Complex, simple? What does it all mean?
Simple carbohydrates are short chains, with only 1 to 2 sugar units involved. Simple carbohydrates with 1 sugar unit are fructose, glucose, and galactose. Simple carbohydrates with 2 sugar units are lactose, maltose, and sucrose. Lactose is the sugar found in dairy products and sucrose is what we commonly call table sugar.
Complex carbohydrates are longer chains, with 3 or more sugar units involved. Common complex carbohydrates are starches and fibers.
Because both simple and complex carbohydrates are made from sugar units, does this count as added sugar in my diet? Not necessarily true! Added sugars in our diet means sugars added to food products, not sugars naturally occurring in our foods such as lactose in dairy products. Added sugars are hard to decipher from the food label, especially in a food that has naturally occurring sugar. When you look at a low fat milk nutrition label, you commonly will see around 12 grams of sugar, which is from the naturally occurring lactose.
To improve our diet, we want to limit added sugars. To find added sugars, look at the ingredients list for sugars, common names include:
• High fructose corn syrup
• Corn syrup
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Invert sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Molasses
To practice let’s review 2 products:
¼ cup of raisins
Ingredients: raisins and filtered water
They contain 25 grams of sugar according to the nutrition label
VERSUS
1 can of cola
Ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, and natural flavor
The soda can contains 41 grams of sugar according to the nutrition label
The raisins do not contain any added sugar but the soda does, despite both having sugar content on the nutrition label. The raisin’s sugar content is naturally occurring, as raisins are fruit. The soda contains high fructose corn syrup and sugar, which are both added sugars in the product.
The soda would be an unhealthy choice while the raisins are a healthier choice!
