Carbs

angelinaz
angelinaz Posts: 262
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
A reminder I just read about carbs:

How to Get Carb Smart


The key to eating the right carbohydrates is focusing on carbs made from whole grains that are high in fiber. How can you identify these products using a nutrition label?
Carbohydrates, foods that contain simple sugars or starches, have been blamed for our epidemic of obesity and diabetes. However, this is only partially true, because there are both good and bad carbohydrates. The good carbs are the unrefined ones found in foods such as whole grains, legumes, certain types of rice (basmati, brown, and wild), and some starchy vegetables, including but not limited to sweet potatoes, pumpkin, turnips, winter squash, and yams.
Besides being packed with fiber, vitamins, and minerals, good carbs take longer to digest, which helps keep blood sugar levels steady—and cravings at bay. Bad carbs are overly processed foods that have been stripped of most or all of their fiber. In fact, many products made with white flour are being advertised as fortified with vitamins and minerals because the process of turning whole grains into white flour strips away much of its fiber and nutrients. Refined carbohydrates are often found in packaged foods, such as many store-bought baked goods, crackers, pasta, and white bread.
When you pick up a product, the first thing to do is check out the nutrition-facts panel. This will tell you the total amount of carbohydrates and how much of that total comes from fiber and sugar. At this point in the process, you should only be concerned with the amount of fiber. Why is that? Because you won't be able to tell whether the product contains good carbs until you read the ingredients list. Try to choose products with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
After determining fiber content, it's time to move on to the ingredients list. You should be on the lookout for whole grains vs. refined flour products. Whole grains are often listed first and include ingredients such as whole-wheat flour, whole oats, and whole-grain barley.

Replies

  • angelinaz
    angelinaz Posts: 262
    A reminder I just read about carbs:

    How to Get Carb Smart


    The key to eating the right carbohydrates is focusing on carbs made from whole grains that are high in fiber. How can you identify these products using a nutrition label?
    Carbohydrates, foods that contain simple sugars or starches, have been blamed for our epidemic of obesity and diabetes. However, this is only partially true, because there are both good and bad carbohydrates. The good carbs are the unrefined ones found in foods such as whole grains, legumes, certain types of rice (basmati, brown, and wild), and some starchy vegetables, including but not limited to sweet potatoes, pumpkin, turnips, winter squash, and yams.
    Besides being packed with fiber, vitamins, and minerals, good carbs take longer to digest, which helps keep blood sugar levels steady—and cravings at bay. Bad carbs are overly processed foods that have been stripped of most or all of their fiber. In fact, many products made with white flour are being advertised as fortified with vitamins and minerals because the process of turning whole grains into white flour strips away much of its fiber and nutrients. Refined carbohydrates are often found in packaged foods, such as many store-bought baked goods, crackers, pasta, and white bread.
    When you pick up a product, the first thing to do is check out the nutrition-facts panel. This will tell you the total amount of carbohydrates and how much of that total comes from fiber and sugar. At this point in the process, you should only be concerned with the amount of fiber. Why is that? Because you won't be able to tell whether the product contains good carbs until you read the ingredients list. Try to choose products with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
    After determining fiber content, it's time to move on to the ingredients list. You should be on the lookout for whole grains vs. refined flour products. Whole grains are often listed first and include ingredients such as whole-wheat flour, whole oats, and whole-grain barley.
  • VERY HELPFUL, THANK YOU! :wink:
  • adopt4
    adopt4 Posts: 970 Member
    thank you for this, i haven't taken the time to research this so thanks for saving me the time!
  • Sebidian
    Sebidian Posts: 199 Member
    Two suggestions to try:

    Mission "Carb Balance" Tortillas - 11 grams fiber per serving, and taste fantastic.

    Any Dreamfields pasta - Avg. 5 grams fiber per serving, and cannot tell the difference from regular pasta. My favorite is the Penne.
  • shay12
    shay12 Posts: 20
    Hi everyone i have a question and would like someone to help me figure it out. okay i had a ham and cheese sandwich light mayo and mustard on whole wheat bread, when i logged the sandwich in it was 350 calories and 0 carbs, how can that be? athough it was wheat bread, it was still bread! help please:noway:
  • get_fit2009
    get_fit2009 Posts: 827 Member
    Hi everyone i have a question and would like someone to help me figure it out. okay i had a ham and cheese sandwich light mayo and mustard on whole wheat bread, when i logged the sandwich in it was 350 calories and 0 carbs, how can that be? athough it was wheat bread, it was still bread! help please:noway:

    I always enter my own bread from the label. It sounds like the information for the item you chose was not entered into the system correctly, because you are correct, there is no way that is right.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    Hi everyone i have a question and would like someone to help me figure it out. okay i had a ham and cheese sandwich light mayo and mustard on whole wheat bread, when i logged the sandwich in it was 350 calories and 0 carbs, how can that be? athough it was wheat bread, it was still bread! help please:noway:

    most of the food in the database was entered by other MFP members. SOme members only track their calorie intake so, when putting in new foods they only input the calories and not the carbs, fats, sugars, sodium etc. You should try to always check the foods you use with the label on the package, that way you know the info is correct. You can either correct it if it's incorrect or you can create a new listing for it in the database. :flowerforyou:
  • shay12
    shay12 Posts: 20
    Thanks to the both of you and congrats on your weight loss!:smile:
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