List Complex Carbs

Carbohydrates come in two basic types, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are comprised of simple molecules that are easily digested into the bloodstream. Examples of simple carbohydrates are: dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, honey, lactose, maltose, molasses, and sucrose.

Most of our carbohydrates should come from complex carbohydrates, providing energy, fiber and essential vitamins and minerals. Starch and fiber are the primary ingredients of complex carbohydrates. Simple carbs are generally those found in foods containing sugars and in some fruits and vegetables and their juices. With the exception of fruits and vegetables, foods high in simple carbohydrates provide less nutritional value. Here are some tips to help you choose wisely:

Grains and grain products - Instead of eating sugary cereals choose an unsweetened whole-grain cereal. Select baked goods or pasta made with whole wheat flour over white flour. Eat brown rice instead of white rice. Mix other grains into your diet, including whole oats and oatmeal, corn, barley, quinoa, whole rye, and wheat and oat bran.

Vegetables - Eat from a variety of organic vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables, cabbage, beets, Brussels sprouts, turnips, broccoli, peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes, and sweet and white potatoes.

Fruits – Include citrus fruits, melons and berries, bananas, apples, mango, apricots (fresh and dried) and prunes.

Milk, yogurt, cheese - select low-fat, low sugar diary products instead of highly sweetened or high-fat options.

Beans and nuts - Cooked dried beans, peas, lentils, and nuts are nutritious foods.

Here are a few recipes to get you started. The first one comes Runners World magazine and the second one from a site called The Healthy Eating Guide.

Complex Carbs Recipes

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-303–13288-0,00.html

Breakfast CousCous
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
Salt
1 cup fresh fruit (sliced bananas, berries, diced apples, peaches)
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup dried fruit like raisins, dates, or coconut
Drizzle of honey or maple syrup

Put the couscous in a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid and add 1½ cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and remove from the heat. Let steep for at least 10 minutes, or up to 20. Add the fruit, nuts, and honey or maple syrup. Fluff with a fork. Serves four.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 280
CARBS: 57 G
PROTEIN: 6 G
FAT: 5 G

http://www.thehealthyeatingguide.com/applecinnamonoatmeal.html

Healthy Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 cup Water

Serves 2.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 217, Total Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 0g, Sodium: 57mg, Carbs: 38g, Fiber: 5g, Protein: 8g

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Nutrition Facts of Whole Grain

At least half the grains you eat should be whole grains, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Next time you shop for food, substitute whole grains for some of the grains you usually buy.

Whole-grain products contain all three parts of the grain’s seed, the endosperm, gran and germ. Refined grains contain only the endosperm. Refining removes the bran and germ. This creates a finer texture, but it also removes fiber.

Eating whole grains is important because fiber helps reduce high blood cholesterol by blocking your intestines from absorbing cholesterol. Fiber may also help you lose weight because it makes you feel full on fewer calories. Losing excess weight helps control high blood pressure and improves your body’s use of insulin.

Research in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that overweight and obese adults on a weight-loss diet reduced their LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol more if they ate whole grain ready to eat oat cereal instead of grain-based products that were low in fiber. They also reduced their waist measurement more with the cereal.

Whole grains include brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, bulgur, oatmeal, amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum, triticale and popcorn. Grain-based products like bread, pasta, crackers, breakfast cereal, tortillas, and pitas may be made from either whole or refined grains. Choose products that contain whole grains, such as whole wheat, whole rye, whole-grain barley, or whole-grain cornmeal, as the first ingredient on the label. Don’t be fooled by the term “multigrain.” It doesn’t mean whole grain.

You can make your own whole grain bakery products at home. Here are two really easy muffin recipe with lots of fiber. If you like blueberry muffins check out our recipe for high fiber blueberry muffins. See our postHealthy Recipe for Blueberry Muffins Even my kids thought this recipe for blueberry muffins was good and they are tough to please.

Whole Grain Banana Muffins ( http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=594615)

Ingredients

1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C whole oatmeal
3 tsp baking powder,
1/2 tsp baking soda,
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C brown sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
1 C mashed banana

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix applesauce, egg, egg white, and mashed banana together before adding to dry mixture. Stir just until well blended. Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Bake for 12- 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

Number of Servings: 12

Cranberry Whole-Grain Muffins (tp://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cranberry-whole-grain-muffins-recipe)

Muffins
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup (2 5/8 ounces) quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries,* chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 tablespoon orange zest (finely grated orange peel)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk
1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) vegetable oil or melted butter

Glaze
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) orange juice
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar or 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

*For a sweeter muffin, substitute 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease the wells of a muffin tin, or line with papers, and grease the inside of the papers.

