Guide to side effects and complications
www.i-Base.info
Differences within nutrients
Simple carbohydrates have no additional nutritonal content to their energy and produce rapidly increase sugar levels in your body.
For each type of nutrient there are also healthier and less healthy options, especially for carbohydrates (carbs) and fats. This invovles the difference between whole grain bread and rice and refined (white) versions. The impact of saturated fats is diferent to unsaturated fats. These are explained below.
Carbs: simple vs complex Why whole grain bread and pasta and brown rice? Carbs form the basis of most diets as the main source of energy. They are made up of either simple or complex sugar molecules. Complex carbs provide slow releasing energy and are better for your health. The less refined these foods are, the better they are for you. Wholewheat flour and pasta and brown rice, are absorbed by your body more slowly and sugar is released more slowly. This also makes you feel full (reducing the need to continue eating) and gives you more energy over a longer period. In contrast, white flour, pasta and rice is treated by your body as a fast burst of sugar. Food that quickly raises sugar levels has a high glycemic index (GI). Rapid changes in sugar levels caused by high GI food put a strain on your body and can lead to reduced insulin sensitivity and diabetes. See pages 79-80 for more information about insulin resistance and diabetes. 94
Sugar, especially refined (white) sugar and sugar products (including fructose, corn syrup and syrup) have a high GI and are not good for your health. In the context of weight gain, processed foods that contain fructose corn syrup (especially in soda drinks) behave like fat and directly increase body fat. Vegetables and fruit contain sugar but are healthier in your diet because they are complex: they contain fibre and the sugar is released more slowly. Eating fruit is healthier than drinking fruit juice because it contains more nutrients and fibre.
Fat: saturated, unsaturated & trans Dietary fat is important for making healthy cells, producing hormones and other signaling molecules and for energy and energy storage. Two important categories of dietary fat are saturated and unsaturated. They have the same amount of calories but different effects on your health. The balance in the type of fats that you eat has been linked to good and bad health. Saturated fats are generally solid at room temperature and are less healthy. These include animal fat from meat and dairy fat (butter, cheese, cream), and some plant oils including coconut oil and palm oil. Unsaturated fats include vegetable oils like olive, sunflower, and rapeseed/canola oil and are more healthy. July 2012