Counting carbohydrates - includes list of foods with carbohydrates

Undoubtedly, as an athlete, you are well aware you should eat a carbohydrate-rich sports diet to fuel up muscles for training as well as to refuel them after hard workouts. The question often arises, "How many carbohydrates are enogh?" If you're weight-conscious you want to eat adequately to saturate your muscles with glycogen, but don't want to overeat and gain weight. If you're time-conscious you want to be sure to consume your share of carbs without indulging in too many of the fast-but-fatty convenience foods that fill your stomach and leave your muscles unfueled.

The ambiguous advice to eat a 60 to 70% carbohydrate sports diet may leave you clueless as to an appropriate food plan. Most people have inadequate knowledge of what a 60 to 70% carbohydrate diet includes. The simpler dietary advice to count grams of carbohydrates based on body weight prescribes three to four grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight to provide enough carbohydrates for your daily needs. If you're preparing for, or recovering from, prolonged exhaustive exercise such as training for a marathon or triathlon, four to five grams of carbohydrates per pound is a safer target.

This calculation closely approximates the recommended 60 to 70% carbohydrate target sports diet. For example, a petite 100-pound figure skater who burns about 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day would get about 65% of those calories from carbohydrates by eating three to four grams per pound of her weight. A 150-pound marathon runner who burns about 2,800 to 3,700 calories when running seven to 15 miles a day, would get 65% of these calories from carbs by eating three to four grams of carbohydrates per pound (450 to 600 grams of carbs per day).

With your carbohydrate target and food labels, you can count grams of carbohydrates by reading the nutrition labels on packaged foods. For example, at breakfast, a label-reading athlete who needs 400 grams of carbohydrates per day can get 150 grams under the belt by eating one cup of Grapenuts (92 grams) with 1/4 cup raisins (25 grams), one cup milk (10 grams) plus one cup of orange juice (25 grams). this carbohydrate counting system is particularly educational and helpful to those who fantasize about "carbo-loading" on items such as potato chips. They'll quickly discover they'd be better off eating pretzels which provide 57 grams of carbohydrates per 300-colorie snack, as opposed to only 21 grams gained from chips.

For unlabelled items such as fruits, fresh vegetables or bakery items, a calorie and carbohydrate guidebook, commonly available at bookstores, is helpful. Or, you can find an equivalent packaged food with a label. For example, the label on frozen green beans will tell you the amount of carbs you'd get in the equivalent weight of fresh green beans. A Sara Lee bagel would have a carbohydrate content similar to a bakery bagel.

Remember, to accurately count carbohydrates, you have to measure the amount of the food item that you eat. For example, one serving (one ounce) of cereal may have 20 grams of carbohydrates. But mostrunners eat three or four ounces and get that many more carbohydrates.

The following is a quantity list for basic foods, to help you maintain a healthy carbohydrate count.

Breakfast Cereals            Grams CHO
Granola, 1 ounce (1/4 cup)                              18
Raisin Bran, 1 ounce (1/2 cup)                          20
Shredded Wheat, 1 ounce (2/3 cup)                       22
Grapenuts, 1 ounce (1/4 cup)                            23
Oatmeal, 1 package                                      30
Fruits
Apple, medium                                           20
Orange, medium                                          20
Banana, medium                                          25
Pear, medium                                            25
Raisins, 15 ounce box (1/4 cup)                         25
Apricots, 8 halves dried                                30
Vegetables
Zucchini, 1/2 cup                                        4
Broccoli, 1 stalk (1/2 cup)                              5
Green beans, 1/2 cup                                     7
Carrot, medium                                          10
Peas  1/2 cup                                           10
Tomato sauce, Ragu, 1/2 cup                             10
Winter squash, 1/2 cup                                  15
Corn, 1/2 cup                                           18
Bread-Type Foods
Rice cake, 1                                             7
Graham crakers, 2 squares                               10
Croissant, 1 Sara Lee                                   11
Saltines, 6                                             15
Waffle, 1 Eggo                                          17
English Muffin, 1                                       25
Matzo, 1 sheet                                          28
Panacakes, 2 (4 inch)                                   30
Pita bread, 8-inch round                                44
Bagel, average (3 ounces)                               45
Bran Muffin, 1 large                                    45
Submarine roll, 8 inch                                  60
Beverages
Gatorade, 8 ounces                                      10
Milk, 2%, 8 ounces                                      13
Beer, 12-ounce can                                      13
Milk, chocolate, 8 ounces                               25
Orange juice, 8 ounces                                  25
Apple juice, 8 ounces                                   30
Apricott nectar, 8 ounces                               35
Cranraspberry, 8 ounces                                 36
Cola, 12-ounce can                                      38
Grains, Pasta, Starches
Ramen noodles, 1/2 package                              25
Rice, 1/4 cup dry; 1 cup cooked                         35
Spaghetti, 2 ounces dry; 1 cup cooked                   40
Lentils, 1 cup cooked                                   40
Baked beans, 1 cup                                      50
Baked Potato, 1 large                                   55
Entrees, Convenience Foods
Split pea soup, 1 bowl                                  35
Big Mac                                                 40
Pizza, cheese, 2 slices                                 40
Chili, 1 cup                                            45
Bean Burrito, 1                                         50
Sweets, Desserts, Snacks
Oreo, 1                                                  7
Chocolate chip cookie, 1 small                          10
Fig Newton, 1                                           11
Strawberry jam, 1 tablespoon                            13
Honey, 1 tablespoon                                     15
Maple Syrup, 2 tablespoons                              25
Poptart, blueberry                                      35
Soft-serve ice cream, 1 cup                             40
Fruit yogurt, 1 cup                                     40

Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D. is a nutritional counselor at Boston area's Sports Medicine Brookline, and author of The Athlete's Kitchen and Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (both available through New England Sports Publications, P. O. Box 252, Boston, MA 02113).

COPYRIGHT 1992 Aerobics and Fitness Association of America
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group