A Simple Guide to Complex Carbohydrates
A Simple Guide to Complex Carbohydrates
Here is a dietary guide to the good carbohydrates.
Potatoes. As they come from the ground, potatoes are relatively low in calories (150 for a large baking potato) and high in nutrients, including some protein. An adult could derive nearly all needed nutrients from potatoes. Baked, steamed, or boiled, they are an excellent food. But a single pat of butter or margarine increases the calorie content of a medium-sized potato by a third.
Deep-frying destroys some vitamins and adds astronomically to calories. Of the calories in french fries, 70 percent are from fat. Potato chips are also mostly fat (and high in salt) – 150 calories per ounce, 90 of them from fat. About nine chips add up to 100 calories.
Flours. Grains consist of three parts: the starchy endosperm containing the nutrients needed to sustain a seedling, including 70 percent of the kernel’s protein; the vitamin-rich germ, which will form the first leaves and roots; and the bran, the protective outer coat that provides undigestible roughage for the human diet.
Milling techniques used in the United States to produce white flour remove the bran and germ, leaving mostly starch behind. In enriched flours, only four of the twentysix removed nutrients and none of the fiber are added back. Bleaching of flour destroys all the vitamin E. Whole wheat flour (particularly if stone-ground) retains most of the original nutrients and has more B vitamins, vitamin E, and trace nutrients such as copper and manganese, than enriched white flour .
Bread. You’ll get the most nutrients for your money from whole grain (unrefined) bread made from stone-ground flour; the next best is 100 percent whole wheat or whole’ grain, which can be so called even though 5 percent of the kernel, particularly some of the wheat germ, is lost. It’s impossible to know how much rye flour may be in rye bread and the flour used is often refined. Brown breads may contain little or no whole grains, merely molasses for coloring. If you buy white bread, be sure it’s enriched.
The recently introduced high-fiber breads are lower in calories because a large percentage of their bulk is undigestible fiber (usually cellulose, which is what bran is). One popular brand, Fresh Horizons, uses wood fiber as its source of cellulose. There’s no known harm in that, so long as you know that what you’re paying for isn’t grain. A slice of bread, depending on the type and thickness, ranges from 50 to 80 calories.
Cereals. Here again, the most nutritious are the whole grain cereals. If you buy farina, be sure it’s enriched. Steel-cut or rolled oats (not the instant, but the old-fashioned kind) give the best food value since oats are the highest in protein of the commonly consumed grains and these milling techniques do least damage to the natural nutrients.
Cooking hot cereals with milk as part of the liquid greatly improves their nutritional value.
Among cold cereals, shredded wheat is made from whole grain, without added sugar. Grape-Nuts and the new Nutri-Grain cereals also rely on the inherent sweet flavor derived from grains. Puffed cereals provide more air than nutrition, though they are low in fat , sugar, and calories. Sugar-coated cereals, some of which contain more sugar than any other ingredient, teach children bad nutritional habits and leave deposits on teeth that may encourage tooth decay and decay-causing bacteria.
Granolas, which swept the market in the wake of the health food revolution, are high in calories , fats, and sugars, although they do have more protein and vitamins than most other packaged cereals. If granola is keeping you away from bacon and eggs for breakfast, you might try making your own, using fewer sweeteners and less oil than the commercial granolas and leaving out the cholesterol-raising coconut and coconut oil. Or try just a handful of commercial granola to add crunch to some other packaged cereal.
Before the milk is added, most cold cereals provide 110 to 140 calories a serving, which ranges from one-fourth cup to one and a fourth cups, depending on how dense the cereal is.
Rice. Brown rice contains nearly all the nutrients in the original rice grain. Polishing removes the brown coat and the germ that contains most of the B vitamins and minerals, but it renders the protein in the grain more digestible. A better buy is parboiled or converted white rice; the process forces many of the nutrients into the white kernel. Instant and minute rice are least nutritious. Avoid washing rice unless it’s coated with talc, since some vitamins may wash away. A cup of cooked rice contains 223 calories.
Pasta. Spaghetti and noodles of all sorts can be purchased enriched. Many are now readily available in a high-protein form, in which protein-rich soy flour or artichoke powder has been used. You should also be able to get whole wheat spaghetti; some people prefer it mixed half and half with the regular kind. There are also spinach pastas (green noodles), which have more vitamins and minerals than white enriched. A cup of cooked pasta has 198 calories; home-made pasta somewhat more.
Legumes and seeds. Dried peas and beans, seeds, and nuts are rich sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Seeds and nuts contain considerable amounts of fat, albeit polyunsaturated vegetable oils, which bolster their calorie count. The beans and peas vary in fat content, with soybeans containing more fat than lentils, for example. A cup of soybeans contains 234 calories; lentils, 212; and kidney beans, 218. There are 322 calories in 10 large walnuts. A tablespoon of sesame or sunflower seeds has about 50 calories.
Fruits and vegetables. Although most are not high in starch, these carbohydrate foods are vital sources of vitamins and minerals and excellent sources of fiber. Many contain small but significant amounts of protein as well . Their fiber and water content add satisfying bulk and volume to the diet and help ward off overeating .
Fruits and many vegetables contain simple carbohydrates (sugars), but since these are “packaged” in a nutrient-laden edible that is relatively low in calories, nutritionists do not consider them empty calories. One medium apple contains 80 calories; a carrot, 30.
Milk products. Skimmed milk, buttermilk (which, despite its fatty name, is really made from skimmed milk), and yogurt prepared from low-fat milk are also nutrient laden foods in which simple carbohydrates provide the bulk of calories. They are excellent sources of protein. In whole milk products, however, fat calories predominate.