Would you like to eat fewer carbohydrates and want to know where carbohydrates are inside? Or you want to know how much carbohydrates a food contains? This is quite understandable, since it is often not recognizable at first glance.
Our article carbohydrate table
the essentials in brief
- Carbohydrate tables are for illustrative purposes. They provide information about the carbohydrate content in various products. The content of cola is particularly high and that of meat products is very low.
- Carbohydrate tables can be created for a wide variety of food categories. There are tables on vegetables, fruit or non-alcoholic beverages. In addition, tables can be created that correspond to the individual needs of the consumer, be it for losing weight or because of an illness.
- Carbohydrates are divided into good and bad. Good carbohydrates are suitable for consumption because they also supply the body with important minerals and vitamins. Bad carbohydrates, on the other hand, are often ingested with fat and sugar. This has a negative effect on the body.
Glossary entry: The term carbohydrate table explained in detail
In order to be able to provide you with important information, we have summarized the most important questions about the carbohydrate table here. In this section we will go into more detail about the definition and the different types of the table. This should give you an overview and explain what such a table is all about.
What is a carbohydrate table?
Carbohydrates are nutrients that are ingested with food and represent the most important source of energy for the body. In addition to oxygen and carbon, they mainly consist of sugar building blocks. For this reason, carbohydrates are divided into simple, double and multiple sugars.(1,5)
- Simple sugars: These carbohydrates consist of only one sugar building block and are also referred to as monosaccharides. This category includes fructose and glucose, which are known in the nutritional sector as fructose and glucose.
- Double sugar: The disaccharides consist of two sugar building blocks. Well-known examples here are table sugar and milk sugar. These are also known under the terms sucrose and lactose.
- Multiple sugars: Also known as polysaccharides, carbohydrates are referred to that consist of at least ten sugar building blocks. Well-known representatives of this category are starch and glycogen.
They provide the body with energy particularly quickly and are stored in the form of glycogen in the muscles and liver. The body thus has energy reserves that it can fall back on in an emergency, since energy is essential for brain function.(2,4,5)
Because carbohydrates are an important factor in energy supply, it is important to know where carbohydrates are found. Carbohydrates were set up and worked out for this presentation. These give you information about the food and what types of carbohydrates it contains. It also explains which foods contain how many carbohydrates.
The table below is intended as an example to illustrate our points above.
| product | Carbohydrates in g per 100 g |
|---|---|
| broccoli | 1.9g |
| Chinese cabbage fresh | 1.2g |
| Whole grain bread | 37.4g |
| White bread toast | 48.4g |
| apple fresh | 11, 4g |
What types of carbohydrate tables are there?
There are many different types of tables that are used to show the carbohydrate content of different foods. You must first be clear about what foods you are looking for. For example, there are separate carbohydrate tables for fruit, vegetables and meat.
Depending on your needs, you have a variety of different lists available. In the following list we will go into some of them in more detail(4):
- Confectionery: This type of table includes all confectionery containing carbohydrates. It also gives you information about which you should pay particular attention to when consuming. For example, nougat or dragees have a particularly high carbohydrate content.
- Meat products: This table shows you all possible meat products and their carbohydrate content. Carbohydrates are generally low in meat products, although some of them do show levels. Such as: meat loaf, salami or liver paste.
- Non-alcoholic beverages: All non-alcoholic beverages are listed here. Non-alcoholic beverages in particular usually contain more carbohydrates. Such as: iced tea or cola.
However, these are not the only types of carbohydrate charts that have been made. There are also tables that will help you lose weight by giving you an overview of foods that are particularly high in carbohydrates. And these lists are also helpful for diseases such as diabetes.
Why is a carbohydrate table created?
Healthy nutrition is a particularly important aspect in today's society. Due to the increasing number of diseases caused by improper nutrition, many rely on a balanced diet.
It is recommended to cover this need for carbohydrates with natural foods. It is also important to consume as much fruit, vegetables, whole grain products and potatoes as possible. The need should not be met with foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar. Natural foods are excellent sources of energy, which also contain essential trace elements, minerals and vitamins.(4)
It is therefore important to gain an overview of the right foods and which are suitable as energy suppliers. The different carbohydrate table is useful for this very reason. It provides you with the information and is also clearly laid out.
