Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy as this macronutrient is easiest for your body to convert into energy. Only when your body runs out of carbohydrates as a source of energy it will start converting proteins and fats into glucose for use as an energy source. There are three types of carbohydrates: simple carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, and fibers.
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Simple carbohydrates can be mostly found in fresh fruits, milk, honey, sugar and similarly sweet products. These carbohydrates can easily be converted by your body into energy which explains why you can often feel a surge in energy after eating something sweet.
More complex carbohydrates can be found in rice, potatoes, pastas, and wheat. Breaking down these carbohydrates will take more effort and time and will therefore not result in the quick surge of energy you feel after eating sugar. The increase in energy from complex carbohydrates will be more evenly spread out over time and will last much longer as your body will need to process them before being able to turn them into energy. The complexity of carbohydrates depends for a large part on how processed they are: brown rice has a higher level of complexity than white rice and whole wheat bread is more complex than white bread. The reason for this is the absence, or presence of the third type of carbohydrates: fibers.
Fiber is a special type of carbohydrate that cannot be used by your body as a source of energy. Your body will try to digest it, thereby slowing down the speed with which it can digest other carbohydrates, but in the end it will just pass your stomach without giving it any calories. This information is valuable for people who try to limit the amount of fat their body stores: as soon as energy becomes available from food it will be stored in muscles till they cannot hold more energy and then it will be stored in fat cells. By taking more complex carbohydrates, or food rich of fibers, the release of energy will be slower meaning your body has more time to make use of the energy before it will be stored in the fat cells of the body.
Now that we have looked at all three types of macronutrients, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, we can go on to the next step where we will calculate how much of your daily energy needs should come from each of these three types of macronutrients.
This article is part of a series of articles:
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