Supply your body with slow-burning carbohydrates and you'll experience sustained and steady energy, you'll feel fuller longer, and you'll obtain essential nutrients. Slow burning carbohydrates include whole grains, beans, and most fruits and vegetables.
Fast-burning carbohydrates, on the contrary, include white potatoes, white bread, white rice, most breakfast cereals, sweets, and sugary drinks. These carbs can wreak havoc on your blood sugar resulting in energy crashes and ravenous hunger which can ultimately lead to weight gain and failed attempts at improving your nutrition.
Whole Grains
Whole grains and foods that contain whole grains are digested slowly. As a result, a person's blood sugar level remains lower and their energy supplies lasts longer. To increase your consumption of whole grains, replace breakfast cereals with slow-cooked or steel-cut oatmeal, replace white rice with brown rice, and choose whole-grain bread and pasta that list a whole grain as the first ingredient.
Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and vegetables are also a good source of slow-burning carbohydrates. The key with fruits and vegetables is to eat them whole. Juices that are made from either fruits and/or vegetables lack fiber and are absorbed into the bloodstream quickly. Fiber not only slows the absorption of carbs but it also reduces cholesterol and promotes bowel regularity. So remember, eat your fruits and vegetables whole!
Beans
Most types of beans are an excellent source of carbohydrates. Include black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils, black eye peas and navy beans in your diet to increase your consumption of slow-burning carbohydrates.
In addition to providing the health benefits listed above, a diet rich in slow-burning carbohydrates can reduce your risks of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Make the decision to switch today!
