What carbohydrates are there | How many carbohydrates do we need | How to Count Carbohydrates in Food
The ability to count carbohydrates is essential for effective diabetes treatment. Counting proteins, fats and carbohydrates is useful not only for diabetes, but also for losing weight. Why do nutritionists consider carbohydrates essential? How do you count carbohydrates? You will find answers to these questions in this article.
What carbohydrates are there?
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy. They enter the body only with food and are divided into simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are quickly absorbed by the body, which causes an increase in sugar and a set of extra pounds. Complex carbohydrates are gradually broken down in the body, thanks to which we feel full for a long time.
Carbohydrates can be of natural origin and processed.
Types of carbohydrates of natural origin:
- Fiber. Fiber is a complex carbohydrate. Necessary for the normal functioning of the digestive tract. Spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli — this is an incomplete list of fibrous carbohydrates.
- Sweet carbohydrates. Of course, these are representatives of simple carbohydrates — sucrose, lactose, and fructose.
- Starchy. This type of complex carbohydrate is found in grains and vegetables. Potatoes, rice, oats are some examples.
Processed carbohydrates are found in cakes, donuts, cookies, candy, and soft drinks. It is best not to eat these very often. And in case of diabetes, it is even better to refuse sweets altogether.
How many carbohydrates do we need?
Depending on the activity of the lifestyle and physical activity, a different amount of carbohydrates per day is required. A single calculation is made according to the formula:
Amount of carbohydrates = N gr * 1 kg of weight
N g for weight maintenance — 3 — 4 grams, for sports — 5 g, for weight loss — 2.5 — 3 grams.
To calculate the required daily carbohydrate intake that will not harm your health, you need to know the number of kilocalories required by the body.
The average person, 2000 kcal is needed.
Taking into account that the share of carbohydrates is 50% of the total diet, we get 1000 kcal.
1 g of carbohydrates gives 4 kcal; therefore, we can eat 1000: 4 = 250 g of carbohydrates per day. Which corresponds to approximately 21 XE.
How to calculate XE by carbohydrates? Very simple. 1 XE is equal to 12 g of carbohydrates, we are 250: 12 = 20.83. This amount must be distributed over 5-6 meals per day. Moreover, most of this amount should fall on lunch.
How to Count Carbohydrates in Food
In order to calculate the amount of carbohydrates, we need:
- kitchen scales;
- calculator;
- table of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
If the product is sold in packaging, we take the data based on the label. If without packaging, for example an apple, we look at the data in the table. Next, we weigh our product on a kitchen scale. And we make calculations.
Let’s look at a specific example. The apple weighs 150 grams. Referring to the table, we can see that there are 11.3 grams of carbohydrates in 100 grams of an apple. To find out how many carbohydrates there are in a whole apple, we multiply the weight of the apple by the amount of carbohydrates in 100 g, and then divide by 100. (150 * 11.3) / 100 = 16.95 or round up to 17 grams of carbohydrates. We translate into XE — 17: 12 = 1.41 XE.
We do the same with all food products.