This table below provides you with a brief illustration of which foods contain natural carbohydrates:
| fabrics | Groceries |
|---|---|
| natural sugar | Vegetables, fruits, honey milk |
| Strength | Potatoes, legumes, cereals, legumes |
| fiber | Nuts, legumes, grains, whole grains |
You should also limit the consumption of certain foods. In the following table we list some energy suppliers that are not particularly suitable for consumption.
| fabrics | Groceries |
|---|---|
| isolated sugar | sweets and sweet drinks |
| isolated starch | White flour |
| isolated and indigestible fiber | animal products |
This should make it clear to you once again how practical a carbohydrate table is. You can see at a glance which foods are suitable for consumption and how many carbohydrates the various products contain.
What foods contain good and bad carbohydrates weight loss chart
Carbohydrates have increasingly lost their good image in recent years. Formerly only the fat were culprits on which needs to be looked out for. But now the carbohydrates are also included. However, it is important to note that not all carbohydrates are created equal. Carbohydrates can be divided into good and bad carbohydrates. The difference lies in the length of the molecular chains and their compositions.(3,4,5)
- Good carbohydrates: These carbohydrates ensure that blood sugar levels rise and fall slowly. They manage to give the body energy in a healthy way. The polysaccharides are good carbohydrates, since they are long chains, the body has to break them down first. This leads to a slowly rising blood sugar level. Products that contain good carbohydrates are: whole grains, vegetables or legumes.(4,5)
- Bad carbs: This type of carb is also known as an empty carb. These include, for example, white rice and noodles. Bad carbohydrates usually consist of only one or two molecules. This is a disadvantage because the shorter the chain of molecules, the worse the carbohydrate. Although they can be digested more quickly due to their simplicity, the blood sugar level rises faster accordingly. The consequence of the rapid increase is that it also falls again more quickly. This leads to cravings, which can only be satisfied after further consumption. Bad carbohydrates are found in the following foods: white flour products, sweets, fast food.(4,5)
This section is particularly important for a healthy and balanced diet. A table with good and bad carbohydrates shows you at a glance which products are bad for your body.
The division of carbohydrates into good and bad is of great importance, especially when losing weight. Because if you want to lose weight or maintain your weight, you should only eat good carbohydrates.(8,5)
Which carbohydrate table for diabetes?
Diet plays a central role in diabetes mellitus, because it is also known under the term diabetes. It is therefore all the more important to know which foods contain how many carbohydrates with this disease.(6)
With diabetes, the sugar content in the body must be counteracted by administering insulin. Bread units are used to calculate the carbohydrate content. 12 grams of carbohydrates correspond to one bread unit. This table shows how much of a certain food corresponds to a unit of bread. In this way, possible low or high sugar levels can be counteracted.(7)
Converting the carbohydrate content into BE is not that difficult. A content of 45 grams is given for a 100 gram bar of chocolate. That 45 grams just needs to be divided by 12. The resulting bread unit is 3.75 units.
Diabetics who take insulin should eat a certain amount of carbohydrates per day. However, this should be done with several small meals throughout the day. The specific amount will be determined by your doctor. By calculating the BU, the insulin unit can be derived. Thus, the rise in blood sugar levels can be prevented.(7)
Carbohydrates are basically in all plant foods, such as in: fruits and vegetables. Diabetics in particular should pay attention to the content before consumption. (Image source: Jannis Brandt / Unsplash)
Conclusion
Carbohydrates are essential for the supply of the body because they represent one. When it comes to consumption, it depends on what type of carbohydrates you eat. Carbohydrates can be divided into bad and good. Good ones are particularly suitable for athletes and for losing weight and include: tomatoes, apples and wholemeal bread. In contrast, bad carbohydrates have a negative effect on the body. Since they are mostly consumed in connection with fats. Bad carbohydrates would be, for example: chocolate bars, cornflakes, white bread.
Carbohydrate tables provide you, especially as a beginner, with a rough overview of where and how many carbohydrates are inside. Depending on your needs, you can consult a different carbohydrate table.
References
- JH Cummings (2007): Carbohydrate terminology and classification
- Mitch Kanter (2018): High-Quality Carbohydrates and Physical Performance Expert panel report
- (2018): The smart way to look at carbohydrates
- David S Ludwig (2018): Dietary carbohydrates: role of quality and quantity in chronic disease
- Joanne Slavin (2014): Carbohydrates
- National Research Council (US) Committee on Diet and Health (1989): Diet and Health: Implications for Reducing Chronic Disease Risk.
- Michael Domhardt (2015): Training of Carbohydrate Estimation for People with Diabetes Using Mobile Augmented Reality
- Dario Giugliano (2018): More sugar? No, thank you! The elusive nature of low carbohydrate diets