THE STORY OF SUGAR AND STARCH

 

Plenty is being said about sugar and carbohydrates these days with diabetes, heart disease and obesity being the problem.  We can easily get confused: is sugar bad or are carbohydrates bad?

 

BASIC: UNDERSTANDING SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES.
1.	Carbohydrates: ·         Body require carbohydrates because they are main source of energy ·         45%-65% of our calories should came from carbohydrates. (United States Department of Agriculture) ·         Are more easily broken down by body for energy compared to protein and fats ·         Important for maintaining smooth order of our heart, muscles, central nervous system and others. ·         Why carbohydrates getting a bad reputation. -       Because we tend to consume in excess -       Because we fail to consider the types of carbohydrates we’re taking.
2.	Sugar ·          Is a type of carbohydrate ·         Can be further divided into -       Simple sugars -       Complex sugars: Ø   Include rice, pastas, potatoes and also grains Ø  Also known as starch -       Fructose is found in fruits -       Simple sugars: o   Sucrose is the table sugar o   Both fructose and sucrose are broken down by our bodies into glucose, our source of energy -       Complex sugar: o   Includes rice, pastas, potatoes, and also grains o   Also known as starch -       Starch usually doesn’t taste quite as sweet as simple sugars. Ø  That’s why we don’t really think of “sweet” when we’re eating rice or pastas. -       Our body break down complex sugar such as starch into glucose  (just like they do with the simple sugars)

Both simple sugar and starches are broken down into glucose:

Why:          i.       some starches have a stellar reputation

ii.       Some starches get a bad come

iii.      Simple sugars are considered villains

 

Answer:              depending on how fast the body breaks down these sugar and and get them into our bloodstream.

 

Glycaemic index (GI).

• An index used to measure how fast body breaks down the sugars.
   
• 2 types

• Low GI foods

• Foods slowly broken down by the body so that the sugar gets into our system gradually

• High GI foods

• The exact opposite.

 

• Simple sugars are usually high GI Foods.

• Are easily broken down by the body and quickly get into the blood stream.

• Causing spikes in the body’s blood sugar level.
• The body then respond to this spike by releasing a flood of insulin, which transports this glucose from the blood stream intro our cells where the glucose in converted into energy.
• Problem :

• When so much insulin is released; our body thinks we’ve got too much glucose and stores this as fat to be burned off later.
• Resulting:

• Because there’s a lot of insulin in the blood stream, the glucose depletion happens pretty fast.
• Causing our blood sugar dropping drastically and suddenly
• When these happen, we feel lethargic and hungry.

 

Avoid simple sugars vs stick to complex sugars or starches

• Starches do not break down as easily as simple sugar. (Slow Digestible starch-SDS).
• Different types of starches do get digested faster than other (Rapidly digestible  starch-RDS)
• Foods are typically a combination of both
• Rice = combination of amylose and amylopectin
• Smart move would be to stick to foods with a higher amylose-to-amylopectin ratio because these promote slower digestion and more gradual release of glucose into the blood stream.

 

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The story of sugar and starch.

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Body, mind and soul

The Star, Tuesday,

02 February 2016