Skip to comments.Are Carbohydrates Just Sugar by Another Name?
Posted on 01/05/2012 7:50:58 AM PST by Brookhaven
I had a bit an epiphany yesterday, but it seems so contray to what I've been told about eating all my life, I'm having a hard time believing my analysis is corret.
I've been working on changing my diet. One of the things I ran across was the fact that eating carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar. Then I heard someone make the comment (and it was almost a throw-away side comment) "of course, carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar." Really?
The following lines are pulled from here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547.php, my insertions are in brackets [my comment].
Saccharides, or carbohydrates, are sugars or starches.
There are various types of saccharides:
Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood; glucose is a major source of energy for a cell. In human nutrition, galactose can be found most readily in milk and dairy products, while fructose is found mostly in vegetables and fruit.
Disaccharide - two monosaccharide [simple sugar] molecules bonded together. Disaccharides are polysaccharides - "poly " specifies any number higher than one, while "di " specifies exactly two. Examples of disaccharides include lactose, maltose, and sucrose. If you bond one glucose molecule with a fructose molecule you get a sucrose molecule.
Sucrose is found in table sugar, and is often formed as a result of photosynthesis (sunlight absorbed by chlorophyll reacting with other compounds in plants). If you bond one glucose molecule with a galactose molecule you get lactose, which is commonly found in milk.
Polysaccharide - a chain of two or more monosaccharides [simple sugar molecule]. The chain may be branched (molecule is like a tree with branches and twigs) or unbranched (molecule is a straight line with no twigs). Polysaccharide molecule chains may be made up of hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides.
So, carbohydrates are made up of sugar or starch. Monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide are all forms of sugar. But, what is starch?
Starch - these are glucose polymers made up of Amylose [short chains of glucose] and Amylopectin [long chains of glucose]. Rich sources of starches for humans include potatoes, rice and wheat.
So, startch is a form of glucose. And, what is glucose? Remember the paragraph above about monosaccharides?
Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood;
So, if carbohydrates are made up of one of the three saccharides (mono, di, or poly--all a type of sugar) or starch (which is made up of glucose--a type of sugar), doesn't that mean carbohydrates are--at the end of the day--just a complex type of sugar?
That's a hard fact for me to accept, because it contradicts everything I've been taught about nutrition. The current recommendation is that at least 50% of a person's calorie intake each day come from carbohydrats (as can be seen in the food pyramid).
But, if carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar, does that mean 50% of my calories should come from sugar (a complex form of sugar, but sugar none-the-less)?
Given sharp rise in not just childhood obesity and diabetes, but obesity and diabetes in general (all commonly called an epidemic by the medical community), I'm starting to wonder if we just didn't make a mistake. By emphasizing grains (carbohydrates) so heavily in our diets, did we unwittingly emphasize sugar in our diets and cause these epidemics?
Um, yes. I wish more people would have this epiphany.
You should read Dr Atkins’ book. You don’t have to follow the diet, but it is an interesting read. I have many physician friends who wish he would be posthumously awarded the Nobel prize in medicine. But I doubt the establishment would ever allow that to happen.
Yes, and the government food pyramid was a deadly joke played on millions of Americans.
For example, put a piece of a cracker in your mouth and just let it dissolve. In a few moments, it will begin to taste sweet. The conversion into some type of sugar begins with the saliva in your mouth.
I’ve been on a meat, water and fat only diet for over 5 years.
Lost tons of weight, blood sugars perfect, cholesterol great shape, energy terrific, heart in great shape.
Carbs were killing me. I wasn’t diabetic, but I had serious issues with carb addiction and insulin reactions.
So, yes...carbs are sugar.
“Yes, and the government food pyramid was a deadly joke played on millions of Americans.”
Keepin us fat, stupid, and dependent!!
You also realize that fruits also contain suger, right?
I’m with you. I followed a very similar diet for years, although lately (last 2 yrs) I’ve been adding some carbs like brown rice, etc. but nothing refined.
Carbohydrates need to be broken down into sugar - that is what makes them a great long term energy source - while a bunch of sugar itself will just burn you out.
There is a reason serious athletes “carbo-load” before a strenuous event - so their muscles will have energy to burn down the stretch.
Do you understand why they don't “sugar-load” before an event?
When you understand that you will understand the difference between a diet high in carbs and a diet high in sugar.
Yes, your analysis seems correct and is well-stated.
Must be why I crave pasta...
Fruits are also confusing - some are just sugar - I've always wondered why diabetics weren't put on a very low carb diet.
Nutritional Myths, Distortions, and Lies
That Will Destroy Your Health
No vegetables? Not even green leafies?
I would think you'd need them for vitamins A and C.
Another problem with carbohydrates is that most grains consumed in the US are processed and convert quickly to sugar. With whole grains, the process is slower, so you don't get the sugar spikes.
