Not forgetting carbohydrates… Available to Purchase

During recent years interest in nutrition has tended to be centred upon the need for vitamins, the importance of proteins, the energy promoting qualities of fat, upon mineral requirements and similar topics. Thus much attention has been directed to the role that vitamins play in promoting health and the necessity for meeting their recommended daily intakes. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that the contribution that carbohydrates make to the diet has tended to be overlooked and even forgotten. Furthermore carbohydrates have at times, been actually incriminated and considered undesirable. An instance of this is the alleged association of the consumption of larger amounts of purified white sugar with an increase in the prevalence of ischaemic heart disease. It will be the purpose of this article to ‘restore the balance’ of the importance and usefulness of carbohydrates in our diet.