Healthy Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates make up the bulk of an average persons diet. These are starches and sugars that our body utilizes for energy. Rice, bread, pasta and vegetables high in starch like potatoes are rich in carbohydrates. Not all carbs are healthy for you, as some can make you gain weight and offer empty calories. Here are a few tips that can help you select healthy carbohydrates:

Choose whole grains:

Instead of going for breads, buns, rolls and cereals made from white flour, try to go for whole grain varieties. These are high in fiber and also don’t make you put on excessive weight. They are also great for the digestive system.

Replace white pasta with whole wheat pasta:

Substitute the regular pasta that you eat with the ones made from whole wheat. This is definitely low in calories and even tastes better. You can even opt for spinach pasta or egg noodles instead of regular noodles.

Try to avoid starchy vegetables:

Try to go for healthy carbs like turnips, cauliflower and celery roots instead of the starch loaded potatoes. If you want, you can always add these vegetables to mashed potatoes to limit the potato intake in your diet, instead of eliminating it all together. Include fresh vegetables like carrots, onions, cucumbers and salad to your diet and try to eat them raw as much as possible.

Add fruits to your diet:

Fruits are always very healthy and loaded with vitamins and minerals. Fruit is also very high in fiber and can do you a world of good if you eat it regularly. Try to avoid starchy fruit like bananas and stick to more healthy and low calorie options like apples, strawberries and other seasonal fruits.