Both my mother and grandmother had diabetes. When my mother came to live with us, she had been diabetic for at least 20 years. Her sugar would spike as high as 350 in the nursing home. After a month living with us, her sugar levels were at near normal levels. The visiting nurse wished I could go and cook for all of her diabetic patients. When she went to her doctor and he ran the test that gives sugar levels for the previous six months (I'm still not sure how that works). The doctor was amazed - my mother was on the low side of normal instead of being off the chart on the high end.
“Ive been on a meat, water and fat only diet for over 5 years.”
...I went on a low carb diet in 1999. Lost 25 lbs in 1 month. I went from what my Doctor said was a “walking time bomb” to “excellent health”. By the way, that same Dr put me on a low fat diet. No red meat, no bacon it was miserable. I went on Atkins, went to the Doc, got my “excellent” and told him what I was doing. He was floored. Said to keep it up.
This was the common wisdom ten or fifteen years ago. I think we know better now.
We need sugars to be slowly realeased into the blood. When there is a spike in blood sugar it triggers fat storage.
Acids such as vitamin “c” and vinegar help to regulate blood sugar.
That is what I have taken from my research.
I have been eating like this for about 7 months. I do feel much better, and try and eat enough to keep myself happy. The problem is, the appetite goes away. No longer do I crave, or count the minutes to the next meal. I eat, my stomach is satisfied for much more than 4 hours. I am raising chickens now, eating them and their eggs. I eat about 3 cups of greens a day, drink coffee with real cream. Make eggs with butter, and bacon and sausage are welcome treats. THANK YOU DR ATKINS, now if only most Americans would follow his advice. Turn that food pyramid upside down. Eat few carbs, starches and sugars. Eat meat, supplement with veggies, but NO CORN, lose weight without effort.
What they will say is that the "Mediterranean Diet" is the most heart-healthy.
Not only is it "heart-healthy" it is also very good for your waistline (yet another indicator for heart disease, a growing waistline.)
Lastly, just a personal observation: all of the young women I'm noticing seem and the growing trend toward really huge bottoms - not hips but bottoms, which is a clue as to how much simple carbs are in their diets, the equivalent of the "beer bellies" on men.
Yes, carbohydrates are indeed a form of sugar.
Yes, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.
Here’s a start ...
I just watched this movie the other day, check it out. It goes into detail about insulin and sugar, animal fat Vs. Vegetable fat and how the current “science” regarding cholesterol is bogus and based on politics.
I would imagine that the different-size elements of the “government food pyramid” are the relative magnitude they are based on how much that particular industry contributed to politicians.
Also look into “Glycemic Index”, a measure of how fast carbohydrates are broken down to release glucose into the blood stream. For the most part, slower is better. This is why brown rice, whole grains and nuts are better carbs than white bread, white rice and twinkies.
Thank you for writing that!
I agree. I for one cannot "low carb" tried it and had issues - the worst was the impact on my mental state/flexibility
I've always believed in the biochemistry axiom "you burn fat in flame of carbohydrates"
The problems people have now is that they generally take in far too many calories and food volume for their levels of activity.
There is a quantitative difference in the glycemic index between refined carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. While all carbohydrates are processed by the body into sugar, complex carbohydrates contain substantial fiber preventing the spike in blood sugar as the fiber is eliminated as undigestible.
Refined carbohydrates, on the other hand, are readily digestible into sugars, predominantly glucose, resulting in the pancreas churning out more insulin.
Beans, wholemeals (such as steel-cut oats), whole grains are complex carbohydrates that have substantial amounts of fiber that do good things for your pancreas, arteries and digestive tract. Heres a good resource:
I don't think so.
People who are obese and lose weight through a low carb diet - good for them - but there is no indication that a person at a healthy weight eating a healthy diet should go on such a diet.
A healthy person eating a healthy diet should get the majority of their calories from carbohydrates.
Our metabolism is set up on a molecular basis to consume carbohydrates as our primary energy source.
When I first learned I was diabetic, my company paid for me to go to training for diet and exercise education. We were instructed to be very aware of carbs, how to limit them, and which carbs (complex, fiber) were better for us. That training wasn't specific to me, but a general course taught at the local hospital for anyone with diabetes. Anyone truly diabetic and not watching the carbs is in for a painful lesson eventually.
I’ve frequently said that a baked potato is nutritionally the equivalent of an ice cream sundae, as far as getting the nutrients your body needs.
But there is one important difference between sugar and carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are converted into sugar by the process of digestion, and thus they enter the bloodstream more gradually. Sugar enters the blood stream all at once, creating a deadly situation sometimes called, “hyperglycemia.” You’ve seen extreme hyperglycemia in diabetics, as they go into seizures. The body releases insulin into the body to remove the sugar as quickly as possible. But if a meal consists of just sugar, and not enough slower-digesting food sources, the insulin continues to remove sugar in the bloodstream even after the excess amounts have been removed. This causes the infamous “sugar crash,” and can lead to “insulin resistance,” wherein the body adapts to ignore insulin, causing wait gain and possibly diabetes.
