High-carbohydrate foods can be grouped into the available carbohydrate type and non-available carbohydrate type. Available carbohydrates are digestible by digestive enzymes, absorbed in the form of glucose by the small intestine, and metabolized by body cells, such as glucose, disaccharides, digestible oligosaccharides, and starch (rapidly digestible starch and slowly digestible starch). Non-available carbohydrates are indigestable by digestive enzymes, unabsorbed in the form of glucose by the small intestine, and unmetabolized by body cells, such as fiber, resistant starch, oligosaccharides (fructooligosaccharides and galactooligosaccharides), raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose. Food with high available carbohydrates has a high glycemic index (GI). Food with non-available high carbohydrates has a low GI. The available carbohydrate can be turned into non-available due to chemical modification, processing, or interacting with other components. A literature review on the relationship between high-carbohydrate foods and the glycemic index needs to be done thoroughly. A thorough understanding of high-carbohydrate foods should be not only considered from the high or low carbohydrate level perspectives but also the type of carbohydrates, how they are processed, and how much is consumed. This knowledge might help people in choosing their foods, especially foods with a high carbohydrate content.
keywords: available carbohydrate, glycemic index, high carbohydrate, non-available carbohydrate