Simple Carbohydrate Foods List

Carbohydrates are a nutrient that act as a good source of energy for our body. It is made up of sugar, starch and cellulose, and it contains hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio 2:1, which is the same as that of water. Although carbs can be digested a lot easier than fats or protein, they aren't considered an indispensable nutrient for the body.

There are two kinds of carbohydrates that we normally tend to consume. Simple and complex. To understand what they're about, we'll take an individual look at both, as well as make a simple carbohydrate foods list, list of high carbohydrate foods, and anything that's essential with respect to carbs.

Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are sugars composed of monosaccharides (single sugar molecules) or disaccharides (two joined sugar molecules) such as glucose, sucrose, lactose, and fructose. This category of carbohydrates is best found in fresh fruits and are best recommended to people who would like to lose weight the healthy way, because although they have a natural sugar content which provides the body with that much required energy, it does so without adding on calories to a person's weight and body. On the other hand, however, there is a grade of foods that contain simple carbs, but are of no help towards losing weight. This class of foods is processed foods. The trouble with these foods is that they provide energy in abundance, as do they provide calories in that kind of abundance too. It is for this reason that these high calorie products must be stayed away from. Apart from that, simple carbohydrates that the body obtains from natural foods are also easier to digest than those obtained from processed foods.

We'll now take a brief look at complex carbohydrates, and then graduate to the simple carbohydrate food list.

Complex Carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates or polysaccharides are those which are made up of three or more sugar molecules that are bound together. Since these carbohydrates get digested slowly, they release sugar into the system very gradually, thus allowing the body a consistent level of energy. Often referred to as starch, foods that contain these complex carbs, are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and fibers. In fact, studies say that the intake of complex carbohydrates is better than that of simple, only because the former is a healthier option for the body. The old belief that starch is bad for the body, is rapidly dying, because starches by themselves contain only 4 calories per gram, while fat contains 9 calories per gram. Also, the advantage with complex carbs is that they fill you up quicker, thus allowing a reduced intake of food, which very simply leads to a reduced calorie intake.

Now that you know a little something about each of them, we can move on to examples of simple carbohydrate foods.

List of Simple Carbohydrate Foods

SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATE FOODS
Bread (white flour)	Packaged cereals	Pasta (white flour)
Grapefruit	Strawberry	Peach
Raspberry	Lemon	Kiwi
Lychee	Plum	Melon
Blackberry	Cranberry	Cherry
Blueberry	Blackcurrant	Banana
Fruit Juice	Chocolate	Candy Bars
Apple	Pear	Oranges
Sodas	Cake	Cookies
Honey	Fudge	Jam

Strange, isn't it, that most foods that make it to the simple carbohydrate foods list are either fruits or anything with a large sugar content. Oh well, at least you know now. While we are at it, we may as well get a slight idea about foods that are all about those complex carbs as well. Here are some such foods...

List of Complex Carbohydrate Foods

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATE FOODS
Potatoes	Soybean	Spinach
Cauliflower	Broccoli	Onions
Brown Rice	Whole barley	Lentils
Okra	Cabbage	Prunes
Wholemeal flour	Wholemeal bread	Wholemeal pasta
Parsnips	Yams	Corn

This list is made up of just a few food items belonging to this group. For more on the same, you could check out the complex carbohydrates list.

Now that you know what foods come under the simple carbohydrate foods list, and what categorizes as complex carbs, you can decide what works best for you and allows you to stay healthy.