What is Sugar?

It will surprise you to find out sugar is lurking in more than just the candy aisle.....

Throughout our lives we have been told the importance of a balanced diet, and that we should eat three well-balanced meals with some snacks in between. We have also been told of the dangers of fat and cholesterol. What has been absent from this is the real effects that diet has on our body. I am going to go over the most fundamental challenges to the body of an incorrect diet.

Sugar comes in many shapes and forms. Most people are unaware of the many faces of sugar, believing they are eating well, when, in fact, they are consuming very large quantities of sugar. Sugar is also known as carbohydrates. That is fundamental to understand. Common sources of carbohydrates are bread, pasta, baked goods, fruits, starchy vegetables, fruits, and beans. This is a broad stroke and some of these foods release the sugars more slowly than others. Consuming a diet that is too high in carbohydrates increases insulin levels and can lead to many of the common health problems we see today including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and of course diabetes. If you are seeing a pattern that this can be implicated in most major diseases you are starting to get a better understanding of nutrition.

There are nuances to this with whole foods, and fiber-containing foods being healthier to eat as the sugars take longer to get broken down, and they provide nutrients to the body, contrasted with white sugar, white flour and highly processed foods which can actually remove essential vitamins and minerals when our bodies digest them.

I have attached a carbohydrate list. It is far from comprehensive, but good to look over to see where common foods are in sugar content.

A nice explanation of insulin's relationship with fat: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/fat-cell2.htm