Simple and complex sugars
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SIMPLE SUGARS AND COMPLEX SUGARS: BETWEEN FASHIONS AND FACTS.
Blaming simple sugars has become a habit too: the refined ones, the ones that raise blood sugar so much and are so bad for so many other things. But are they really that harmful? And are complex sugars more or less harmful? Is it right to cut out simple ones, or both, or to keep them all? And if the answer is yes, is it better to keep them in a precise balance or completely freely? Let’s try to make sense of it.
So-called simple carbohydrates, or simple sugars, are only one part of the large family of carbohydrates, consumed daily through the diet together with complex carbohydrates to meet the daily carbohydrate requirement.
As with everything, the popular saying that “too much of a good thing is bad” always applies to sugars too. But let’s look in detail at what they are and what they are for, in what quantities they should be consumed and much more.
In nature, simple sugars are the components that make certain foods particularly sweet. That is why we find foods such as honey, fruit and milk so pleasant and, beyond natural foods, everything that contains artificially added sugars, such as pastries, biscuits, juices and soft drinks. The food industry knows very well the relationship between sugar concentration and the palatability of food; it is no coincidence that simple sugar is also added to savoury or not particularly sweet foods to improve some of their organoleptic characteristics and attract consumers even more, stimulating their taste buds and the nerve connections associated with pleasure.
The chemical structure of sugars of this kind is indeed very simple. They consist of a single-unit structure, which is why they are called monosaccharides, or a double one, in disaccharides. Glucose is certainly the best-known and most studied sugar, the progenitor of the entire large family of carbohydrates, both simple and complex. In fact, complex carbohydrates are nothing more than the more or less “elaborate” repetition of the basic structure of glucose or its variations.
It is because of the effects of such a simple structure, namely a rapid rise in blood glucose and, as a consequence, in the amount of insulin produced by the pancreas, that this category of sugars is often, perhaps too often, attacked. On top of this comes a low satiety index combined with a high calorie density.
The point is that eating large amounts of simple sugars can mean feeling full only with difficulty and for short periods, with the added drawback of taking in more calories, for the same weight and actual volume of the meal, than with other macronutrients. It is on the basis of these considerations that many nutritionists and experts in the field design eating plans with reduced amounts of simple sugars, and indeed the positive effects on the general public trying to get back into shape can be seen quickly and often remain stable over time.
However, these considerations may not always be true, or true for everyone. For athletes, regular gym-goers, amateur endurance athletes and professional athletes, these same characteristics of simple sugars can be used to their advantage by carefully dosing their intake over the course of the day or within the training session or race itself. In a diet considered “healthy”, simple sugars should account for between 5 and 10% of calories consumed. In grams, this means around 25-50 g of sugars in a 2000 kcal diet, useful for athletes to improve the absorption of other macronutrients, or to have very rapid energy for very short and intense muscle contractions, which rely exclusively on ATP molecules.
Including a small portion of simple sugars, together with complex sugars and protein, in the mix of macronutrients taken after a workout is important to speed up recovery, both general recovery and the specific replenishment of glycogen reserves, the sugar stored and produced by the body. Indeed, there is scientific evidence that the effect of simple sugars on insulin production “drags along” the absorption of other macronutrients consumed in the same meal, improving the amounts absorbed and bioavailable.
We all know the role of simple sugars during activity. The more anaerobic the effort, the more important sugars become, especially simple ones. But be careful not to overdo it! Too many simple sugars that are not fully digested and absorbed in the first part of the intestine can have counterproductive and often very unpleasant effects, just like some laxatives on the market that are based precisely on simple sugars, such as lactulose syrup. To avoid this kind of mishap, our advice is always to use a good balance of simple and complex sugars during exercise, without overdoing the former, and trying to stay well below 60 g/h of carbohydrates, which is the maximum amount our intestine can absorb.
