This may come as a surprise to you, because you’ve probably heard over time how sugar poses certain risks to your health. While this is true to an extent, sugar has its own benefits in the body and you really don’t have to stop consuming it completely. When you take in carbohydrates, your body breaks it down to sugar, which is needed to create energy for survival. If you were to follow the information you see around lately about sugars, you just might give up on sugars completely, but the truth is that they are not as bad as they are painted to be.
There are three forms of sugars, namely: monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides
Monosaccharides are known as the simplest form of carbohydrates, as they consist of only one sugar molecule. They are usually colorless and water-soluble, and they include: glucose, fructose, and galactose. Glucose is the blood sugar gotten from the carb-rich foods we eat and it is mostly our major concern, because a spike in the blood sugar level will result in many health defects like diabetes. Fructose is the sugar found in fruits and in processed products like table sugar and high-fructose syrup; it is converted to glucose in the liver and released into the blood. Galactose is found in dairy products and is also converted to glucose in the liver, like fructose. So, basically, all three monosaccharides end up as blood sugar.
Oligosaccharides
Oligosaccharides contain relatively small number of monosaccharide units linked together in chain-like structures. They are contained in the fiber found in plants, which is broken down into glucose by the body and the fibrous, indigestible parts are left to benefit the body. Fructo-oligosaccharides are also found in many vegetables; the chains are broken and each of the fructose molecules gets converted into glucose for use. Another variation of oligosaccharides is the raffinose (a chain of galactose, glucose, and fructose) found in beans, brussels, brocolli, whole grains and other vegetables. Galactoligosaccharides are short chains of galactose molecules, and although they are indigestible, they play a role in stimulating healthy bacteria in the gut.
Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are long chains of monosaccharides, which includes starch and cellulose. While starch is the energy stores of plants and is broken down into glucose by the body, cellulose is the natural fiber found in plants and it passes through the digestive system intact.
The major point of all these is that whatever form of carb you eat, it will still end up as glucose, which will then run through your blood to benefit your brain, muscles, and organs. From what has been explained above. you’ll realize that you can find sugar everywhere, even in your fruits and vegetables.
Contrary to what you’ve heard or read overtime, sugars don’t make you fat, but overeating does. When you eat too much carbs, you gain more calories, then you will have to burn more calories to prevent fat. This is how exactly it works.
Also, you should avoid thinking that sugar is the only thing that can make you unhealthy or overweight. That will be like making sugar responsible for every other unhealthy diets you’ve been on. Rather than focusing on avoiding sugar in your diets, it’s best that you focus on balancing the whole thing in order to get the right results.
At the end, sugar isn’t actually bad, so you don’t necessarily have to take them completely out from your diet.
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