Carobhydrates provide essential blood sugar - glucose - which is the fuel used for energy production in the brain and every cell of the body. Glucose also helps maintain body temperature, digestion, movement, breathing, tissue repaire and immune system functions - so it's one of the most important compounds coursing through your body.
There are three basic types of carbohydrates, labeled according to the complexity of their molecular structure: monosaccharides (simplest), disaccharides and polysaccharides (most complex). Polysaccharides consist of many sugar units, bonded together by nature to form complex carbohydrates (starches).
Starches either may be left unrefined or may be refined, as happens when we process them to make certain foods. Unrefined complex carbohydrates come associated with lots of fiber, vitamines, minerals and other nutrients. Most of us need to eat more foods like whole-wheat bread and brown rice in order to get enough of these unrefined complex carbs in our diets.
By contrast, foods like white bread and white rice are both less filling and less nutritious because they have refined carbs. In the process of refining, such as the milling of wheat to make white flour, the fiber and many vitamins and minerals are lost. In general, unrefined complex carbs are gisted slowly and efficiently, providing a steady source of energy without the biochemical roller-coaster effect of concentrated sugars. Eating foods with complex carbs helps stabilize your sugar levels.
Refined white sugar - sucrose - tops the list of "empty calories", alone with its counterparts corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, maltose and cane syrup. High intake of refined sugar has been linked to a variety of health problems, including elevated levels of cholesterol and other blood fats, a deficiency in chromium, a trace mineral associated with heart disease and diabetes, and development of breast cancer. The simple sugar molecules in sucrose require very little digestion, entering the bloodstream and quickly raising blood sugar levels far above normal. In response, the body's insulin secretion mechanism is activated to remove the excess glucose from the blood, causing a downswing in sugar levels.
Even "natural sugar alternatives" such as maple syrup, honey and fruit juice are no panacea. The fact is, no sweetener used excessively is healthful.
Source: Low-Fat Living by Robert K. Cooper
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