A good balanced diet should always include at least a minimal amount of sugar, even if only as a small treat for our senses, without excess but, as we always like to stress, with the right balance.
Blaming simple sugars has become a habit too: the refined ones, the ones that raise blood sugar so much and are so bad for so many other things. But are they really that harmful? And are complex sugars more or less harmful? Is it right to cut out simple ones, or both, or to keep them all? And if the answer is yes, is it better to keep them in a precise balance or completely freely? Let’s try to make sense of it.
So-called simple carbohydrates, or simple sugars, are only one part of the large family of carbohydrates, consumed daily through the diet together with complex carbohydrates to meet the daily carbohydrate requirement.
As with everything, the popular saying that “too much of a good thing is bad” always applies to sugars too. But let’s look in detail at what they are and what they are for, in what quantities they should be consumed and much more.
In nature, simple sugars are the components that make certain foods particularly sweet. That is why we find foods such as honey, fruit and milk so pleasant and, beyond natural foods, everything that contains artificially added sugars, such as pastries, biscuits, juices and soft drinks. The food industry knows very well the relationship between sugar concentration and the palatability of food; it is no coincidence that simple sugar is also added to savoury or not particularly sweet foods to improve some of their organoleptic characteristics and attract consumers even more, stimulating their taste buds and the nerve connections associated with pleasure.
The chemical structure of sugars of this kind is indeed very simple. They consist of a single-unit structure, which is why they are called monosaccharides, or a double one, in disaccharides. Glucose is certainly the best-known and most studied sugar, the progenitor of the entire large family of carbohydrates, both simple and complex. In fact, complex carbohydrates are nothing more than the more or less “elaborate” repetition of the basic structure of glucose or its variations.
It is because of the effects of such a simple structure, namely a rapid rise in blood glucose and, as a consequence, in the amount of insulin produced by the pancreas, that this category of sugars is often, perhaps too often, attacked. On top of this comes a low satiety index combined with a high calorie density.
The point is that eating large amounts of simple sugars can mean feeling full only with difficulty and for short periods, with the added drawback of taking in more calories, for the same weight and actual volume of the meal, than with other macronutrients. It is on the basis of these considerations that many nutritionists and experts in the field design eating plans with reduced amounts of simple sugars, and indeed the positive effects on the general public trying to get back into shape can be seen quickly and often remain stable over time.
However, these considerations may not always be true, or true for everyone. For athletes, regular gym-goers, amateur endurance athletes and professional athletes, these same characteristics of simple sugars can be used to their advantage by carefully dosing their intake over the course of the day or within the training session or race itself. In a diet considered “healthy”, simple sugars should account for between 5 and 10% of calories consumed. In grams, this means around 25-50 g of sugars in a 2000 kcal diet, useful for athletes to improve the absorption of other macronutrients, or to have very rapid energy for very short and intense muscle contractions, which rely exclusively on ATP molecules.
Including a small portion of simple sugars, together with complex sugars and protein, in the mix of macronutrients taken after a workout is important to speed up recovery, both general recovery and the specific replenishment of glycogen reserves, the sugar stored and produced by the body. Indeed, there is scientific evidence that the effect of simple sugars on insulin production “drags along” the absorption of other macronutrients consumed in the same meal, improving the amounts absorbed and bioavailable.
We all know the role of simple sugars during activity. The more anaerobic the effort, the more important sugars become, especially simple ones. But be careful not to overdo it! Too many simple sugars that are not fully digested and absorbed in the first part of the intestine can have counterproductive and often very unpleasant effects, just like some laxatives on the market that are based precisely on simple sugars, such as lactulose syrup. To avoid this kind of mishap, our advice is always to use a good balance of simple and complex sugars during exercise, without overdoing the former, and trying to stay well below 60 g/h of carbohydrates, which is the maximum amount our intestine can absorb.
A good balanced diet should always include at least a minimal amount of sugar, even if only as a small treat for our senses, without excess but, as we always like to stress, with the right balance.
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