Carbohydrate Sources Guidelines

• Criteria for Good and Bad Carbohydrate Sources
  • Is it absorbed slowly?
    • If absorbed quickly, insulin levels increase significantly → Accelerates aging (total insulin secretion ~ proportional to body age)
    • If absorbed quickly, you get hungry soon and end up eating more
  • Amount of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) consumed together
    • Refined grains have much fewer micronutrients because the parts with many vitamins/minerals are removed
      • Many instant noodles and white bread products are fortified with vitamins. Maybe they're worried about malnutrition from eating their products... Anyway, that's how much nutrition is lacking.
• Good: Whole Grains
  • Absorbed slowly and rich in micronutrients
  • It's good to consume most of your carbohydrates from these
  • Examples: Brown rice, barley, Wild rice, quinoa, oats, farro, whole wheat
• Bad: Refined Grains, Added Sugars, or Foods High in Added Sugars
  • Absorbed quickly and low or no micronutrients
  • Refined grains: Grains with the good parts removed
    • Examples: White rice, white bread, white noodles
  • Added sugars: Sugars added during cooking, not naturally present in food ingredients. Also called sugar, sweeteners, sugar content, simple sugars, etc.
    • Examples: Sugar, honey, rice syrup, corn syrup
      • Worst: Liquid fructose (= crystalline fructose, other fructose, glucose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup)
        • High fructose corn syrup. Corn is cheap and abundant, so it's inexpensive. Bad for health but that's why it's common in the market.
        • Absorbed extremely quickly. Fast track to diabetes.
        • In the US, the syrup added to coffee at Starbucks is mostly this, not sure about Korea. That's why I rarely drink sweet coffee.
    • Examples of foods high in added sugars: Most snacks, candies, ice cream, restaurant foods
• So So: Fruits
  • Fruits are rich in micronutrients and high in fiber, so sugar absorption is slower than with refined sugar
  • However, the sugar in fruits (fructose) itself is a simple sugar, so eating too much is not good
  • Eating fruit instead of snacks when craving sweets is good. However, due to fructose, it's better to limit fruits less than 100-200g per day.
• Sugar Substitutes
  • Made so it doesn't get absorbed, so it probably doesn't accumulate in the body
  • If not digested and eaten in large amounts, causes diarrhea
  • Some say it increases appetite, but I'm not sure
  • Nothing good about eating a lot, but better than eating sugar
  • Examples
    • Tasty ones: Allulose, monk fruit (luo han guo), erythritol
    • Not tasty: Stevia
• My Consumption Tips
  • Mix whole grains + beans to make 2 weeks worth of rice → portion into rice bowls and freeze → thaw in refrigerator the day before → microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds
    • This saves time & makes portion control easier

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