Sugar 101

Health effects of Sugars, fructose, high fructose corn syrups and how to avoid the dangers of each one of them.

your cooler from miles high off the mountain.  Unfortunately for everyone, from a health perspective sugar acts as an aggrevator.  Sugar comes in different forms, and serves very few beneficial purposes as far as everyday diet is concerned.  Sugar doesn't provide anything else except energy.  Sugar doesn't contain any of the proteins, minerals or vitamins that your body needs. It fills in as a cheap ingredient that can be added to give a product more flavor.  It also helps to preserve food and make it last for a longer period of time within a supermarket, placed upon the shelves.

All three are most commonly found in foods.  Glucose is found in fruits and vegetables, berries, grapes, corn and carrots. glucose is the most important monosaccharide in the human body because it serves as the primary fuel for muscles and other cells. Internally, red blood and nervous system cells, including brain cells must use glucose for energy under any condition. Therefore, having to maintain your blood glucose levels becomes more important.  glucose is also called dextrose, which is an ideal post workout out sugar for spiking insulin levels to promote muscle fiber reconstruction from your workout so as not to lose any muscle after your finished. 


Fructose is known as a fruit sugar, it is found in fruit, honey and some vegetables like cabbage, green beans, and asparagus. fructose has a sweeter taste and because of that its end combination is the formation of HFCS which is a common food additive to feed into the obesity state we are in right now, loading it into soft drinks, candy and most baked goods or sweets.  The body needs none of this to function and as a result it turns to fat. High-fructose corn syrup is a common sweetener and preservative. it is made by changing the sugar (glucose) in cornstarch to fructose — another form of sugar. The end product is a combination of fructose and glucose. Because it extends the shelf life of processed foods and is cheaper than sugar, high-fructose corn syrup has become a popular ingredient in many sodas, fruit-flavored drinks and other processed foods in brands such as doritos, wheat thins and most sports energy style beverages like gatorade. If you're concerned about the amount of high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in your diet which you should be), consider these tips:

• Limit processed foods.
• Avoid foods that contain added sugar.
• Choose fresh fruit rather than fruit juice or fruit-flavored drinks.
• Drink less soda.
• Don’t allow sweetened beverages to take the place of milk or water, especially for children.

Dextrose (also known as glucose) is a monosaccharide or simple sugar that is a bit less sweet compared to cane sugar. It is derived entirely from corn, is cheap, and contains no fructose or lactose. Dextrose is commonly used as a sweetener, a source of rapidly absorbed energy and a carrier in water soluble meds. This sugar acts as the chief source of energy in the body.

Galactose is not found in foods but is actually a component of lactose which is a carbohydrate in milk, for example as a mother gives birth, glands within her breasts convert the glucose she has over to galactose which serves as a function of lactose in breast milk.

Sucrose another of the sugar family, known as a disaccharide, is found most naturally in foods such as honey, maple syrup, carrots and pineapples. Unfortunately, we Americans take that sugar and break it down.  In this process it refines from sugar cane and sugar beets. This process takes away all nutrients, vitamins and minerals in sugar cane. Sucrose is fully related to the place it holds in junk food, so over time companies have begun to come up with savvy more technical sounding names for it like granulated cane juice.
As a rather common additive to a number of different types of foods, maltodextrin is classified as a sweet polysaccharide. While containing sweet qualities, maltodextrin is considered to contain fewer calories than sugar. You may not be aware that maltodextrin is the main component in almost all weight-gain products. This natural ingredient is highly useful especially for athletes and bodybuilders without the risk of side effects. Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate that greatly helps individuals perform better and last longer to cope with the grind of heavily strenuous workouts and activity. Despite being a carbohydrate, it functions more by rapidly degrading the enzymatic process. Maltodextrin supplements are usually added to beverages in order to quickly replenish carbohydrate stores that may have been depleted during exercise.  Maltodextrin provides 4 kilocalories per gram just like any other carbohydrate. The ingredient is a very convenient energy source that facilitates rapid delivery and absorption of important nutrients by muscle tissues.  Muscle glycogen can instantly be replaced during or after exercise. Bodybuilders usually incorporate maltodextrin in their diets during the bulking phase. One drawback would be the extremely high calories that weight-gain products contain so although maltodextrin itself contains no fat, the excess calories will result in a combination of muscle and fat gain. By degrading the enzymatic process, conversion of carbohydrates to energy is reduced thereby allowing individuals to perform better for longer periods of time.

Here for you are some effects sugar may have on humans in a negative manner:

1. Sugar contributes to obesity
2. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
3. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability
4. Sugar is an addictive substance
5. Sugar can cause depression
6. Sugar can increase your body's fluid retention
7. Sugar can cause a decrease in your insulin sensitivity thereby causing abnormally high insulin levels and can lead to the development of diabetes 
8. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children. 
   
9. In the trends of today sugar is becoming a drug, take energy drinks for example, sure you get a jolt for an hour or two, but then what....a nice long drawn out crash that sucks you of all the energy you had before, only to feel the need to have another one, THERE IN LIES THE ADDICTION!!!