Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhy Carbs MatterGood High-Carb FoodsFoods to Eat SparinglyEffect on Weight GainTracking Carb Intake
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Why Carbs Matter
Good High-Carb Foods
Foods to Eat Sparingly
Effect on Weight Gain
Tracking Carb Intake
All high-carb foods provide the sugar your body needs to produce energy, but they’re not all nutritious or good for you. Whether your goal is to stay healthy, lose weight, or have enough energy for athletics, the type of high-carb foods you eat make the difference.
Carbohydrates are found in many foods and in different forms. Some high-carb foods come with nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber. Others provide little more than sugar, which increases your risk of gaining weight and developing type 2 diabetes.
GMVozd / Getty Images
Why Does The Type Of Carb Matter?
The type of carb determines how it affects your body and health. Carbs can be categorized into three main types:
Simple carbsmay be added sugars or naturally occurring sugars. Added sugars are empty calories that provide energy without any nutritional value. Consuming too much added sugar leads to health problems like weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Naturally occurring sugars, such as those in fruits, also provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. When natural sugar is in a food that also has fiber, the fiber moderates the effect of sugar, helping it to enter your bloodstream more gradually.
Complex carbshavehealthyand less healthy options. For example, some complex carbs (whole grains) are packed with nutrients and fiber. You can also find complex carbs (processed grains) that have no fiber and few nutrients, but plenty of sugar.
Fiberhas many health benefits, including helping you feel fuller for longer, supporting a healthy digestive tract, preventing constipation, and lowering cholesterol and blood sugar.
High-Carb Foods That Are Better For You
High-carb foods that are good for your health are unprocessed (or minimally processed), high in fiber, and good sources of vitamins, minerals, andphytonutrients(bioactive compounds from plants that providehealth benefits).
Fruits
Fruits are among the top high-carb foods. They also provide potassium, vitamin C, folate, and a vast array of nutrients and phytonutrients. (The fruit’s color comes from its phytonutrients.) Edible peels are also packed with nutrients.
Six high-carb fruits include:
Vegetables
Most vegetables have between 2-10 grams of total carbohydrates. Despite having fewer carbs than fruits, many vegetables have just as much fiber. Like fruits, vegetables contain potassium, folate, vitamins A and C, and vital phytonutrients.
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and peas are exceptions. They have a higher amount of complex carbs than other vegetables.
These are the carb values for a range of vegetables:
Beans And Legumes
Legumes include all plants from theFabaceaefamily. While the plant is typically used to feed livestock, people enjoy beans and peas—the edible seeds from legumes.
Beans are excellent sources of complex carbs, fiber, and potassium. Unlike other high-fiber foods, they’re also rich sources of protein. One-half cup of cooked beans provides 8 g of protein.
These are the carbs and fiber you’ll get in five common types of beans:
Whole Grains
Whole grains retain all three parts of the grain. Refined (processed) grains are stripped of two layers, which means they lose all the fiber and most nutrients, keeping only the complex carbs. That’s why refined grains have a light color (white flour and rice).
Whole grains provide B vitamins, vitamin E, phytonutrients, healthy unsaturated fats, fiber, and complex carbs.Notice that bran flakes have significantly more sugar than other whole grains because sugar is usually added to breakfast cereals.
Dairy Products
Dairy products give you calcium and they’re good sources of complete protein, which means they provide all the essential amino acids.
However, dairy products are different from other high-carb foods because they don’t contain fiber. As a result, their total carbs are the same as their sugar content, so you only need the one value:
High-Carb Foods to Eat Sparingly
Carbs that cause blood sugar to rise quickly, are low in nutrients, or highly processed should be eaten less often.
High-carb foods to eat sparingly include:
However, added sugars may increase your risk. Though studies can’t prove a direct relationship, research shows that diets high in added sugar are more likely to cause weight gain.Additionally, sugar consumption has dramatically increased in tandem with the ever-rising obesity epidemic.
When carbs (added sugars) spike your blood sugar, much of the excess goes directly to the liver. Then, the liver turns sugar into triglycerides (a fat) and send it to fat cells for storage.As a result, high blood sugar increases your weight.
You may want to track your carbs if you’re managing diabetes, losing weight, building muscle, or want to know if you’re getting the recommended daily intake. The Institute of Medicine recommends that carbs should make up 45%-65% of your total daily calories, with the amount depending on your overall health and if you have conditions like diabetes.
The Nutrition Facts on food labels can help you to determine theamount of carbsin your food. Look for:
Determining the effect a food has on your blood sugar is just as (or more) important than thetotal amount of carbs.Theglycemic index and glycemic loadare tools you can use to help you choose which carbs to eat and which to avoid.
