Are Carbohydrates Just Sugar by Another Name?

Self | Today | Self (mostly)

[Brookhaven]

I had a bit an epiphany yesterday, but it seems so contray to what I've been told about eating all my life, I'm having a hard time believing my analysis is corret.

I've been working on changing my diet. One of the things I ran across was the fact that eating carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar. Then I heard someone make the comment (and it was almost a throw-away side comment) "of course, carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar." Really?

The following lines are pulled from here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547.php, my insertions are in brackets [my comment].

Saccharides, or carbohydrates, are sugars or starches.

There are various types of saccharides:

Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood; glucose is a major source of energy for a cell. In human nutrition, galactose can be found most readily in milk and dairy products, while fructose is found mostly in vegetables and fruit.

Disaccharide - two monosaccharide [simple sugar] molecules bonded together. Disaccharides are polysaccharides - "poly…" specifies any number higher than one, while "di…" specifies exactly two. Examples of disaccharides include lactose, maltose, and sucrose. If you bond one glucose molecule with a fructose molecule you get a sucrose molecule.

Sucrose is found in table sugar, and is often formed as a result of photosynthesis (sunlight absorbed by chlorophyll reacting with other compounds in plants). If you bond one glucose molecule with a galactose molecule you get lactose, which is commonly found in milk.

Polysaccharide - a chain of two or more monosaccharides [simple sugar molecule]. The chain may be branched (molecule is like a tree with branches and twigs) or unbranched (molecule is a straight line with no twigs). Polysaccharide molecule chains may be made up of hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides.

So, carbohydrates are made up of sugar or starch. Monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide are all forms of sugar. But, what is starch?

Starch - these are glucose polymers made up of Amylose [short chains of glucose] and Amylopectin [long chains of glucose]. Rich sources of starches for humans include potatoes, rice and wheat.

So, startch is a form of glucose. And, what is glucose? Remember the paragraph above about monosaccharides?

Monosaccharide - this is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood;

So, if carbohydrates are made up of one of the three saccharides (mono, di, or poly--all a type of sugar) or starch (which is made up of glucose--a type of sugar), doesn't that mean carbohydrates are--at the end of the day--just a complex type of sugar?

That's a hard fact for me to accept, because it contradicts everything I've been taught about nutrition. The current recommendation is that at least 50% of a person's calorie intake each day come from carbohydrats (as can be seen in the food pyramid).

But, if carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar, does that mean 50% of my calories should come from sugar (a complex form of sugar, but sugar none-the-less)?

Given sharp rise in not just childhood obesity and diabetes, but obesity and diabetes in general (all commonly called an epidemic by the medical community), I'm starting to wonder if we just didn't make a mistake. By emphasizing grains (carbohydrates) so heavily in our diets, did we unwittingly emphasize sugar in our diets and cause these epidemics?

[Rammer]

It’s too late. You already lost. I destroyed your feeble mind with the last post. Move on to your next fail.

[allmendream]

You backtracked, said you didn't say what you did say, and failed to substantiate anything you did say.

Way to go there champ!

By the way, impaired physical performance is associated with a low carbohydrate diet.

http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/2

Impaired physical performance is a common but not obligate result of a low carbohydrate diet. Lessons from traditional Inuit culture indicate that time for adaptation, optimized sodium and potassium nutriture, and constraint of protein to 15–25 % of daily energy expenditure allow unimpaired endurance performance despite nutritional ketosis.

[allmendream]

Judging by this thread, impaired intellectual function is also associated with a low carbohydrate diet!

[Yaelle]

It’s a yes or no question, and the answer is yes.

And most or much sugar is harmful. Vegetable carbs are fine, even from natural tubers if you are slim, along with fruits sparingly.

The old food pyramid Is wrong, and so is the new food plate.

Drop grains from your diet, especially gluten ones. Save sweets for special occasions: ice cream, things baked with nut or gluten free flours.

Fill up on healthy animals, coconut oil, olive oil for salads only, butter, organic full fat dairy. All kinds of veggies, fruit for treats or garnish. You will feel like a million bucks and you will be Nourished! Food will be delightful again! Most of your body has been made sick by grains, and it will be satiated with healthy fats.

[Rammer]

Awwww you’re so cute! But why umad?

[Yaelle]

You are wronger than wrong. Did you design the food pyramid that made everyone fat and sick?

The majority of your calories should come from fat, then protein, a small amount of carbs. Serious competitive athletes might need more carbs than the sedentary, but they do not need grains at all. Potatoes and fruit can give them all the carbs they need. Some dark chocolate, some wine. Period.

A diet high in carbs is a diet high in sugar.

Your body can burn either sugar or fat for fuel. If your diet is high in carbs, you will be a sugar burner and you will always be hungry. You will always crave carbs. You will be living on the brink of metabolic syndrome and preparing to be struck with any number of diseases.

[allmendream]

How many Olympic caliber athletes get the majority of their calories from fat?

What successful societies (other than Eskimos) have had their members gain the majority of their calories from fat?

You are another excellent example of how a low carb diet seems to impair cognitive function!

[lawdave]

All I know is this. I stopped eating any carbs last week. I bought and read, “Why We Get Fat.” I lost 3.5 pounds in a week and I wasn’t hungry. I am sticking with this for a while to see if it works.

[allmendream]

Good for you!

I am not against a low carb diet for someone who is having health problems due to being overweight.

I am against idiots who think their own restrictive diet is something everyone should be on in almost every situation -of whatever ilk - vegans, vegetarians, atkinsites, kosher, or whatever.

I am FOR a recognition that Olympic caliber athletes get the majority of their calories from carbohydrates, that healthy people (unless they are Eskimos) should as well, and that biochemically we are set up to metabolize carbohydrates as our primary energy source.