Sugar 101

Sugar can be found in virtually everything you eat. From fast food, candy bars, soda, potatoes, rice, fruits, vegetables and everything else in between. Most people tend to stay away from sugars because they can cause you to store fat quickly. However what causes fat storage is your bodies ability to identify unhealthy amounts of sugar in the bloodstream.

Sugar is a simple form of carbohydrate. This is why it is a subcategory of "carbohydrates". Before we get ahead of ourselves let me give you a brief description of the three forms of sugars.

• Monosaccharide: Is the simplest form of carbohydrate and causes the greatest insulin spike. It is also digested by the body quickly. (fructose, glucose, dextrose, ribose, galactose)

• Disaccharide: Are comprised of 2 sugar molecules. They are also very fast to digest and can cause a great deal of insulin spike. Disaccharides are sweet sugars such as (lactose, surcrose, maltose, trehalose)

• Polysaccharide: Are comprised of many sugar molecules bonded together. They are not sweet and are slow to digest unlike monosaccharieds and disaccharides. They are the healthiest source of carbohydrates. They create no insulin spike within the body. However they provide a constant slow digesting supply of glucose to the blood. (starch, cellulose, glycogen)

Glucose enters the bloodstream through the intestines as part of the digestive process. The body makes immediate use of most of the sugar that we digest, but it keeps a small portion as reserve in the liver. The glucose in the liver is called glucagon and acts as an emergency backup when the body has an immediate need for sugar. Sugar that is not used for energy or stored as glycogen, is stored on the body as fat. In other words, once sugar enters your body it's converted to "blood sugar" to be used as energy. How fast your sugar level is affected depends on several factors, but generally simple sugars will work more quickly.

Something you should always remember is that your blood glucose level will typically be lower in the morning and higher after meals. Normal blood glucose levels fall between 70 and 150mg. Regardless of what sport you play optimal performance is only possible when blood glucose levels are within a certain range. Just a little something to keep in mind for all you athletes out there.

This brings me to my conclusion that most people believe that sugar is fattening. Let me rest assure that sugar not fattening. Its no more likely to be stored as fat than any other carb you consume. However excess levels of sugar can cause certain complications such as; Obesity, Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, Insulin insensitivity, risk of diabetes, Hyperactivity, drowsiness, and other illnesses.



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