Carbohydrates are converted to glucose and raise your blood sugar. However, there are good carbohydrates and there are bad carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates (white flour, white breads, and pastas) are refined sugars; when you eat them they are quickly converted into glucose by your system. Unrefined carbohydrates are found in whole grains, fruits such as apples, pears and peach, beans, and many vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, radish, cucumber and capsicum. The fiber in these foods slows down the absorption of carbohydrates, and thereby the process of turning carbohydrates into glucose is also curbed.

If you snack on too many refined carbohydrates, an excess of glucose becomes quickly available to the body. And if you have diabetes, this may be catastrophic. In addition, the excess glucose gets stored as fat, causing weight gain. Some of the secondary implications of weight gain are high blood pressure, increase in bad cholesterol in the blood, coronary artery disease, stroke, arthritis, heavy snoring, fertility and pregnancy problems, physical discomfort and psychological stress, in the long run.

When the glucose in your body gets converted into fat, the blood glucose level falls, and in turn causes hunger pangs. In short, snacking on pasta that is mmade of refined flour, for instance, will not only play havoc with your blood sugar level, and cause weight gain, it will also give you just a short term relief from hunger. Such refined flours are milled and refined of their original, natural elements such fibres, good fats, vitamins and minerals. So a low carbohydrate snack of the unrefined variety is the way to go.

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