Theola Walden Baker wrote:

> All vegetables and fruits contain carbs.  Then is it simply the *amount* of
> carbs in a given food or is it a specific *kind* of carb (e.g., as per Am
> Her C6H10O5) that causes some foods to be labeled as *starches* and others
> not?  Gee, I hope that's clear........because I'm anything but clear on the


From the standpoint of the eater, a starch is a carbohydrate, composed
of sugars. It breaks down more slowly than simple sugars because it
takes time for our digestive enzymes to break apart the sugars, which
then need to be reduced to glucose to be used for energy. This process
is slower or faster depending on the exact construction of the sugars
making up the starch.

White bread, for example, begins breaking down to sugars fast enough
to taste in the mouth. It is not much different from eating candy in
terms of its effect on the body. Other starches are very tough, and
require the specialised stomaches of herbivorous animals to break
down.

The term is so broad, as to be nearly useless in predicting the
effects of a food on the body. Some starches will pass through
undigested, others will enter the bloodstream in minutes.