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What Are Slow Digesting Carbs?

Ishani Chatterjee Shukla
The fact that those sugar candies add to your bulk is sad enough but now you also have to endure all that fuss over fast and slow digesting carbs! What do the latter mean? Are they any better than their fast digesting counterparts? Read ahead to find out.
You must have come across the terms simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates in due course of your research regarding what (and what not) to eat to keep your weight in check (oh, I know that's exactly what you've been combing the lengths and breadths of the World Wide Web for - how else would you explain landing on this page, huh?).
Well, the category of carbohydrates hinted by the title is nothing but complex carbohydrates (complex carbs → more effort by the body to metabolize → digestion takes more time, hence slow digesting... get the link?).
Before we proceed further, let me clarify one of the most common misconceptions about simple and complex carbohydrates, which goes something like - all things that appear sweet to the taste belong to the former category, while those that are not sweet enough qualify for the latter category.
Taste, rather, intensity of sweetness, does not form the basis of differentiation between simple and complex carbohydrates. On the contrary, the difference between these two broad categories of carbohydrates are completely based on their molecular levels. Let's get to know what differentiates these two types of carbohydrates from the subsequent paragraph.

Complex and Simple Carbohydrates ~ Difference

A simple or fast digesting carbohydrate is composed of either one (monosaccharide) or two (disaccharide) sugar polymers, making them either impossible (in case of monosaccharides) or extremely easy (in case of disaccharides) to being broken down further.
This causes them to be digested faster, which means that they enter the blood stream faster. This fast acting tendency of simple sugars gives a quick burst of energy by raising the blood sugar fast for a short period of time. A slow digesting or complex carbohydrate, on the other hand, is composed of multiple sugar polymers, which must be broken down to simpler forms before they can enter the blood stream. This means that the body takes longer to metabolize complex carbs and their effects are neither immediate nor short-lived.

Examples of Slow Digesting Carbs

Slow digesting or complex carbohydrates do not have any lesser calories than their fast digesting counterparts. However, what makes them better than simple carbs is the fact that while complex carbs introduce additional calories into your system, the body also burns calories in order to properly digest them and break them down into simpler sugars. Most complex carbohydrates are natural and they can be found in vegetarian as well as non vegetarian found sources.
Complex and slow burning carbohydrates help keep the blood glucose levels steady besides helping to regulate body fat as the rate of carb conversion is almost equal to or lower than the rate of carb consumption. Due to this equilibrium, no excess carbohydrates get a chance to accumulate, ruling out the conversion of the extra carbs into unwanted fats. The following list of slow digesting carbs include some of the best and most abundant sources of edible complex carbohydrates. Check it out.
  • Whole wheat
  • Whole wheat flour and bread
  • Brown rice
  • Whole grain cereal
  • Oatmeal
  • Whole grain pasta
  • Wheat germ
  • Black beans
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Lentils and legumes
  • Raisins
  • Nuts, figs and edible seeds
  • Buckwheat
  • Cornmeal
  • Barley
  • Bananas
  • Blueberries


  • Apples
  • Avocados
  • Apricots
  • Orange
  • Strawberries
  • Green leafy vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, etc.
  • Cultured dairy products
  • Soybean, soy milk and tofu
  • Plums
  • Prunes
  • Grapefruit
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Cucumbers
  • Artichokes
To put it in other words, most fruits, nuts, vegetables, food grains, pulses and oilseeds are a rich source of complex carbs. Additionally, the dietary fiber content in these incredible edibles just raises their negative calorific value a couple of notches higher! 
Cultured dairy products such as cottage cheese and yogurt are also good sources of carbohydrates as well as a lot of other fortifying nutrients.
Did you notice something throughout the entire story? All complex carbs mentioned here come from natural sources - the tacit fact that simple carbs come from man-made food products has been made conspicuous by the very act of omitting its explicit mention.