Some carbohydrates cannot be digested at all. Like other undigestable substances, this helps keep the plumbing working. These carbohydrates include fiber, from plants, but also chitin, for animals. Chitin is the hard substance which forms the exoskeletons of shrimp, lobster, insects, spiders, etc.
Carbs are not your friend. They all metabolize as sugar — the more complex, complete metabolize a bit more slowly. I am a musician, so this is not Lab Stuff. But my body does not tolerate sugar, so I really stay away from it, and I react to carbs just the same. I can eat bits of it but if I overdo it I always know it.
“Carbs are your friend” is, I suspect, a FAD which has passed through and is finally, mercifully, being seen for what it is.
This issue is addressed in a highly informative book, “Wheat Belly,” by William Davis, MD, a cardiologist. He also has a blog at http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/
Also on point is Gary Taubes’ newest book, “Why We Get Fat.”
Fruits also contain fiber, which combined with the sugar has a different effect on the body than sugar alone. When I get home post a youtube link for a med school lecture where the doctor breaks down how sugar, fructose, and high fructose corn syrup effect our bodies. He goes through Kreb’s cycle and everything. It’s really frightening when the doc shows how baby formula has almost the same amount of sucrose as Coca Cola.
“Because of one dead Doctor and a fad diet?”
Oh grow up. There’s more than one dr who admits this is a healthier way of eating. There are children who are prescribed such a diet for seizure control. You’re mentality is outdated & proven false.
There is also something called “Glycemic Index”. The higher the index number, the more nearly the carbohydrate compound resembles the effects of glucose. Very complex carbohydrates, such as cellulose (the fiber in wood, for instance) can only be broken down by microbial action, then when reduced to a simpler carbohydrate, can then be digested by the enzymes and digestive juices of most vertebrate and invertebrate animal life (including human beings). A cow cannot, on her own, digest grass, which is largely cellulose fiber. The microscopic biota in the cow’s rumen can convert the cellulose into simpler sugars, which are then used as building blocks for the formation of lipids (fat) and most vitamins, and formed up in conjunction with various nitrogen compounds (urea) to form a wide array of amino acids, basis for protein formation.
Human beings, for the most part, do not have this capability, as compounds like urea are essentially biological poisons for most human body tissue. The intestinal microbes of the large intestine complete the digestive process that began with the act of chewing and passage through the stomach and the small intestine.
So far as Glycemic Index is concerned, think the more white the carbohydrate source is, the higher the index. White sugar, white flour, white potatoes, and white rice are all very high, while the carbohydrates in dark-colored grains, fruits and vegetables have a much lower Glycemic Index.
And there are tables that already have much of this information.
Yes, calories from fat or calories from sugar - if you take in more calories than you burn through physical activity - your body will make fat out of the excess calories.
The metabolic cycle can burn fat, protein, or carbohydrates for energy - and it can also deposit excess energy in the form of adipose tissue (fat) from any of these sources.
Thinking that not eating carbs will automatically make you lose weight is as silly as thinking you cannot get fat eating low fat or no fat foods.
Cotton candy is a fat free food!
Lard is sugar free!
Should make some people question their assumptions - but it most likely will not.
The fact is that complex carbohydrates come in forms that our bodies metabolize differently. So, it should come as no surprise that when you eat a potato your blood sugar does not skyrocket immediately. Starch is not equal to glucose; your body knows this and responds accordingly. If you want to lose weight in an effective manner, you cannot take in excessive low complexity carbs — make your body work to break it down, that is the key.
As a side note, if you want to burn more calories and don’t want to put in the work, then you should eat less; the math is not hard. Alternatively, you will burn ~15% more calories/day by simply putting your feet in ice water for 10 min. It may be uncomfortable, but the thermogenic effects are systemic and REAL!
a *LONG* time ago I was a physiology major. Now granted I focused more on cell (meaning chemistry) physiology in the context of marine flora, but ...
There’s three factors in play:
(1) what your body does immediately with low molecular weight, water-soluble sugars (table sugar (sucrose), fruit sugar (fructose), milk sugar (lactose) and metabolic sugars like glucose.
(2) where your body ‘warehouses’ extra carbohydrate energy in the form of glycogen and body fat (mostly a difference in molecular weight, solubility and where certain chemical bonds are; AND where the body goes first for energy, and whether said effort is ‘aerobic’ or ‘anaerobic’.)
(3) how your metabolism is trained or habituated to process, store and ‘retrieve’ carbohydrates (sugars, starches, lipids, oils, fats, glycogen etc). This is where the oddball and/or purposeful diets come in, along with lifestyles. You CAN affect the amount and nature of weight gain/loss by altering what you eat. Go figure.
