It's important to eat a variety of foods everyday, including foods containing carbohydrates. Healthy carbohydrate foods include breads and cereals, legumes, dairy products such as milk and yoghurt, fruits and starchy vegetables such as potato, corn and parsnip, which all provide essential vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrate foods are broken down by your digestive system into glucose to give you energy; so, after you eat carbohydrates, the level of glucose in your bloodstream rises. The speed at which high-carbohydrate foods are able to increase your blood glucose level is very important to your general health. Carbohydrate foods are therefore rated on the basis of their glycemic index, which is how quickly or slowly they raise blood glucose levels.
Experts in nutrition recommend a healthy eating pattern that is high in carbohydrates
Carbohydrate Benefits
Energy
The body converts carbohydrates into energy. Without enough carbohydrate in our diet we can get lethargic, tired and run down.
Mood & Concentration
Carbohydrates help to maintain our concentration and good moods.
Nutrition experts recommend a healthy eating pattern that is high in carbohydrates, which equates to 45-65% of total foods consumed. Try to consume 4+ serves of grain foods per day.
Servings of carbohydrates include; 2 slices of bread, 1 medium bread roll, 1 cup cooked rice, pasta or noodles, 1 cup porridge, 1/3 cup breakfast cereal flakes or 1/2 cup muesli.
How much is enough?
The actual amount grain-based foods required by adults and children each day varies according to factors like body size, activity level, age and gender. The Food for Health1 guide recommends that Australians of all ages (from age 4 years) eat at least 4 serves every day.
What is a 'serve'?
One 'serve' of grain-based food:
= 2 slices of bread
= 1 medium bread roll
= 4 crispbreads
= 1 cup of cooked pasta, noodles, rice
= 1 cup of porridge
= 1 1/3 cups of breakfast cereal flakes
= 2 wheat-flake or oat-flake breakfast biscuits
= ½ cup of muesli
Most active children and adults need more than this, so the key message is to enjoy 4+ serves of grain-based foods each day. The plus '+' means that for many people more than four serves are recommended. Four serves are regarded as the 'minimum' daily number for good health and wellbeing.
Recommended Serves of Grain-Based Foods¹
|
Children & Adolescents |
|
Recommended Serves of Grain-Based Foods¹
|
4-7 years |
5-7 serves/day |
|
8-11 years |
6-9 serves/day |
|
12-18 years |
5-11 serves/day |
|
Women |
|
Recommended Serves of Grain-Based Foods¹
|
19-60 years |
4-9 serves/day |
|
Pregnant |
4-6 serves/day |
|
Breastfeeding |
5-7 serves/day |
|
60+ years |
4-7 serves/day |
|
Men |
|
Recommended Serves of Grain-Based Foods¹
|
19-60 years |
6-12 serves/day |
|
60+ years |
4-9 serves/day |
1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Food for Health, Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing, 2003.
For more informationwww.gograins.com.au
How to increase your Carbohydrate intake
Healthy ways to consume carbohydrates:
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Include carbohydrate at each meal and snack. For example, have cereal, fruit and toast for breakfast, sandwiches or rolls and fruit for lunch, and either potatoes, pasta or rice or bread as part of the evening meal. Snack on fruit, yoghurt, bread, fruit loaf or breakfast cereals.
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Use reduced-fat or skim dairy products
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Have rice steamed rather than fried
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For pasta, make sauces from vegetables (tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, eggplant, capsicum or any other vegetable), adding seafood, lean meat or chicken if you like. Avoid sauces that include fatty meat or cream.
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Steam, boil or microwave potatoes, or bake them in a hot oven in a very small amount of olive oil
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Use yoghurt instead of sour cream on top of potatoes and limit your intake of chips
