Additional Health Information about Carbohydrates
For those who eat lower amounts of carbohydrates to manage weight
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Some carbohydrate-rich foods actually have less tendency to cause gain of body fat than other carbohydrate-rich foods. Some types of complex carbohydrate molecules are digested substantially slower by the human digestive system than other complex carbohydrate molecules. The foods that contain mainly these slower-digested complex carbohydrates have this property of less tendency to cause gain of body fat.
A person who normally eats lower amounts of carbohydrates in order to manage weight may wish to try eating mainly this type of slower-digesting carbohydrate-rich foods rather than selecting other carbohydrate sources.
The following carbohydrate-rich foods have less tendency to cause gain of body fat:
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Potatoes
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Sweet Potatoes
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Yams
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Taro
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Bananas
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Frozen mixed vegetables (frozen combination of diced frozen carrots, peas, green beans, corn and optionally fava beans)
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And food products based on such source foods such as potato gnocchi or sweet potato noodles.
It is best to boil, bake, or carefully microwave potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams. If using a microwave oven, selecting a medium microwave power setting (partial power instead of full power) with a longer cooking time is helpful to perform more gradual cooking. It is best to use a medium microwave power setting when cooking smaller amounts of carbohydrate foods to avoid overheating these foods. Mashing after cooking is optional.
Frozen mixed vegetables can be easily cooked in a microwave oven. To prepare this product, first place the frozen mixed vegetables into a microwave-safe bowl and then add some water until the water level reaches 20% to 40% of the height of this bowl. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it into the microwave oven. During microwaving, the water will become steam and boiling water to help cook the mixed vegetables evenly. Selecting a medium microwave power setting (partial power instead of full power) with a longer cooking time is helpful to perform more gradual cooking.
Both fresh (uncooked) bananas and cooked bananas have less tendency to cause gain of body fat than some other carbohydrates.
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The following are some carbohydrate-rich foods that DO NOT have this property of less tendency to cause gain of body fat:
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Rice
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Wheat
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Corn
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Sugar (sucrose)
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Honey
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And food products made with these ingredients such as rice noodles, wheat pasta, wheat bread, corn bread, corn syrup, and cakes made with wheat or corn flour.​
Fruit and fruit juices are not in the slower-digesting category except for bananas. Therefore, fruit and fruit juices (except bananas) do NOT have the property of less tendency to cause gain of body fat. However, fruit and fruit juices have beneficial health properties and are not high in Calories in moderate-sized servings. Some consumption of fruit and fruit juices should be considered if possible.
It is preferable to eat a medium small amount of slower-digesting carbohydrates daily than to try to adhere to a low-carbohydrate diet. A low-carbohydrate diet is not optimal for healing and makes a person feel lower on energy (weaker).
Some people do temporarily eat a low-carbohydrate diet for a period of one to several weeks for specific goals such as to reduce body fat. A low-carbohydrate diet stresses the body and is best done with medical supervision.
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Avoid carbohydrates cooked with fat or oil at higher temperatures
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Carbohydrates that are fried or baked with oils/fats at higher temperature are somewhat harder to digest and provide less available nutrition. It is best to limit the amount of these types of carbohydrate/oil foods as part of a plan to eat balanced full meals including sufficient carbohydrates. This includes limiting the quantity of fried noodles including ramen (dried fried noodles), fried rice, fried potatoes, fried pastries (e.g. doughnuts), and some baked pastries made with butter or oil.
Carbohydrate molecules tend to become somewhat molecularly bound to oil and fat molecules at higher temperatures. The food molecules will then be more difficult to digest to get the nutritional benefits. For example, pastries made with butter or oil and deep-fried foods both contain some carbohydrates, but the carbohydrates are usually somewhat molecularly bound to oils/fats. This makes the carbohydrates in such foods not as digestible as other foods to get nutritional benefits.
Adding some unheated oil to a high-carbohydrate dish does not cause this partial molecular bonding and is healthy for eating. For example, some olive oil can be added afterwards to a boiled pasta dish.