Dr Sarah Jarvis
We all know we should be eating lots of fruit and veg – at least 5 portions a day, as many different types as possible (they all contain different vitamins and nutrients). But what about unhealthy foods?
A couple of decades ago, the focus was all on fat. Now, if you read some headlines,
you’d believe it was only sugar (or carbs) that you have to worry about. Funnily enough, it’s not that simple.
There are two kinds of carbohydrates – “starchy” carbs, found in bread, potatoes, rice and pasta, and “sugary” carbs – granulated sugar is the obvious example. Sugar in our bodies comes from the ca arbohydrates in our fo ood and drink.
The starchy c arbohydrates we eat are a largely made up of big b molecules called polysaccharides p (ppoly- means lots) and sugary s foods of disaccharides d (dimeans two). The smallest units of sugars, monosaccharides (mono- is one) are glucose, galactose and fructose.
Granulated sugar is a disaccharide made of glucose and fructose. Despite the hype about honey and trendy agave syrup being healthier, they’re mostly pure monosaccharide sugar – every bit as bad for your health, in excess.
Monosaccharides are absorbed straight from your gut into your bloodstream, putting your blood sugar up. Big polysaccharides in starchy foods must be broken down in the gut into monosaccharides before they’re absorbed. That means food or drink containing pure sugar causes large, rapid spikes in your blood sugar – and rapid drops.
The sudden increase in sugar may give you a brief energy boost, but too much sugar in your bloodstream is very bad for you. Not only does it make it easy for you to put on weight, it can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.
It’s not just eating too much sugar which increases your risk of type 2 diabetes – being overweight for any reason does that – but it does contribute. Sugary drinks in particular offer empty calories and affect your body’s ability to use the hormone insulin properly.
But not all carbs are created equal. Complex carbohydrates such as wholemeal and wholegrain foods, sweet potatoes and other starchy vegetables provide fibre to help keep you feeling full. That fibre helps you control your weight, as well as being good for your
FIBRE IN WHOLEGRAINS AND STARCHY VEG HELPS YOU CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT, AS WELL AS BEING GOOD FOR GUT HEALTH