NET: total calories in (available Calories in the food) minus total calories out will add up to weight gain or loss. period. If you eat less than you ‘burn’ you WILL lose weight.
Pumping in ‘sugar’ in your food has some direct effects that can be more harmful if bad habits persist, and certainly more immediate than eating more complex carbohydrates like starch, oil and fats.
Your body’s metabolism DOES build what might be called metabolic habits, much like arranging workers in shipping and receiving. So what you eat and when DOES have an effect on how your body processes what you eat, how often you get hungry, and where it goes for energy when your body truly gets hungry. It also has an effect on where it ‘warehouses’ the food energy as it digests and processes ALL foods.
Now, DON’T believe the hype about fructose. It is nothing more than a five carbon fruit sugar. It ain’t bad for you. When your body processes ‘sugar’ it ALWAYS produces fructose as a natural part of the process of metabolizing ‘sugars.’
Without opening up your old textbooks (remember the Kreb’s cycle or the Embdem-Myerhoff pathway or the NADH cycle?) I think you can rest assured that ALL sugars, oils, starches and fats, etc ARE INDEED carbohydrates. They have different physical molecular structures, different molecular weights, solubility, bio-availability, etc., and at the front end are metabolized differently. But in the end, go back to 9th grade bilogy and you’ll see it all ends up in the same places chemically when the body ‘says’ I NEED ENERGY.
Eat well, exercise regularly. It never changes. WITH the asterisk that a programmed, controlled diet DOES change your body’s metabolism. Be wary of radically unbalanced diets.
For the vast majority of human history - back when fat people were almost unheard of outside a few sedentary aristocrats - humans gained the vast majority of their dietary calories through carbohydrates.
A healthy person eating a healthy diet should get the majority of their calories through carbohydrates.
This “mentality” is based upon knowledge of human history, anthropology, biochemistry, and hundreds of years of observation.
Compared to that we have one dead Dr. and a fad diet and its fanatical adherents claiming that because they were obese and lost weight on a restrictive diet then EVERYBODY should do the same - even if they are at a healthy weight.
They are the anti-vegitarians; just as self-righteous and pig headed in their near religious devotion to a restrictive diet they think everyone should adhere to.
I don’t eat sugar except in fruits and vegetables and I haven’t had weight issues since I started this plan. I had to take strong meds to get pregnant with my son, but after starting this type of lifestyle my reproductive issues were reversed (which my obgyn said was impossible) and I got pregnant again without the use of meds. I eat full fat cream cheese, yogurt, and sour cream and I drink whole milk. I use olive oil, butter, and grapeseed oil liberally. My children are the same way. My son hates juice but loves whole fruits. He still drinks whole milk while his peers have been switched to low-fat milk. People roll their eyes at me all the time for the way my kids eat. It seems I’m a bad mom because they’ve never had McDonalds but instead ask for avacados at snack time.
I concur with what Jack and Alloy say in their posts above - read up on the Glycemic Index.
Your mileage my vary, but for testimonials: attentiveness to the Glycemic Index on my father-in-law’s diet for 5 years led to his diagnosis of diabetes disappearing (doc said “he no longer appears diabetic”), and after that convinced me to modify my own diet, I lost 40 lbs over 12 months.
For your ref —> http://www.glycemicindex.com/about.php
What about my potato vodka?
Yes but the glucose in fruits and veggies are complex carbs and so are digested more slowly and the fruits and veggies at least are not junk foods.
A friend of mine said her doctor told her she was boraderline diabetic and to give up sugar and flour,and gluten. She did. She was not overwt but dropped about 25 lbs and has kept it off and is now a wee bit too thin but has energy, looks good, feels good and is 78 yrs young.
Then again, there are a lot of people that believe that they somehow violate the Law of Mass/Matter Conservation...
Juice is mostly sugar water. Best avoided other than as a treat - or as a treat with a shot of grain alcohol (for adults)! ;)
Chewing is part of feeling sated - so it is probably best to avoid any major caloric intake through drinking.
As a Californian I can assure you that Avocados are a GREAT snack!
Was and still is.
Yes. The only thing slowing down the sugar absorption is the amount of fat and fiber that is in/on it.
There is a sucker born every minute.
And nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of general public.
Looking at this...
It is hard for me to become convinced that I can somehow “fool” my body into not making fat out of excess calories from ANY source.
It goes round and round - and at no time does it violate the law of mass/energy conservation. If you take in excess energy - from whatever source - your body can and will turn it into lipids and store it as fat.
All protien and fat here with just a touch of carb once a week or two.
I saw the following video earlier this year about sugar and calories and it blew me away. Since I saw this, I consider the food pyramid to be a blatant attempt by the government to decrease our life expectancy.
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