Complex Carbohydrate Foods

What do complex carbohydrate foods have to do with master's running, diet, weight loss, and energy?

The answer is simple: it's sugar - or 'sugars' to be precise. We need a steady supply of sugars - energy - for any sustained sports activity. So why don't Olympic athletes diet on donuts and Pepsi? Gotta be some sugars there!

The answer is in the difference between complex carbohydrates - complex sugars - and simple carbohydrates.

Pop and sodas are simple carbohydrates. Drink a can of Coke, and you have quick energy uptake - all 330 or so calories. Simple carbohydrates spike sugar supply energy fast. The problem is that your energy - in the form of blood sugar - plummets just as fast. That's a problem for the master runner who's struggling to complete the last 10 km or 6 miles of an endurance event.

The problems with simple carbs don't confine themselves to race day. Up and down blood sugar spikes are linked to diabetes and other disease.

What are complex carbohydrates?

Complex carbohydrates are complex because they are long "strands" of sugars. The structure of sugar is chemically simple, but in "complex" carbohydrates you'll find these long sugar strands enclosed in the big starch molecules of fruits, peas, beans and other vegetables.

Examples of complex carbohydrate foods

Sugars are sugars no matter where they live! But complex carbohydrates like brown rice and whole grains release their sugars very slowly compared to the hyper active "kick those sugars out to the bloodstream" attitude of sugar sodas and pop.

Here's some good examples of complex carbohydrates:

• Sweet potato
• Oat bran bread
• All-Bran™
• Brown rice
• Pumpernickel bread
• Pastas
• Lentils
• Kidney beans
• Baked beans
• Chick peas
• Whole grain breads
• Oatmeal
• Whole grain flours
• Barley
  
• Potato

Complex carbohydrate foods summary

You can see from this list that choosing foods high in complex carbohydrates is easy and economical.

Foods high in complex carbohydrates deliver lasting energy for masters runners and exercise enthusiasts. Make complex carbohydrates part of your training plan. They are your source of long lasting energy.