How much white poison do you eat? (Part 1 of 2)
What exactly are you doing to your body when you eat foods containing sugar?
There are various diet plans available that suggest limiting Carbohydrate intake to help reduce weight. Adkins is probably the most well known for this.
The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences recommends a minimum of 130g (approx 5oz) carbohydrate per day to maintain maximum brain
function.
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine Advocates that 55-65% total energy consumed daily should come from carbohydrates (300 - 450g)(12-15oz).
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization jointly advocate 55-75% of total energy per day come from carbohydrates.
What is a Carbohydrate?
Chemically, a carbohydrate is made up from molecules of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Carbohydrates are more commonly known as sugars. Some Carbohydrates
are more complex than others. It is the level of complexity that determines whether they are good for us or not.
If you can imagine the different carbohydrates as different models made up from a construction set.
In this set there are three basic building bricks, glucose (blood sugar), fructose (from fruit), and galactose(found in Milk). Fructose and galactose are
broken down by our liver to glucose. In order for our bodies to use the carbohydrates we eat for energy they must be broken down into the smallest component
- glucose.
If we made models using our building bricks we can construct representations of sugars we eat.
1 A model made up of two glucose bricks would give us Maltose. This is the sugar found in beer and sprouting grains.
2 A model made up of glucose and fructose would represent sucrose, the table sugar made from sugar beet or cane.
3 A model made up of galactose and glucose would represent lactose, the sugar in milk and dairy products.
More complex models made up of many chains of bricks represent complex carbohydrates that require being broken down into their individual bricks (glucose)
before they can be absorbed.
Insulin, the hormone associated with diabetes, is produced by the body to convert the glucose into a usable form of energy. When a simple carbohydrate,
maltose, sucrose, or lactose is eaten the digestion is fast the body detects large amounts of glucose so it produces large amounts of insulin. Since we are
designed to eat more complex carbohydrates, our systems are really designed to deal with carbohydrates that digest more slowly, it is fooled into thinking
that there is a lot more glucose to work with than in reality there is and it over produces insulin. As a consequence, once the glucose has been processed
excess insulin is still present giving the feeling of hunger.
This could be the reason why you still feel hungry shortly after eating a large meal or something very sweet.
Another way in which the body reacts is the sugar high, feeling - nausea or discomfort after eating too many sweet things such as candy.
A complex carbohydrate has many stages of breakdown to go through before becoming individual glucose bricks. The body sees this as only a few bricks at a
time and produces much lower quantities of insulin at a much slower rate. As a result all of the insulin is used up on all of the glucose and you do not
suffer from pangs of hunger or sugar highs caused by an imbalance of insulin waiting for something to work on.
What exactly are you doing to your body when you eat foods containing sugar?
There are various diet plans available that suggest limiting Carbohydrate intake to help reduce weight. Adkins is probably the most well known for this.
The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences recommends a minimum of 130g (approx 5oz) carbohydrate per day to maintain maximum brain
function.
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine Advocates that 55-65% total energy consumed daily should come from carbohydrates (300 - 450g)(12-15oz).
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization jointly advocate 55-75% of total energy per day come from carbohydrates.
What is a Carbohydrate?
Chemically, a carbohydrate is made up from molecules of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Carbohydrates are more commonly known as sugars. Some Carbohydrates
are more complex than others. It is the level of complexity that determines whether they are good for us or not.
If you can imagine the different carbohydrates as different models made up from a construction set.
In this set there are three basic building bricks, glucose (blood sugar), fructose (from fruit), and galactose(found in Milk). Fructose and galactose are
broken down by our liver to glucose. In order for our bodies to use the carbohydrates we eat for energy they must be broken down into the smallest component
- glucose.
If we made models using our building bricks we can construct representations of sugars we eat.
1 A model made up of two glucose bricks would give us Maltose. This is the sugar found in beer and sprouting grains.
2 A model made up of glucose and fructose would represent sucrose, the table sugar made from sugar beet or cane.
3 A model made up of galactose and glucose would represent lactose, the sugar in milk and dairy products.
More complex models made up of many chains of bricks represent complex carbohydrates that require being broken down into their individual bricks (glucose)
before they can be absorbed.
Insulin, the hormone associated with diabetes, is produced by the body to convert the glucose into a usable form of energy. When a simple carbohydrate,
maltose, sucrose, or lactose is eaten the digestion is fast the body detects large amounts of glucose so it produces large amounts of insulin. Since we are
designed to eat more complex carbohydrates, our systems are really designed to deal with carbohydrates that digest more slowly, it is fooled into thinking
that there is a lot more glucose to work with than in reality there is and it over produces insulin. As a consequence, once the glucose has been processed
excess insulin is still present giving the feeling of hunger.
This could be the reason why you still feel hungry shortly after eating a large meal or something very sweet.
Another way in which the body reacts is the sugar high, feeling - nausea or discomfort after eating too many sweet things such as candy.
A complex carbohydrate has many stages of breakdown to go through before becoming individual glucose bricks. The body sees this as only a few bricks at a
time and produces much lower quantities of insulin at a much slower rate. As a result all of the insulin is used up on all of the glucose and you do not
suffer from pangs of hunger or sugar highs caused by an imbalance of insulin waiting for something to work on.