Sugar vs. Carbohydrates: What’s the Difference for Your Health?

Sugar vs. Carbohydrates: What’s the Difference for Your Health?

Bread, candy, sugar, pasta – it’s all sugar and carbohydrates. The question remains, what’s the difference between the ones you should or shouldn’t eat?

When it comes to the war on foods, carbohydrates get a bad reputation. It’s unfortunate because, for thousands of years, carbohydrates have been the lifeblood of human existence. Now, why do people think that they’re bad for their health?

The truth is that carbs themselves are not the enemy – it is the processed, sugar-rich carbs that provide the bulk of bad news to your diet.

Here’s the thing: sugar is a nutrient that tastes great, but it doesn’t bring essential benefits to the body.

In fact, most unprocessed carbohydrates (like fruits and vegetables) can contain a huge supply of glucose and fructose, providing energy to the body. There’s no need to consume pure sugar.

Processed sugar will give you nothing but inflammation – inflammation of the cardiac muscle, arteries, and many other systems – and that’s completely unnecessary.

So, how do you tell the difference between bad sugar and good sugar (found in wholesome carbs)?

Stay Away from Processed Foods

Processed foods are not good for you. Yes, they’re easy to consume and very delicious, but if you are worried about your health, it’s best to stay away from these kinds of foo. Functional Medicine Burbank will be of great help should you need additional support.

Foods containing processed sugar come in many forms, such as yogurts (high in lactose, which is another sugar), cereals, and pastries. Even some processed meats contain sugar-rich sauces.

If you’d like to cut down on sugar, avoid overly processed foods. This can significantly lower your sugar intake each day.

How to Escape the Sugar Trap

As you may know, complex carbohydrates, like ancient grains, fruit, and vegetables, offer a very good source of metabolized glucose (to fuel the brain) and glycogen (to be stored in muscle and liver).

Eating natural, wholesome foods will always be the easiest way to get the needed nutrients your bodies need and reduce the inflammatory properties of processed sugars.

Do I Need to Completely Eliminate Sugar?

This should be clarified. Sugar is not necessarily bad, but the rate at which most people consume it can be very dangerous to your health.

Anything that has insulinogenic properties (in other words, those that raise insulin levels) can lead to body imbalance over time.

High-sugar foods are not only addictive to the brain and body, but they also increase insulin levels greatly.

Want to know the secret? Consume fiber. Fiber has a unique property that relaxes insulin levels and limits inflammation. This is why many who suffer from diabetes should consume higher than normal fiber levels to counteract inflammation.

So, if you don’t have insulin-related health challenges, a small amount of sugar probably won’t be bad as long as you counteract the inflammation it may cause. For more useful tips, consult a doctor specializing in Functional Medicine Studio City.

Coming Full Circle

The main difference between sugar and carbohydrates is the fiber content and the kind of nutrients it delivers to the body.

Sugar only boosts energy, whereas a complete carbohydrate (oats, for example) provides a good source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, and healthy carbohydrates that are metabolized into glycogen.

Keep it simple. Limit your processed foods consumption, and see the major difference in your strength, body composition, and energy levels. If you’d like, you can also seek the advice of Functional Medicine doctors in your area.

Functional Medicine Los Angeles specializes in various healthcare programs, including Functional Medicine Allergies. Call us now!

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