Other Predominantly Carbohydrate Foods

Other Predominantly Carbohydrate Foods :

1. Bananas and plantains :
– Plantains :
• that are picked green and are cooked before eating,
• frequently sun-dried and made into a flour.
• contain more starch and less sugar than bananas, which are usually eaten raw like other fruits.
• A 100-g portion of green bananas or plantains provides 32 g carbohydrate (mainly as starch), 1.2 g protein, 0.3 g fat and 135 kcal. Plantains also have a high water content.
• Their very low protein content explains why kwashiorkor commonly occurs in young children weaned on to a mainly plantain diet.

– Bananas:
• usually contain about 20 mg vitamin C and 120 mg vitamin A (as beta-carotene equivalent) per 100 g.
• low in their content of calcium, iron and B vitamins.
• bananas supply only 80 kcal per 100 g, about 2 kg must be eaten to provide 1 500 kcal.

2. Sago (Metroxylon sp.)
– almost pure starch and comes from the sago palm.
– Sago has low protein content.

3. Sugar
– almost 100 percent sucrose and pure carbohydrate.
– produced sugar comes from sugar cane or sugar beet.
– sugar is often inexpensive source of energy and can be a valuable addition to bulky energy-deficient diets.
– Contrary to popular belief, customary consumption of sugar is not related to obesity, diabetes, hypertension or any other non-communicable disease.
– Frequent sugar consumption can be associated with dental caries when coupled with poor oral hygiene, but sucrose is no more cariogenic than other fermentable sugars.
– White sugar contains no vitamins, protein, fat or minerals.
– Many people find that its sweet taste adds to the enjoyment of eating.
– The yields of energy per hectare of land are very high on productive sugar estates.

4. Honey
– From time immemorial honey has been extensively gathered in developing countries from wild hives.
– Now more and more hives are being kept, often in hollowed and suspended pieces of tree-trunk or in other more managed ways.
– The incentive to keep bees tends to be the high price of beeswax rather than just the honey.
– Honey has gained the false reputation of being of special nutritive value.
– In fact it contains only sugar (carbohydrate), water and minute traces of other nutrients.
– Although merely a so