Sources of good carbs

[makbike]

I'm not a nutritionist and I'll admit to having less than desirable eating habits (I love chocolate, diet cokes and junk food). I've read several threads where "good carbs" are mentioned. Please tell me how many carbs one should take in each day. Also, what are some good sources for these desired carbs?

Thanks

[Deanna]

Rather than defining good carbs for myself, I've just defined the bad carbs to avoid or limit (it's easier)--highly processed grains and sugars.

[Torrilin]

Depends on application. My mom is diabetic and for her health needs to avoid things like white rice, sugar, and white flour. Even the sugars in fruit can be bad for her blood sugar. For a person with a healthy pancreas who is riding a century or doing long bike tours, those can be good foods. Someone who is less active would want to minimize them, since they are easy to overeat. Complex carbohydrates are often thought of as good. My dad developed a (thankfully) rare disorder that gives him digestive troubles with too many complex carbohydrates. (I am so glad I'm no longer doing meal planning for them... diabetic meals aren't hard. low salt meals aren't hard. diabetic, low salt and low complex carb meals would drive me to simple carbs. in the form of scotch.)

A healthy body needs a varied diet, and carbohydrates are part of that. For most people roughly equal proportions of complex and simple carbs (like veggies and rice) works pretty well. Bodies are different, so don't worry about it too much if your particular body likes one or the other better.

[pooks]

In the Zone diet, "good" and "bad" are defined by how quickly they break down and do they give you an insulin surge, and then the "crash" afterword.

Good carbs are those that take longer to process and give you a more sustained energy rather than a quick burst followed by the crash. It's not always obvious, but in general starches (potatoes, flour, sugar) are fast, some fruits are fast, but other fruits and veggies aren't.

Black beans - good. Brown rice - better than white rice, but not as good as steel cut oats. Rye flour/bread - better than white.

So essentially we got most of our carbs from fruit and veggies, and fewer from processed foods, sugar, starches.

In the Zone, you also ate protein and fat as part of every meal and snack, so that your "fuel" was balanced with all, not too heavy in any one direction.

As others have said, the definition depends on the resource, I think.

[Andrea]

Usually if something is high in fiber, it's a safe bet for "good" carbs.
I don't like the whole good carbs/bad carbs notion, though, because sometimes you actually NEED low-fiber, quickly absorbing carbohydrates- like during aerobic workouts lasting longer than 45-60 min (depending on your intensity).
Also, if you are going to have training sessions/races within 24 hours of each other, fast absorbing simple sugars and a little protein (at about a 4:1 ratio) taken in immediately following the initial workout will replenish muscle glycogen much faster than high fiber, slow digesting carbohydrate sources.

I usually go with 2 scoops of powdered Gatorade with 1/2 a scoop of whey protein. It works out to approximately 150 calories from simple carbs and 40 calories from a fast-absorbing protein. I drink it as soon as possible after a race/workout then eat a snack or small meal after about an hour (this is usually between the RR and TT portions of a stage race).

[LBTC]

FWIW my favourite recovery food is a potato, chopped and nuked, with some diced veggies, a bit of diced meat, and a bit of cheese. Covers the quick carbs to replenish gylcogen, with some protein, and the veggies give more carbs and some much-needed vitamins.

Oh, and it's tasty, too

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Pedal Wench]

Usually if something is high in fiber, it's a safe bet for "good" carbs.
I don't like the whole good carbs/bad carbs notion, though, because sometimes you actually NEED low-fiber, quickly absorbing carbohydrates- like during aerobic workouts lasting longer than 45-60 min (depending on your intensity).

That's an interesting point, because on a long bike ride, I don't necessarily want high fiber.
So, the fast-acting ones are what I usually take, with a few high-fiber (Luna bars, Powerbars with whole grains) mixed in.