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Fat-Burning FoodsNutrition: Sugars
Explanation of what sugars are, where sugar is found, how much sugar you need, fruit sugar and sugar free candy. Sugars are important sources of dietary energy. Glucose is used as fuel by your body`s cells, and your brain is almost entirely dependent on it for all its functions, including thinking.
Excess sugars are stored in your liver as glycogen. These stores are mobilized if you are not getting enough energy from your diet or if energy is needed quickly for exercise. If these stores are full, sugars are converted into fat and stored in adipose tissue. A healthy body is able to regulate the levels of glucose in your blood. Peaople with diabetes must take medication to regulate blood sugar levels. If you eat a lot of carbohydrate, your pancreas produces more of the hormone insulin, which encourages the conversion of sugars into glycogen, returning your blood glucose levels to normal. When you exercise, you use more glucose and need less insulin.
What are sugars?
There are two main types of sugar: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides are simple sugars composed of only one type of saccharide, such as glucose, fructose and galactose. Disaccharides are combinations of two monosaccharides, and include sucrose, lactose and maltose. Disaccharides are broken down by digestive enzymes in your intestine and absorbed as monosaccharides. For example, sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose.
Where is sugar found?
Sugars are found in a variety of foods. Those occurring naturally in the structure of foods are called intrinsic sugars; those added in the production process are called extrinsic sugars.
Sucrose is the most commonly used disaccharide, and is extracted commercially from sugar beet or sugar cane. It is present in fruit and vegetables, but table sugar, which is 99 per cent pure sucrose, is the major source in the diet. Maltose consists of two glucose units and is produced commercially by breaking down starch. It is present in malted wheat and barely, which are used to produce malted foods and in the brewing industry to make beer. Lactose is found naturally only in milk and milk products. It consists of glucose and galactose.
Commercial sugar comes in many forms, including white, granulated, caster, icing, demerara, cane, soft brown, dark brown, treacle, golden syrup, molasses and cubes. The stage and type of processing determines the color and form of the sugar. None of these sugars contain substantial amounts of any other nutrients.
Fruit Sugar
What is the sugar content in fruits? Glucose is found in small amounts in fruit and vegetables, such as grapes and onions, and, with fructose, is one of the main constituents of honey. Free glucose is not a common natural sugar, but is produced commercially from starch. Fructose is found in fruit, vegetables and honey. Galactose, when combined with glucose, is found in milk. Other monosaccharides include mannose, pentose and ribose.
Sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, are compounds that are sweet but have the same chemical structure as alcohol. Sorbitol is found naturally in some fruits, such as cherries, but it is also made commercially from glucose.
How much sugar do you need?
Recent surveys show that sugars provide 18 per cent of the total energy intake for the average adult. The intake of "refined" or "added" sugars may contribute to the development of obesity and may limit the intake of other more beneficial foods, especially fiber Sugars contribute energy but no other nutrients to the diet, and are therefore often called "empty calories". Current thinking is to reduce the amount of energy from sugar to no more than ten per cent of dietary energy.
artificial sweeteners
Food manufacturers use many sugars and artificial sweeteners in food. All of the following are sugars or sugar-related products: glucose, fructose, galactose, lactose, invert sugar, mannose, pentose, ribose, sucrose, maltose, sorbitol, mannitol, dulcitol, inositol, corn syrup, trehalose, raffinose, stachyose, vernanose and fructans.
