Nutrients in Carbohydrates

Recap

In my post Calories in Carbohydrates, I looked at level, types and quality of the energy that our bodies could get from the various complex carb sources (eg potato, pasta, bread, rice) - always with half an eye on weight management.  This time I'm looking at these essential food sources from the point of view of what kind of nutrients do they have.

So What Have We Got?

Once again there's a table below with all the key complex carbs, this time the table isn't sorted because there isn't any clear way of organizing into a single view.

So I'll start with a fairly well known story about rice and the disease Beriberi (see Wikipedia Beriberi), caused by a deficit of Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) - as the story goes a Dutch doctor in Java found that prisoners eating white rice developed the disease, whereas those fed brown rice did not ... ironically, the table below doesn't bear that out - the reason being that white rice is very often fortified in developed countries to combat that very problem!

Fiber

From the grid, you can pretty easily see that brown/wholegrain foods deliver better on the fiber front than their refined alternatives.  Fiber is primarily used to help digestion, without being digestible itself: it gives the body something to push against and the bacteria in the gut something to feed on.  Getting an adequate quantity of fiber has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of many cancers and heart conditions.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is necessary for healthy eyes, skin and linings of things like the digestive tracts (among other things); you'll find it as beta-carotene in brightly coloured fruit and veg ... too much can cause horrible things like birth defects, liver disorders and can increase the bone breakdown!  Note that sweet potatoes deliver a massive kick of Vitamin A!

B Vitamins

These are associated with energy production - converting stored sugars, fat and protein into energy to move, think and exist.  they are involved in all the processes that get you moving (eg nervous system, healthy heart, blood production) and the most commonly added to enrich food.  In the table you can see a fairly even distribution of B Vitamins throughout the carb sources, until you get to Folate (Folic Acid); in developed countries Folate is routinely added to grain products (especially flour) as a guard against birth defects.

Vitamin C

Potatoes deliver a healthy punch of Vitamin C, but that's one vitamin that anyone who eats plenty of fruit and veg will get enough of anyway.

Vitamin D

Wasn't measured in the sources I was using, so I can't report of it's quantities.

Vitamin E

Is an important antioxidant and has a key role in nourishing cells; it's rarely added to food, and is naturally higher in the brown and wholegrain foods below.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting (see Discovery of Vitamin K at Wikipedia), but its levels are pretty low in the sources listed below (one mg = 1000 mcg).

Minerals

Generally, unrefined carbohydrate sources have a much higher level of minerals than their refined equivalents (ie wholegrain/brown is better for you than white), but potatoes (both types) deliver one hell of a big punch in the potassium department: it has a key role, along with reduced sodium intake, in reducing and managing blood pressure.  Then compare potatoes' Sodium content with the other sources: it's much, much lower - potatoes, when prepared in a healthy manner (ie not fried, roasted, mashed with butter or made to actually taste like anything) could have a major roll in managing blood pressure!

before I write off other complex carb sources, just take a look at wholegrain bread's phosphorus, magnesium and calcium content.  These three minerals are crucial for bone and teeth development, as well as energy, the nervous system and healthy brain functioning.

