In addition to the energy from fats and proteins, the body also receives energy through carbohydrates, which are mainly important for the immediately available energy for the brain, muscles and red blood cells. In addition to providing energy, carbohydrates give a sweet taste to the food. Carbohydrates can be divided into 2 categories, namely simple/refined or multiple/complex.
SINGLE/REFINED CARBOHYDRATES
Examples of simple/refined carbohydrates that are not recommended to eat and drink a lot are:
- White bread
- White pasta
- White rice
- Cookies
- Sweets
- Soft drink
- Fruit juices
- Alcohol
- Sweet snacks
- Ready-made meals
- Processed grain products
- Sauces
- All products with more than 5% sugars
MULTIPLE/COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
The multiple carbohydrates are chains of simple carbohydrates. They are found in grains (bread, rice, pasta, etc.), potatoes, legumes and vegetables and do not taste sweet. Complex carbohydrates can be divided into digestible carbohydrates or starch and non-digestible carbohydrates or dietary fiber.
Examples of multiple/complex carbohydrates:
- Potatoes
- Brown rice
- Whole-weat pasta
- Couscous
- Whole grain bread
- Breakfast cereals
- Oats
- Other grains such as rye and barley
DIGESTIBLE OR INDIGESTIBLE
The body can absorb the digestible carbohydrates and use them directly as an energy source. Monosaccharides and carbohydrates are broken down in the small intestine, which are classified as digestible carbohydrates. Non-digestible carbohydrates are dietary fibers, which have an important function for the intestines.
Dietary fiber serves as a source for (good) bacteria that live in our intestines, mainly in the large intestine. These bacteria convert the fibers into useful nutrients that can be used, for example, by the cells in the intestinal wall as an energy source.
THE DISC OF FIVE
The Wheel of Five can help you find out the recommended amounts of all the nutrients you need.
The Wheel of Five focuses on the following recommended points (see figure 1):
- Fruits and vegetables
- Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
- Spreading and cooking fats
- Use soft and liquid fats
- Dairy, nuts, fish, legumes, meat and eggs
- Vary with meat
- Fish (preferably oily fish)
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Eggs
- Vegetarian products
- Bread, grain products and potatoes
- Especially take whole grain products
- Drinks
- Consume drinks without sugar
Recommended quantities Wheel of five
It is important that you find a diet that largely meets the points below.
| Nutrition guidelines for women per day (voedingscentrum, 2022) | Nutrition guidelines for men per day (voedingscentrum, 2022) |
| 250 grams of vegetables | 250 grams of vegetables |
| 2 portions of fruit | 2 portions of fruit |
| 4-5 brown/whole wheat sandwiches | 6-8 brown/whole wheat sandwiches |
| 4-5 serving spoons of whole grain products or 4-5 potatoes | 4-5 serving spoons of whole grains products or 4-5 potatoes |
| 1 portion of fish/legumes/meat | 1 portion of fish/legumes/meat |
| 25 grams of unsalted nuts | 25 grams of unsalted nuts |
| 2-3 portions of dairy | 2-3 portions of dairy |
| 40 gram cheese | 40 gram cheese |
| 40 grams of spreading and cooking fats | 65 grams of spreading and cooking fats |
| 1,5 – 2 liter of fluid | 1,5 – 2 liter of fluid |
Table 1: Wheel of Five Guidelines (Nutrition Center, 2022)
Additional points of attention
- Eat and drink mainly from the Wheel of Five
- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
- Mainly whole grain products
- Vary with meat, fish, legumes, nuts, eggs and vegetarian products
- Use soft and liquid fats
- Drinks without sugar
- Vary within the subjects every day
- Don’t eat the same vegetables over and over and make sure your diet doesn’t become one-sided. Every vegetable contains different nutrients.
- As few products outside the Wheel of Five as possible
- As much as possible, avoid products with a lot of calories, such as sweets, cookies, pastries, snacks, sweet spreads, sauces, soft drinks and alcohol.
- Replace snacks from outside the target group with healthier alternatives such as carrots, tomatoes, cucumber or fruit.
- Do not take juices and smoothies in between meals. Juices and smoothies sound very healthy, but they generally contain a lot of sugars and therefore calories.
- Focus on fruit and vegetables and leave out high-calorie products more often. Instead of white rice, choose brown rice or zucchini rice and the like.
Glycemic index
Below is a list of some products with a high glycemic index (GI) and products with a long glycemic index.
| High GI products | Low GI products |
| White rice – pasta | Legumes |
| (White) bread | Nuts and seeds |
| Fries – potatoes | Silver fleece and brown rice |
| Grape sugar | Tofu |
| Soft drinks | Dark fruits |
| Beer | Whole grain products – pasta (al dente) |
| Cornflakes | Dairy – milk – low-fat yoghurt |
| Pineapple | Apples, pear |
| Banana | Oranges |
| Sweet potato baked | Sweet potato boiled |
| Pumpkin | Bitter chocolate (minimum 72% cocoa) |
| Sirup | Soybeans, cooked |
| Parsnip | Onion, garlic |
| Potato chips | Raw carrots |
| Starch | Quinoa |
Table 4: Products with high or low GI
Many factors influence the glycemic index, causing the GI to rise or fall. Carbohydrates can be combined with fats, proteins and/or dietary fiber, which reduces the effect on blood sugar peaks. Eating raw foods also has a lower GI. The longer you cook or bake a food, the more its GI will increase. That is why cold products have a lower GI than the same warm products.
READ LABELS
Reading a label is useful when you:
- Want to know how much sugar is in the product.
- Want to compare 2 products to make a healthier choice.
- Want to know what is in a product.
- Want to know how a product is made.
- Want to know where the product comes from.
- Want to know if the product is sustainable.
- Want to know where to store the product.
- Have a food allergy.
Various parts can be read on the label. This way the product description and ingredients can be viewed. This describes what is in it and how much. The product description is often before or above the ingredients list. The ingredients always have a mandatory order, namely what is at the front contains the most.
The nutritional values can also be checked. Nutritional values are usually in a table, showing the amount of calories, proteins, fats, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars and salt that a product contains.
CARBOHYDRATES OF WHICH SUGARS 5%
Manufacturers also use many other names for sugar. It appears as if it contains no sugars, but when the words juice, nectar, syrup, syrup and words ending in sugar or oasis are included, the product still contains some form of sugar. Under the heading carbohydrates there is always a point ‘of which sugars’. The advice is to minimize these sugars to a maximum of 5% of the total nutritional intake.
