Carbohydrates are listed prominently on the Nutrition Facts Table, directly above fiber, as one of the food’s main components. Indeed, almost every food and drink contain some carbohydrates, and this can be quite beneficial to your health, if you understand the different types of carbohydrates, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Carbohydrates, or, simply called “carbs,” are neither all-good nor all-bad. They come in different types, and this article explains this vast topic as simply as possible.
Carbohydrates are a primary source of energy for your body; thus, many of a food’s calories are derived from its carbohydrates, but not all of them. The USDA recommends, approximately, getting 50% of your daily calories from carbohydrates. You need carbohydrates for energy, to enable normal bodily functions and physical activity. (And you will need other sources of calories too.) Eating carbs, therefore, is helpful and necessary, for daily energy, bodily function, and, as you will read below, nutritional aspects as well.
Carbohydrates are mainly found in three common forms: sugar, starch, and fiber. Moreover, in these three forms, they are in nearly all your foods. Carbohydrates occur naturally in plant-based foods, while they are added to manufactured foods in the forms of sugars and starches. Some are simple and some are complex, but that is not as important as the distinction between nutritious and non-nutritious carbs.
The main fact about carbohydrates is this: Some types are more nutritious and better for you than others.
Therefore, you want to eat the good carbs and skip the bad carbs. To help you do this, you can use the Smile Food System to find smile and half-smile foods and makes those foods key to your daily meal and snack planning. The relative quantities of fiber, sugars, and protein are more important to your overall nutrition than the number of carbohydrates. In fact, the amount of carbohydrates is not as important as the type of carbohydrate, and the way to manage the type of carbohydrates is to focus on consuming lots of fiber and protein and very little sugar. Indeed, the Smile Food System does not include carbohydrates in the food graph because the essential analysis of a food item is to look simply at fiber, sugar, and protein. In this way, you will be favoring good carbs over bad carbs, without having to look directly at carbohydrates on the Nutrition Facts Table.
Some good carbs include whole grains such as rye, barley, whole wheat, and quinoa; fruits and vegetables; brown rice; seeds and nuts; low-fat and no-sugar-added dairy; and legumes, such as peas, beans, and lentils.
These are the foods that will be smiles and half-smiles. Eating these will give your body lots of health-promoting nutrients and the energy it needs. When carbs are considered “good,” they are good because they deliver vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients or other health-promoting components. You can look on a food package to obtain the vitamins and minerals present, but that will take time. Instead, you can look at the fiber, as part of the Smile Food System, as well as the protein, and together – assuming the sugar is zero or low – you will be getting the necessary vitamins, minerals, and other positive nutrients,
Some bad carbs are pastries, cookies, sugary drinks, cookies, crackers, potatoes, and white rice, and these are frown foods. Low-fiber, high-starch carbs such as potatoes are often combined with oil and salt (examples, potato chips and French fries) to be deliciously addicting but not very good for you. Eating these will not provide primary nutrients for your body, and you will tend to have energy “crashes” and recurring hunger pangs during the day. They are not satiating. Although high in carbs, they are not healthful.
To reiterate, the amount of carbohydrates consumed is not as important as the type. Some types are more nutritious and better for your heath than others. If you are eating good carbohydrates, as indicated by smile and grin food ratings from the Smile Food System, you are eating well!
Many people pay attention to their consumption of carbohydrates, or “carbs.” They count their carbs. In addition, people often try a temporary restrictive diet focused on carbs. Sometimes the diet is high carb, with an imposed limit on other food types and an over-consumption of carbs, and sometimes the approach is low carb or even carb free, with a restriction on carbs themselves. People follow such diets for different reasons, including weight loss or weight and muscle gain, for physical and strength training. The basic premise of a low carb or carb-free diet is to reduce or eliminate carbohydrates and replace them with fat and protein. We at SFINE do not promote any restrictive diet focused on carbs because carbs are necessary to your health, but we do advise consumption of good carbs instead of bad ones.
In conclusion, along with fats and sodium, and just like calories, carbohydrates are not directly incorporated into the Smile Food System. Because your body needs both calories and carbohydrates daily, the strategic approach to managing calories and carbs is to make sure you are eating the good types, and the Smile Food System does that for you! Because most of the carbs in a food derive from its fiber and sugars, you are carefully managing your carb consumption by looking at the Smile Food System’s emphasis on fiber, sugars, and protein. If your fiber is high and your sugar is low, you are winning the carb game!
References
Carbohydrates: Quality Matters. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Accessed November 21, 2022, https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/
Carbohydrates: How carbs fit into a healthy diet. Mayo Clinic. Accessed November 21, 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/carbohydrates/art-20045705