Food	RDA - 35 year old 65kg male * approx - no RDA exists	Wholegrain Bread	White Bread	Potato	Sweet Potato	Brown Rice	White Rice	Brown Pasta	White Pasta	Egg Noodles	Brown Bread
Fibre	24* g	7 g	3 g	4 g	7 g	2 g	1 g	4.5 g	1.2g	3 g	6 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A	900.0 mcg	0.0 IU	0.0 IU	10.0 IU	38433 IU	0.0 IU	0.0 IU	4.0 IU	0.0 mg	62.0 IU	3 IU
Thiamin	1.2 mg	0.3 mg	0.4 mcg	0.1 mg	0.2 mg	0.1 mg	0.3 mg	0.2 mg	0.0 mg	0.2 mg	0.3 mg
Riboflavin	1.3 mg	0.1 mg	0.3 mg	0.1 mg	0.2 mg	0.0 mg	0..0 mg	0.1 mg	0.0 mg	0.1 mg	0.2 mg
Niacin	16.0 mg	4.0 mg	3.9 mg	3.1 mg	3.0 mg	1.5 mg	2.3 mg	1.0 mg	0.4 mg	2.1 mg	4.0 mg
Vitamin B6	1.3 mg	0.3 mg	0.1 mg	0.6 mg	0.6 mg	0.1 mg	0.1 mg	0.1 mg	0.0 mg	0.2 mg	0.2 mg
Folate	400 mcg	75.0 mcg	104 mcg	22.0 mcg	12.0 mcg	4.0 mcg	91.6 mcg	7.0 mcg	7.0 mcg	29.0 mcg	65.0 mg
Vitamin B12	2.4 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	~	0.0 mcg	0.3 mcg	0.0 mcg
Pantothenic Acid	5.0* mg	0.3 mg	0.3 mg	0.9 mg	1.8 mg	0.3 mg	0.6 mg	0.6 mg	0.1 mg	0.9 mg	0.5 mg
Vitamin C	90.0 mg	0.1 mg	0.0 mg	13.5 mg	39.2 mg	0.0 mg	0.0 mg	0.0 mg	0.0 mg	0.0 mg	0 mg
Vitamin D	5.0* mcg	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Vitamin E	15.0 mg	0.4 mcg	0.2 mg	0.0 mg	1.4 mg	0.0 mg	0.1 mg	0.4 mg	0.1 mg	0.4 mg	0.8 mg
Vitamin K	120.0* mg	1.4 mcg	3.4 mg	1.7 mcg	4.6 mcg	0.6 mcg	0.0 mcg	1.0 mcg	0.0 mcg	0.5 mcg	9.4 mcg
Minerals
Calcium	1,000.0 mg	103 mg	119 mg	34.0 mg	76.0 mg	10.0 mg	15.8 mg	21.0 mg	7.0 mg	35.0 mg	33.0 mg
Iron	8.0 mg	2.5 mg	3.3 mg	7.0 mg	1.4 mg	0.4 mg	1.9 mg	1.5 mg	1.3 mg	1.9 mg	3.1 mg
Magnesium	420.0 mg	78.0 mg	26.0 mg	43.0 mg	54.0 mg	43.0 mg	19.0 mg	42.0 mg	18.0 mg	58.0 mg	81.0 mg
Phosphorus	700.0 mg	228.0 mg	103 mg	101 mg	108.0 mg	83.0 mg	68.0 mg	125.0 mg	58.0 mg	241.0 mg	187.0 mg
Potassium	4.7* mg	230.0 mg	131 mg	573 mg	950.0 mg	43.0 mg	55.3 mg	62.0 mg	44.0 mg	244.0 mg	314.0 mg
Sodium	1.5* mg	420.0 mg	592 mg	21.0 mg	72.0 mg	5.0 mg	1.6 mg	4.0 mg	1.0 mg	21.0 mg	346.0 mg
Zinc	11.0 mg	1.7 mg	0.7 mg	0.5 mg	0.6 mg	0.6 mg	0.8 mg	1.1 mg	0.5 mg	1.9 mg	1.5 mg
Copper	900.0 mcg	0.3 mg	0.1 mg	0.8 mg	0.3 mg	0.1 mg	0.1 mg	0.2 mg	0.1 mg	0.3 mg	0.3 mg
Manganese	2.3* mg	2.0 mg	0.4 mg	0.6 mg	1.0 mg	0.9 mg	0.7 mg	1.9 mg	0.3 mg	0.9 mg	1.9 mg
Selenium	55.0 mcg	32.9 mcg	31.0 mcg	0.7 mcg	0.4 mcg	9.8 mcg	11.9 mcg	36.3 mcg	26.4 mcg	78.8 mcg	38.6 mcg