What are Carbohydrates?

A large component of the carbohydrates we eat are sugars or are converted to sugars in our body.

People are generally confused about what the word "Sugar" really means and assume that sugars from natural foods, like fruit, somehow behave differently in the body compared to something like table sugar (Sucrose). 

The word “natural sugars” causes misconception because we immediately assume that fruits are not a type of carbohydrate sugar that is bad for us, since they are “natural”, and so in turn they don’t contribute to weight gain. The truth is, the simple sugars in our diets (Glucose, Fructose and Sucrose) all have the same outcomes and all contribute to weight gain in one way or another.

Glucose and Sucrose generally behave in the same way and are used by both the brain and muscles. Excess of these is converted to Glycogen by both the liver and the muscles of the body.

As a matter of fact, the type of sugar in fruit is called “fructose” and it is stored in the liver as glycogen. If fructose is not utilised immediately as energy, it is quickly converted to fat.

Once fructose goes into liver glycogen stores, it can NOT be reused as energy for muscles or the brain and contributes directly to fat storage. 

In addition, people are also ignorant to the fact that milk contains a lot of sugar in the form of lactose which is eventually converted to glucose in the body.

As a result, people are essentially eating a lot more carbohydrate sugars than they realise, which may caused weight gain.

Foods that contain carbohydrates or sugar?

·                        Table sugar

·                        Fruits

·                        Milk and yoghurt

·                        Bread

·                        Rice

·                        Pasta

·                        Potatoes (including sweet potato)

·                        Pumpkin

·                        Cakes, muffins, biscuits

·                        Some vegetables such as corn

·                        Fizzy and sports drinks