Glycemic Index
Theglycemic indexranges from 0 to 100 based on how quickly and how much a carb-containing food raises blood sugar levels. Low glycemic index foods raise blood sugar gradually, while high glycemic index foods cause substantial blood sugar fluctuations, as follows:
Factors that can affect a food’s glycemic index rating include:
Glycemic Load
Carbs and Glycemic Index of Foods
Summary
When choosing nutritious high-carb foods to include in a healthy diet, it’s essential to pay attention to the type of carb. Carbohydrates might be simple carbs (easily digested and causeblood sugar to rise quickly) or complex carbs (slower to digest and cause blood sugar to rise more gradually).
Look for carbs that are minimally processed, such as whole grains, fruits,vegetables, and beans because they also contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other substances important for your health.
Carbs thatcause blood sugar to rise quickly, such as soda, white breads and pasta, and pastries, should be eaten less often. Carbs that are digested quickly may contribute to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
16 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Heart Association.Carbohydrates.CDC Nutrition.Get the facts: Added sugars.American Diabetes Association.Types of carbohydrates.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates.FDA.Vegetables. Nutrition Facts.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Legumes and pulses.Bean Institute.Beans and nutrition.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Whole Grains.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Quinoa, cooked brown rice, cooked oatmeal, bran flakes, whole wheat bread.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Whole milk, low-fat yogurt, plain yogurt, cheddar cheese.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.What are “healthy carbs?” Choosing healthier foods.Faruque S, Tong J, Lacmanovic V, et al.The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States - a Review.Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2019;69(3):219-233. doi:10.31883/pjfns/110735.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.Slavin J, Carlson J.Carbohydrates.Adv Nutr. 2014 Nov 14;5(6):760-1. doi:10.3945/an.114.006163.US Food and Drug Administration.How to understand and use the nutrition facts label.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Heart Association.Carbohydrates.CDC Nutrition.Get the facts: Added sugars.American Diabetes Association.Types of carbohydrates.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates.FDA.Vegetables. Nutrition Facts.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Legumes and pulses.Bean Institute.Beans and nutrition.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Whole Grains.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Quinoa, cooked brown rice, cooked oatmeal, bran flakes, whole wheat bread.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Whole milk, low-fat yogurt, plain yogurt, cheddar cheese.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.What are “healthy carbs?” Choosing healthier foods.Faruque S, Tong J, Lacmanovic V, et al.The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States - a Review.Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2019;69(3):219-233. doi:10.31883/pjfns/110735.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.Slavin J, Carlson J.Carbohydrates.Adv Nutr. 2014 Nov 14;5(6):760-1. doi:10.3945/an.114.006163.US Food and Drug Administration.How to understand and use the nutrition facts label.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Heart Association.Carbohydrates.CDC Nutrition.Get the facts: Added sugars.American Diabetes Association.Types of carbohydrates.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates.FDA.Vegetables. Nutrition Facts.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Legumes and pulses.Bean Institute.Beans and nutrition.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Whole Grains.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Quinoa, cooked brown rice, cooked oatmeal, bran flakes, whole wheat bread.MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Whole milk, low-fat yogurt, plain yogurt, cheddar cheese.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.What are “healthy carbs?” Choosing healthier foods.Faruque S, Tong J, Lacmanovic V, et al.The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States - a Review.Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2019;69(3):219-233. doi:10.31883/pjfns/110735.Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.Slavin J, Carlson J.Carbohydrates.Adv Nutr. 2014 Nov 14;5(6):760-1. doi:10.3945/an.114.006163.US Food and Drug Administration.How to understand and use the nutrition facts label.
American Heart Association.Carbohydrates.
CDC Nutrition.Get the facts: Added sugars.
American Diabetes Association.Types of carbohydrates.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates.
FDA.Vegetables. Nutrition Facts.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Legumes and pulses.
Bean Institute.Beans and nutrition.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Whole Grains.
MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Quinoa, cooked brown rice, cooked oatmeal, bran flakes, whole wheat bread.
MyFoodData: Nutrition Comparison Tool.Whole milk, low-fat yogurt, plain yogurt, cheddar cheese.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.What are “healthy carbs?” Choosing healthier foods.
Faruque S, Tong J, Lacmanovic V, et al.The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States - a Review.Pol J Food Nutr Sci. 2019;69(3):219-233. doi:10.31883/pjfns/110735.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source.Carbohydrates and blood sugar.
Slavin J, Carlson J.Carbohydrates.Adv Nutr. 2014 Nov 14;5(6):760-1. doi:10.3945/an.114.006163.
US Food and Drug Administration.How to understand and use the nutrition facts label.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
