What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are one of the nutrients that form a large part of our diet and provide our body with an important source of energy.

There are two main types of carbohydrates, known as starch and sugar:

Which foods contain carbohydrates?

Starchy carbohydrates are foods such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, couscous, breakfast cereals, oats and other grains like rye and barley. Legumes such as beans and lentils, some types of fruit and vegetables such as bananas, corn, sweet potatoes, parsnips, peas and butternut squash are also sources of starchy carbs.

Sugary carbohydrates include table sugar such as caster and granulated (sucrose). It can be found naturally in fruit (fructose), dairy foods (lactose) and in honey and syrups. Cakes, biscuits, sweets and fizzy drinks also fall into the sugary carbohydrates category.

Protein foods such as plain meat, plain fish, eggs, cheese, fats like butter, oils and cream do not contain carbohydrate. It is important to be aware that some protein sources may contain some hidden carbohydrate. These include foods such as sausages and fish fingers.

Why does our body need carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are our body’s preferred source of energy. Healthy sources of carbohydrates, like higher fibre starchy foods, vegetables, fruits and legumes, are also important sources of nutrients, such as calcium, iron and B vitamins. These are all needed to keep us healthy.

How do I know how much carbohydrate is in the food that I am eating?

There are various ways to do this and you will probably use a combination of:

• Food labels. Use the total carbohydrate figure and remember to adjust for your portion size as may state per 100g. We will cover food labels in more detail in the next section.

• Carbohydrate lists. Resources such as ‘Carbs and Cals’ are fantastic and this is available as a book or an app.

• Websites. There is a lot of information online that gives you carbohydrate reference lists for different foods. You can also find reference lists for chain restaurants and fast food outlets which can be helpful when eating out.

We’ll cover how to work out how much carbohydrate is in the food you’re eating in more depth later on in the course