What Foods Are Unrefined Carbohydrates?

Unrefined Carbohydrates

What Foods Are Unrefined Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are one of the essential nutrients that humans need to live. After digestion, they are ultimately broken down into glucose and used as a major source of energy.

Carbohydrates must be consumed for survival, but if you eat too much, the excess glucose is converted into fat, stored throughout the body, and leads to weight gain.

Carbohydrates are divided into two types: unrefined carbohydrates and refined carbohydrates. Today, we will look at the characteristics and food types of each.

What Are Refined Carbohydrates? Refined carbohydrates, as the name suggests, are carbohydrates that have been refined. They refer to grains that have been artificially processed or milled.

Typical examples include white rice, wheat flour, and sugar, and foods made from them such as cooked rice, bread, cake, noodles, and pizza are all considered refined carbohydrates.

When you eat refined carbohydrates, they are digested and absorbed quickly by the body, which leads to a rapid rise in blood sugar.

To lower the blood sugar that has risen sharply, the pancreas secretes insulin, and when blood sugar drops into a hypoglycemic state due to excessive insulin secretion, cravings for carbohydrates return.

This vicious cycle can lead to carbohydrate addiction, and damage to the pancreas can progress to diabetes.

If you suddenly cut out refined carbohydrates, there is a risk of overeating later, so rather than reducing them drastically, it is important to cut back gradually.

Unrefined Carbohydrates Unrefined carbohydrates, which have not gone through synthetic processing or milling, have a beneficial effect on the body when consumed because blood sugar rises slowly even after eating them.

Because blood sugar increases gradually, insulin is not secreted excessively, and many foods contain large amounts of dietary fiber, which also helps prevent constipation and obesity.

In addition, consuming unrefined carbohydrates is known to reduce the secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, helping to relieve pain and prevent various diseases.

Types of unrefined carbohydrates include grains such as brown rice, barley, soybeans, and oatmeal, and it is good to eat them mixed with white rice as multigrain rice.

Root crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes are also unrefined carbohydrates, and because they contain abundant dietary fiber, they can help you feel full more easily.

If you want to prevent your blood sugar from spiking sharply after meals, simply changing the order of your meals to dietary fiber - protein - carbohydrates can be effective.

If you start with vegetables that require a long time to chew, your eating speed naturally slows down, which helps you feel fuller and prevents blood sugar from rising sharply.

Also, when stress hormones in the body increase due to causes such as lack of sleep or excessive stress, cravings for sweets and carbohydrates increase, so it is good to keep this under control in daily life.

Today, we looked at unrefined carbohydrates and refined carbohydrates. I hope this helps you manage your blood sugar and weight based on the information above.