The Indian Vegan Kitchen_ More Than 150 Quick and Healthy Homestyle Recipes - Madhu Gadia [13]
Carbs: Energy to Go
Carbohydrates are your most important source of food energy, powering everything from breathing to thinking to running. As with any healthy diet, the carbohydrates in a vegan diet should consist of 55 to 60 percent of total calories. In a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, that’s 1,100 to 1,200 calories from carbohydrates.
Over the last decade or so, carbs have received a bad rap. High protein-low carbohydrate diets have been promoted for quick weight loss. These diets are not balanced and have been unsuccessful in long-term weight loss. If you eat too many total calories, excess calories will be stored as fat—whether they’re from carbohydrate protein, or fat.
Worrying about simple and complex carbohydrates can be confusing. Some simple carbohydrate foods are high in fiber and nutrients, such as fruits; and some complex carbohydrate foods, such as processed white flour, are low in fiber. Rather, let’s shift the focus to nutrient density and fiber content of foods. Dietary fiber comes primarily from carbohydrates and is loaded with health benefits.
Fiber: Your Body’s Broom
In general terms, fiber refers to complex carbohydrates that your body cannot digest or absorb—instead it is eliminated. High-fiber intake is one of the numerous benefits of the all-plant diets. Dietary fiber helps protect us against almost every major chronic disease that plagues modern civilization, including heart disease, cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and obesity.
Health experts recommend that most adults should consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day. That is 15 to 22 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed. A person on a 2,000-calorie diet should eat 30 to 44 grams of fiber per day.
Which Fiber and Why?
Fibers are the structural components of plants, which gives food its shape. Two types of fiber—insoluble and soluble—are characterized by how they dissolve in water. Both types of fiber are important to your health and can be found in plant-based foods.
Insoluble fiber can be found in whole wheat products, corn, and the skins of many fruits and vegetables. Insoluble fiber is termed “nature’s broom,” since it helps regulate your bowel movements by reducing the transit time of undigested food through the intestines.
Soluble fiber is found in oats, barley, dried beans and peas, and many fruits and vegetables (such as carrots, apples, and oranges). When soluble fiber combines with water in the digestive tract, it binds to nutrients such as cholesterol and escorts them out of the body.
Both types of fiber have been shown to reduce blood glucose levels in people with diabetes. High-fiber foods digest more slowly than processed foods and thus help regulate blood sugar levels so you don’t experience peaks and valleys in your energy levels throughout the day. Eating fiber-rich foods also gives you a sense of fullness, which can help you reduce your total daily caloric intake.
Too much of any food component is not good for you, even fiber. Excessive fiber can make your diet too bulky, which can jeopardize absorption of some nutrients such as calcium, iron, and zinc. In general, vegan diets will not result in excessive intake of fiber unless you add concentrated fiber foods such as wheat bran to whole foods.
Reducing Intestinal Gas
Gas production is a normal, healthy function of the intestines, but unfortunately abdominal bloating can be uncomfortable. Here are some things you can do to help digest fiber-rich foods and minimize side effects:
1. Eat small portions of foods such as beans and cruciferous vegetables (those in the cabbage