Muffins: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the cranberries and nuts. Whisk together the orange zest, eggs, milk, and oil or melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended; don’t beat, or your muffins will be tough! Fill the muffin cups or liners about 3/4 full.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, then take out of the pan and transfer them to a rack to finish cooling.

Glaze: In a small saucepan or the microwave, stir together the glaze ingredients. Bring just to a boil, to dissolve the sugar. Dip the tops of the warm muffins into the glaze. Yield: 12 muffins.

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Nutrition Facts on Prunes

Prunes are nature’s little fountain of youth when it comes to your cells according to Dr. Oz. That’s because these dried fruits are loaded with minerals and vitamins that rev up your body’s own antioxidant production.

The antioxidants in your cells get rid of free radicals in your body. Free radicals are one of things that cause your body to age and they make you more susceptible to things like heart disease and cancer. Prunes rank foremost in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) list of high-scoring antioxidant fruits. In fact, prunes register off the scale on the Orac index, which measures how effective food is at neutralizing damaging free radicals. Prunes are also good for your skin. The high levels of antioxidants in prunes means that eating just 4 of these super fruits a day is as good for your skin as any expensive anti-wrinkle creams.

Prunes are high in phenolic compounds. This makes prunes not only anti-aging but anti inflammatory and anti-clotting as well. Prunes also have Vitamin A and vitamin C to help maintain healthy hair and skin. Chromium which maintains healthy blood sugar levels. Lutein to prevent eyesight failure and slow-release sugars to keep energy levels up during the day. They are a low GI food which is ideal for people with insulin resistance and diabetes.

Prunes are a low sodium food and a have a high potassium level meaning the fruit is a wonderful way to regulate your blood pressure and reduce water retention within the body.

Prunes also have a high amount of magnesium in them. It is already known that magnesium is quite useful to the aging body and helps us to achieve and maintain sufficient energy levels. Magnesium is a mineral important at working to relax the muscles, nerves and blood vessels in the body. It helps to alleviate sore muscles, effects of asthma and migraine headaches.

About half of the fiber in prunes is insoluble and helps move food through the digestive track. Some foods in our diet such as meat can ‘sit’ in the intestines undigested for a very long time. This can be cause bad bacteria to build up in your intestines which can lead to digestive disorders. Prunes’ insoluble fiber provides food for the “friendly” bacteria in the large intestine. When these helpful bacteria ferment prunes’ insoluble fiber, they produce a short-chain fatty acid called butyric acid, which serves as the primary fuel for the cells of the large intestine and helps maintain a healthy colon. These helpful bacteria also create two other short-chain fatty acids, propionic and acetic acid, which are used as fuel by the cells of the liver and muscles.

So about 1/4 of prunes a day is about a close as you can get to taking a sip from the fountain of youth.

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Foods High in Fiber Nutrition

We have all been told eat more fiber. Every article I have reviewed on preventing colon cancer seems to mention increasing fiber in your diet. It seems your colon works like your muscles, it needs to be working out to stay in shape. Your colon needs to have fiber to keep things moving through it. Without enough fiber food tends to remain in the colon and bacteria develops and problems begin.

Unfortunately fiber is not the most appetizing food. We tend to associate things like cardboard, tree bark and all sorts of other unpleasant tastes when we think about adding fiber. Dr. Oz though has some great suggestions on gradually increasing the fiber in your diet so your taste buds have a chance to get used to having more fiber in your diet.

Dr. Oz says “When it comes to fiber, most people get less than half of what they need. That means they are missing out on a tasty way to lower weight and blood pressure, not to mention risk of heart disease and diabetes.” Here are his suggestions:

Cereal switch: Develop a healthy addiction of high-fiber cereals by mixing one in with your favorite cereal. Gradually increase the high-fiber stuff until you’re eating it almost exclusively. Your old cereal will become a topping instead of the main course.

Souped-up soups: Bolster the fiber count in soups and salads by adding beans or legumes (lentils). A half cup of beans gives you 5 to 8 grams of fiber. You can also add whole wheat pasta to your soup.

Pasta makeover: Switch from white to whole-grain pasta, which has up to three times the. fiber of regular pasta. Enrich marinara sauce with a cup of cooked high-fiber vegetables such as broccoli or artichoke hearts. You can also add beans or legumes to pasta recipes. There are many recipes that combine those two ingredients.

If your still having problems after increasing fiber or just don’t enjoy eating food with a lot of fiber you try Digest it. Digest It is an all natural herbal colon cleansing treatment that has changed thousands of people’s lives through effective internal cleansing. Digest It was also designed for people suffering from constipation and those who want to improve colon health. Digest It maximizes one’s elimination without causing loose stool or uncomfortable cramping via frequent healthy bowel movements while assisting in cleansing the vital organs and lymphatic system. Click on the banner below or at the top of the post to learn more.

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