterward](https://www.livestrong.

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Overview

9 Tasty Tips for Cutting Carbs From Your Diet

Cutting back on carbs can help you lose weight, but that’s not to say you need to eliminate carbs completely. Instead, focus on carbs in nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, low-glycemic fruits like berries, dairy, nuts and in controlled portions of beans and grains.

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Healthy Super Food Collection

16 Diet-Friendly Healthful Carbs

Looking for boosted energy, mental sharpness, workout efficiency and/or weight control? Adding healthy carbs to your diet (in moderation) could help you achieve those goals. These nutritious carbohydrates contain fiber, which your digestive system works to break down before they can be absorbed.

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Overview

10 Convenient Low-Carb Snacks

You know a granola bar isn’t the most nutritious or weight-loss-friendly snack, but when you’re on the go, it’s a heck of a lot easier to eat than an egg omelet. Can a busy schedule and a low-carb diet really coexist?

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bottles in bucke

Carbohydrates in Food & Swelling

If you retain fluid after downing a sugar-laden soda or after a meal high in simple carbohydrates, you're not alone. A diet high in simple sugars can cause water retention, which leads to swelling, especially in your hands, fingers, legs, feet and face.

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Zucchini stuffed with vegetables

What Happens to Carbohydrates & Protein When Cooked?

Protein and carbohydrates are essential parts of a healthy diet. Protein helps supply you with energy and might help you maintain a healthy weight. Carbohydrates are also a source of energy and can supply important vitamins and minerals. Many foods that contain protein or carbohydrates are cooked before you eat them.

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Yellow Potatoes

What Are Two Major Kinds of Complex Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are one of the three essential macronutrients -- which include fat and protein -- and its primary role in your diet is to provide your body with energy. Carbohydrates are so important to your health that they should make up the bulk of your calorie intake, 40 to 60 percent.

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Baking background

What Is the Difference Between Carbohydrates and Gluten?

Carbohydrates and gluten often go hand in hand. Wheat-based flours are one of the most common ingredients used to make breads, cereals and other carb-rich foods, and gluten is a natural component of wheat. You'll also get gluten from foods made using rye and barley.

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Bread

Effects of Carbohydrates on Blastocystis

Blastocystis hominis is a parasite that can infect your intestines. The effect of this parasite on human health is still debated, according to the Mayo Clinic, because it appears to cause symptoms in some, but not all, people.

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Fresh organic yellow sweet corn on wooden table

What Kind of Carbohydrates Are in Corn?

Carbohydrates are your body's main source of energy, giving you fuel to exercise and perform daily tasks. The Institute of Medicine advises consuming 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories in the form of carbs. There are different types of carbs, which produce different effects in your body.

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Glucose model

The Difference Between L-Glucose & D-Glucose

The "D" and "L" specifications in the names of D-glucose and L-glucose are used to differentiate between two different shapes of the glucose molecule. D-glucose and L-glucose are enantiomers, meaning that their molecular structures are mirror images of each other.

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Perfect ingredients

3 Ways to Choose Beans for a Low-Carb Diet

On a low-carb diet, you might eat anywhere from 20 to 100 grams of carbs a day, depending on the plan. The results you want also figure in – you might be looking to lose weight, manage diabetes, or both.

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basket with fresh seasonal berries, top view

Low-Sugar Fruits

It’s always a good idea to keep track of the sugar in your diet, but when you decide to cut down on the amount you eat, don’t start by eliminating fruit. First purge added sugar you might get from baked goods, candy and sodas. Then, if necessary, you can choose fruits with less sugar.

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Man In The Gym Exercising Biceps With Barbell

How Much Sugar Per Day for Bodybuilding?

Sugar is everywhere in your diet, whether you recognize it or not. Some bodybuilders believe this is a good thing, especially during the bulking phase, as it is easily stored and adds calories to foods.

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Box of bananas

Should I Eat Bananas if I Want to Build Muscle?

One thing people often neglect to think about when planning a muscle-building diet is carbohydrate. As protein is the main building block of muscle tissue, it often takes center stage, but carbs are vital, too.

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dessert pineapple sliced on a wooden plate

Pineapples & Weight Loss

Some claim that pineapple can speed up your metabolism and boost fat loss. While there's nothing wrong with including pineapple in your weight-loss diet, this claim is overstated, and you need to be careful not to consume so much pineapple that you overshoot your daily calorie allowance.

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Raw chicken breast fillets on white dish.

Good vs. Bad Protein

Labeling foods as either "good" or "bad" might be a simple way to decide which foods are good for you. The problem with these labels is that they give a negative connotation to foods that can still be part of a healthy diet when enjoyed in moderation.

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