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Starch and Other Carbohydrates

refined, or processed, sugars added to them, including cakes, candy, cookies, and white bread. • Starches. Potatoes, beans, peas, and corn are good sources of starch. They are also found in grains, breads, and cereals. Your body breaks down starches into sugar. • Dietary fiber. Fiber is carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. In other words, the body cannot break down fiber into sugars. Unlike starches and sugar, the body does not use fiber as an energy source. Instead, fiber helps clean the digestive tract of excess fats, which is essential for good health. Foods high in fiber include fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and whole-grain foods (such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice). S imple and C omplex Chemically speaking, carbohydrates are organic compounds made up of molecules of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The simplest carbohydrates—like the ones found

naturally in apples, honey, and other fruits—are also called monosaccharide s. Monosaccharides can contain three to nine carbon atoms linked together in a chain-like molecule. Other carbs are polysaccharides (consisting of several bonded sugar molecules) , disaccharides (composed of two monosaccharides), and trisaccharides (composed of three monosaccharides). Simple carbs are more easily absorbed and digested by the body than complex carbs. Simple carbohydrates

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Carbs and You

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