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.
Food labels often offer up a sea of unpronouncable words. Maltodextrin and dextrose are two that may give you pause, but both are ingredients derived from natural sources, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration categorizes them as "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS.
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Carbohydrates serve as a great source of fuel, so they can power your active lifestyle. Eating too many carbs though, especially in refined foods such as sugar and white bread, can cause wild shifts in your blood sugar levels.
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The Institute of Medicine suggests you consume 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates. On a standard 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, this amounts to 225 to 325 grams every day. Dip below this level and you may be deficient in carbohydrates.
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Indian cuisine uses sour, sweet, spicy and hot flavors to create rich, luscious dishes that are often sopped up with flavorful rice or toasty naan. Tandoori, curries and dal make your mouth water, but you wonder what they do to your carb intake.
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A low-carb diet limits your daily carbohydrate consumption to fewer than 150 grams. Some very low-carb plans limit you to fewer than 30 grams per day. Usually, starchy and sweet foods, such as graham crackers, are off the menu. Foods good for low-carb diets include proteins, healthy fats and watery, fibrous vegetables.
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Carbs provide your body with fuel so you can lift weights and build muscle. Big servings of white bread, pasta and breakfast cereal aren't required for you to gain lean mass, though. A moderately low-carb diet that contains small servings of whole grains and starchy vegetables promotes muscle growth, too.
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Saltine, or soda, crackers are traditionally made with a dough of white flour, yeast, shortening, baking soda and salt. These ingredients offer little in the way of vitamins and minerals. Saltines are mostly refined carbohydrates, which makes them good for soaking up soup, but not so good for a healthy diet.
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Taco fillings such as ground beef, cheese, sour cream and shredded lettuce are low-carb dieting staples, but the shell raises the carb count of this tasty treat. You could always go sans shell to save carbohydrates, but then your taco is just a salad.
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Breakfast can easily turn into a carb fest if you enjoy pancakes, French toast, danishes and doughnuts. Even if you reach for fairly healthy choices, such as oatmeal, whole-grain toast and fruit smoothies, you'll take in a substantial number of carb grams.
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Carbohydrates come in three different forms: sugars, starches and fibers. When a food label lists total carbohydrates, it includes all of these three. Starch is a type of carbohydrate -- primarily found in starchy vegetables like potatoes and winter squash, grain products and dried beans and legumes.
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When you're watching your waistline, look for snacks high in protein and low in fat. Women who consume high-protein snacks, as compared to high-fat snacks, feel more satisfied, less hungry and eat fewer calories all day long, reported a 2014 study published in the Journal of Nutrition.
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If you reflexively order a large popcorn whenever you head to the movies, a low-carb diet might throw off your routine. Popcorn contains carbohydrates and could negatively affect your count for the day.
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When you're on a low-carb diet, you're generally limited to 20 to 150 grams per day of net carbs -- total carbs minus fiber. Pasta, which has 30 grams of net carbs per cup, is usually off the menu.
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When you're on an extremely low-carb diet that permits just 20 to 30 grams of carbs per day, all fruit is usually off the menu. It's still limited on a moderate low-carb diet because fruit contains natural sugars that boost its carbohydrate content.
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Not all comfort foods are off the menu when you're on a low-carb plan. You may have to pass on macaroni and cheese and lasagna, but a slab of homemade meatloaf fits into your diet when you make the right tweaks to the recipe.
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