The good and bad of sugar
While current research has shown that people in general have reduced their fat intake, there are more alarming findings about sugar intake. Obesity has now been declared a global epidemic and statistical evidence suggests that obesity has more to do with sugar consumption than fat consumption.
We need a reasonable understanding of the different sugars in order to make the right decisions. As this may be too technical for some people, I have relegated a list of definitions to the end of this article.
Sugars of a type are found naturally in foods like fruits and vegetables. Processed sugars that have a different constitution are added to foods, fruit juices, and other beverages as sweeteners to make products more palatable. Herein lies the difference between good and bad.
We need to differentiate between sugars classified as monosaccharides and disaccharides and then we must familiarize ourselves with the terms fructose, saccharose, glucose, lactoseand galactose. So there is the role glucose vs. glycogen in our bodies. It gets complicated, so let’s get on with the essentials.
Monosaccharides
Monosaccharides are the simplest form of sugar and include fructose, glucose and galactose.
Fructose It is found naturally in fruits, honey, berries, and most tubers. Your consumption of foods in which it occurs naturally is healthy. Other monosaccharides include glucose and galactose.
A US survey reveals that about 9% of the average caloric intake comes from fructose. Only one third of this fructose comes from fruits, while the other two thirds come from added refined sugars; This is where you will find a correlation between unhealthy sugar consumption and obesity.
Disaccharides
Disaccharidesare carbohydrates that are created when two monosaccharides They are united. The best known disaccharides it is saccharose, commonly known as table sugar, in which a fructose molecule binds with a glucose molecule. Another common disaccharide is lactose, found only in milk, in which a glucose and a molecule of galactose combine.
Glucose
Glucose it is a sugar that our metabolism converts into energy. Our brain and other tissues require a constant supply of glucose in the blood to survive. Glucose, transported through the bloodstream, is the main source of energy for the body’s cells; It is the main source of metabolic fuel for most organisms, from bacteria to humans.
Our body produces glucose when we digest the sugar and starch contained in carbohydrates. These foods include rice, cereals, pasta, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. Enzymes break down starch and sugar into glucose, which is absorbed into the bloodstream. Glucose combines with insulin and together they provide energy for our muscles and brain.
It is vital for our health to keep glucose levels within a normal range. Because energy originates from the food we eat, our body has a mechanism to maintain a normal range. This mechanism is established in our liver that stores excess glucose as glycogen.
Glucose and glycogen
Our body absorbs glucose from the food we eat and obviously this can happen irregularly. Glucose that the body does not use immediately becomes glycogen.
Glycogen is a chain of glucose subunits stored primarily in the liver and in our muscles. This glycogen is used to buffer our blood glucose level. For example, our muscles use glycogen stored in the liver for energy during intense exercise.
What is important in our quest for fat loss is the fact that any glucose that exceeds energy and storage needs as glycogen is converted to fat. This is the underlying cause of the common argument that states the following:
- The fruit contains fructose.
- Fructose turns into fat.
- If you want to lose fat, don’t eat fruit.
This argument is essentially false because it ignores the way our bodies metabolize fructose.
Fructose and glycogen
Fructose may to stimulate lipogenesis which means the accumulation and storage of fat. However, fructose is mainly stored in our liver as glycogen. The liver can comfortably handle a daily intake of 50 grams of fructose without storing additional fat and can store 100 grams of glycogen.
This is an important observation. A normal piece of fresh fruit contains about 6-7 grams of fructose, so you would need to eat more than 5-7 pieces of fruit in a day to absorb 50 g. On the contrary, you can very easily absorb more than 50g of fructose by drinking lots of carbonated soft drinks or drinks sweetened with fructose corn syrup.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has increased dramatically and is now one of the leading contributors to obesity. You must understand the following misconceptions:
- People mistake HFCS for fructose that is naturally found in fresh fruit.
- The total weight of a piece of fruit is not composed of fructose; most of the weight is fiber.
conclusion
You will not suffer harmful effects from eating several pieces of fresh fruit daily. What you should avoid is the consumption of HFCS and processed sugars that are added as sweeteners to food and beverage products.
Additional definitions:
Fructose
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is one of the three foods monosaccharides, the other two are glucose and galactose. All three are absorbed into our bloodstream during digestion.
Fructose is a natural sugar that is typically found in fruits, honey, berries, and most tubers. It is the most water soluble of all sugars. In plants, fructose can exist as a monosaccharide and / or a component of saccharose. in scientific terms called disaccharide.
Commercially, fructose is derived from sugar cane, sugar beets, and corn. Derived from these sources, it comes in three forms:
- Crystalline fructoseIt is the monosaccharide and has a high purity when it has been dried and ground.
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a mixture of glucose and fructose.
- Saccharose (see definition below) is commonly added to foods, fruit juices, and other beverages to enhance flavor.
Saccharose
Sucrose is a complex carbohydrate that occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables and is found in higher amounts in sugar cane and sugar beets. The food industry separates the sugar from these plants to produce table sugar and sweeteners that are added to food, fruit juices, and other beverages.
During digestion, sucrose is broken down into its constituent monosaccharides, glucose and fructose. Glucose and fructose molecules are absorbed into our bloodstream and cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels. This can cause problems for people with hypoglycemia or diabetes.
Galactose
This is a simple sugar found in lactose which is less sweet than glucose (sugar table). It’s a monosaccharide (see above) that comes mainly from milk and dairy products. Galactose is mainly metabolized in our liver into glucose 1-phosphate.
Lactose
A sugar made up of galactose and glucose It is found mainly in milk, where it is present in 2-8% by weight. When we consume milk, an enzyme called lactase breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose. Due to hereditary factors in food sources, Europeans are generally much more lactose tolerant than those in Africa and Asia. Lactose intolerant people can suffer bloating and flatulence when they consume dairy products.