Understanding Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose (simplest form of sugar) as the main source of energy in the body. Glucose is then either used immediately or stored in the liver and muscles until it is needed. There are two types of carbohydrates.
Complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly and release glucose into the blood stream more gradually. Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly and spike blood sugar faster and higher.
Carbohydrates are made up of three components: fiber, starch, and sugar.
Fiber and starch are complex carbs, while sugar is a simple carb. Depending on how much each of these are found in a food determines its nutrient quality.
| Complex Carbohydrates | Simple Carbohydrates | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate of Digestion | Digested Slowly | Digested quickly |
| Spiking Blood Glucose | Gradual slow glucose release into blood stream | Fast glucose release & spikes blood glucose fast and high |
| High Nutritional value | brown rice, oats, chickpeas, lentils, sweet potatoes, oranges, apple | banana, mango, yoghurt & milk |
| Low Nutritional value | white rice, white brain, crackers, potato chips, pasta | candy, granulated sugar, corn syrup, honey |
Sugar & Obesity
Sucrose is the sugar we commonly use at our table top and is a natural carbohydrate made up of two simpler sugars which are glucose and fructose. When consumed, our body breaks it down into glucose and fructose to be used as energy.
Glucose can be used immediately as a source of energy or stored in the liver and muscles for when it is needed as glycogen. When you need glucose but there isn’t enough available in your blood, your body will release its glycogen stores and convert glycogen back into glucose to meet our body’s energy needs.
When there is an excess of glucose and the glycogen storage quota has exceeded, it will instead be converted to fatty acid with the help of insulin and distributed to other regions of the body to be stored as fats in the adipose tissue.
Glucose & Diabetic
When glucose enters your bloodstream, it also signals your pancreas to release insulin to move glucose from your blood into cells (muscle, fat and liver cells) all over your body to be used as energy.
There are rare cases of your cells not responding to the insulin, meaning they do not use up the glucose or store it properly. This is called insulin resistance. When your cells become too resistant to insulin, it leads to elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia), which over time leads to diabetes.
Another event is where our pancreas is not producing enough insulin that is essential for regulating our blood sugar levels. When this occurs, the individual will be given daily insulin injections to supplement.
