Carbs In Strawberries
Counting Carbs in Strawberries and Other Foods
When counting carbs in strawberries and other foods, keep in mind that there are both good and bad carbohydrates. Carbs are sometimes seen as the bad guy because of the many popular low-carb diets and some misinformation. The truth is that carbs are a vital and necessary part of a healthy diet – the good carbs that is.
It is not uncommon for weight problems to stem from eating too many carbs, but we are not talking about healthy carbs here. The bad carbs that are responsible for packing on the pounds come from simple sugars that are found in unhealthy processed foods. These are the carbs that should be cut out of the diet, not the carbs in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables.
What is a carbohydrate?
A carb is one of the three basic nutrients in the food we eat that gives us energy, which comes in the form of calories. Calories are made up of carbs, fats and proteins, and all of the food we eat – and most of what we drink – has calories.
There are carbs in a wide variety of foods that are an important part of a healthy and balanced diet. The foods highest in carbs are usually found in the bread and grain group: cereal, breads, pasta, and rice. Fruits and vegetables also contain carbs, so you can see that carbs are an essential part of eating a balanced diet.
A healthy diet should include carbs, fats and protein. Nutritionists recommend balancing out these 3 nutrients at meal times and trying not to overdo any of them. Proteins are in fish, meat, poultry and eggs. There is also protein in dairy products like cheese and legumes, or beans. Fat is highest in butter and oil, but it is also found in many dairy products and certain meats as well. Eating foods that have a lot of fat can easily lead to weight gain, because our bodies can only burn off so much fat.
Weight gain happens when we eat more calories than we use on a regular basis. This can be prevented in 2 ways: eating less and exercising. Everyone needs a certain number of calories on a daily basis, and we use these calories as energy to fuel our daily activities. When our calorie intake exceeds the calories we use up, the result is extra weight.
Cutting carbs to lose weight
There are a number of popular diets that call for dramatically cutting or completely eliminating carbs from the diet. Unfortunately, cutting out all carbs means removing the carbs in strawberries along with the carbs in potato chips. And the carbs in fruits and vegetables – the good carbs – come with loads of other nutrients that are needed for good health.
If you want to lose weight by cutting out carbs, it is the bad carbs that must be the focus of the diet – not the good carbs. Although cutting all carbs does lead to weight loss in some cases, it is not healthy in the long run because the diet becomes severely out of balance. In order to lose weight and stay healthy, cut out the bad carbs and balance out the other nutrients during meal times and snack times.
Exercise is a much better way to take off some extra weight, and works amazingly well when combined with a balanced diet. A healthy diet will include carbs, along with protein and fat, but they will be good carbs that are full of vitamins and good nutrition.