About this Resource
Carbohydrates are commonly classified according to their chemical structure as either ‘simple’ or ‘complex’ depending on the number of sugar units (saccharides) bound together within the molecule. Despite the apparent simplicity of this classification, this handout makes the case that such a distinction is not that helpful from the perspective of nutrition. In part, this is because foods rarely fall neatly into either category.
Grounded in the Research
Carbohydrates can be classified into the broad categories of simple or complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates can be further broken-down into monosaccharides (eg, glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (eg, sucrose and lactose). Complex carbohydrates are either starch or fiber … Thus, the term carbohydrate describes a diverse macronutrient
Excerpt from: Griel, A. E., Ruder, E. H., & Kris-Etherton, P. M. (2006). The changing roles of dietary carbohydrates: from simple to complex. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 26(9), 1958-1965.
References
[1] Corgneau, M., Gaiani, C., Petit, J., Nikolova, Y., Banon, S., Ritié‐Pertusa, L., … & Scher, J. (2019). Digestibility of common native starches with reference to starch granule size, shape and surface features towards guidelines for starch‐containing food products. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 54(6), 2132-2140. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.14120
[2] So, D., Whelan, K., Rossi, M., Morrison, M., Holtmann, G., Kelly, J. T., … & Campbell, K. L. (2018). Dietary fiber intervention on gut microbiota composition in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 107(6), 965-983. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy041
[3] Reynolds, A. N., Akerman, A. P., & Mann, J. (2020). Dietary fibre and whole grains in diabetes management: Systematic review and meta-analyses. PLoS medicine, 17(3), e1003053. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003053
[4] Marshall, S., Petocz, P., Duve, E., Abbott, K., Cassettari, T., Blumfield, M., & Fayet-Moore, F. (2020). The effect of replacing refined grains with whole grains on cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with GRADE clinical recommendation. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120(11), 1859-1883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2020.06.021