Let me tell you that more and more scientific evidence is showing that if you will stay healthy such foods as yams, potatoes, brown rice- local rice, less processed rice-(ofada), beans and good whole grain bread are very important. These foods listed are principally carbohydrates. Why are carbohydrates having a bad name among some health enthusiasts today? Carbohydrates are complex sugar. Why is sugar a big problem today? We are told that sugar consumption has more than tripled during the last fifty years, that Nigeria consumes 66% of the total amount of sugar eaten in developing countries. How about bread? Is it still the staff of life.
Carbohydrates are the sugars and starches in the foods we eat. Many people do not understand the relationship between sugars and starches and this can be made worse when such terms as simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates are introduced.
To make it simple- simple carbohydrates are the sugars, and complex carbohydrates are the starches. All carbohydrates, that is, the sugars and the starches are broken down by the digestive tract and end up as glucose. It is this glucose that the blood absorbs from the intestines and is used for energy (fuel). Complex carbohydrates are almost exclusively found only in plants- grains, yams, beans, potatoes and vegetables. And from foods made from them such as bread.
The sugars-simple carbohydrates- are digested quickly and unless there’s fiber with such items they enter the blood stream within few minutes. This results in a quick rise in blood sugar, followed by an energy surge. But this excess flooding causes the pancreas to overreact, sending out plenty of insulin that brings the blood sugar back and also drops it too low. Then follows an energy dip, with feeling of faintness or shakiness. The common reaction is to grab a snack or soft drink to straighten out the problem and it can become a vicious cycle.
A vicious cycle - this is a chain of events in which the response to one difficulty creates a new problem that aggravates the original difficulty. In this case, taking refined sugar of a diet high in refined carbohydrates with no fiber results in energy surge, loading blood with high sugar, the body gets rid of the excess, followed by a dip, feeling hungry and faint, then going for another high sugar food and the circle is repeated.
It is far better to eat fruits like mango or bananas or vegetables like carrots or cucumbers when such dip occurs. When eaten in their natural forms all carbohydrates contain a good amount of different kinds of fiber. Most fibers are the skin of the fruits, vegetables, the grains etc. Some fibers do not digest but rather absorb water and form a soft mass in the intestines that acts to slow down the rate of sugar absorption.
One can also eat more unrefined complex carbohydrates, or starches. Examples are eating your grains such as corn, guinea corn without removing the skin. Not removing the skin of your beans to make “moi moi.” Eating your orange instead of just sucking the juice. These are very complex molecules. They are much larger than sugar molecules and take considerable longer to digest. Therefore, they don’t push up the blood sugar level as quickly. The fiber content of most unrefined foods is an additional help in leveling out the rates of digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Some believe starches- these foods I have mentioned will make them fat compared with other foods.
It is fat that is the most fattening food. A gram of fat carries nine calories, while a gram of carbohydrate carries only four calories. Almost all the fat we eat goes right into the fat stores of the body. It is over processing and refining of carbohydrates that results in health problems. When all fiber is removed from carbohydrates there is less volume but the caloric concentration goes up. It’s this caloric density that makes it easy to eat too many calories. If carbohydrates are eaten along with the fiber you can eat more food yet take fewer calories. Let me illustrate with this; when I was growing up my brother will compress a whole loaf of white bread that my mother intended to share among several of us in order to show her that it was too small. Therefore, he would request to take much more. But whole grain cannot be so squeezed up, therefore you wouldn't eat as much calories but yet you would be satisfied. Food deprived of its fiber will be eaten in greater quantity and that’s why weight gain becomes a problem.
So, eat brown rice, beans, yams, potatoes, guinea corn, and millet , these will fill your stomach to satisfaction without congesting the body with calories. Adding fruits of different kinds to your grains for breakfast and vegetables, especially raw vegetables with your lunch makes it impossible to eat to gain too much weight. Do not eat fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Also when carbohydrates are highly refined they come with lots of fats. Most refined carbohydrates are fried for instance. What you spread on the bread is what makes the bread fattening. It is when you add a lot of fat to these foods that problems happen. But when eaten in their simple form you will eat enough to provide more consistent energy and increased endurance. This will keep your arteries clean and you will pay less for food.
Your choice of bread is important.
Truly healthy bread comes from ground-up whole grains, with the bran, germ and endosperm present. The nutrient in such bread is 3 to four times as in the flour that has been processed to white flour. Some add colours to the white flour. So ask what is used for the bread. But the weight of the bread can be used to know if the bread is whole grain or not. Whole-wheat flours have a balance of starch, protein, natural fats and fiber besides being laden with vitamins and minerals
There is no food in nature that contains only one food element. Yes, in this article the focus is on carbohydrate but proteins and other food elements are present. The one thing that causes trouble is when carbohydrate is taken as refined sugar. And who sits down, takes a spoon and eats white refined sugar till he is full? That would be very strange. I will discuss more on protein in another article. Just to mention that it is a misconception to think that you need more protein than carbohydrate. Of course everybody needs protein but not so much as many are advocating. The human adult needs just about 30-56 grams daily. About what is in 4-5 slices of whole wheat bread. Carbohydrates are the fuel for the body. This is what keeps the body running very smoothly.
I mentioned earlier as I began that Nigerians consume a third of the sugar consumed in developing countries. Where is the sugar found? You probably wonder too as I do.
You don’t see most of the sugar you consume. They are hidden in places like soft drinks, ready-to-eat cereals, snacks, cakes, pies, ice cream, yogurt and canned foods.
Soft drinks affect the body adversely.