Many of my friends believe that sugar is bad for you and carbs are the kiss of death. That’s understandable since the press hasn’t been too kind to them. However, sometimes the press leaves out a few details for consideration, which may sway your opinion regarding sugar and carbs.
For instance, when you eat “processed” or “refined” sugar and carbs, it speeds up the entry of glucose into your bloodstream. When there’s too much in the blood and we suffer from too much glycation, which is when glucose binds with proteins and lipids in your body. This causes complications such as diabetes mellitus and aging problems.
Anyone can tell you the aforementioned, but there’s one crucial thing that’s left out.
What should be said is that when you consume sugar in its natural state it is always combined with fiber. The fiber slows down the absorption rate of the sugar into your bloodstream. That said, it can be used more so as an energy source instead of being packed away as fat and/or causing glycation complications. So, consuming sugar from fruits, vegetables, beans and grains doesn’t present the problems “processed” and “refined” sugar does.
As a matter of fact, the recommendations for “processed” sugar consumption is nine teaspoons per day for a man and six teaspoons per day for a woman. But, there is no upper limit for sugar consumption from natural sources that I know of. This means you can eat as much fruit, vegetables, beans and grains as you care to, without metabolic complications.
“Processing” is the problem we must deal with, not sugar itself. Fiber is the solution to our dietary problems, not demonizing sugar and carbs. Sugar and carbs are absolutely necessary, in their natural states. We can’t function at a high level without them.
The next time someone starts demonizing them, you now know what to say.
