How do carbohydrates impact your health? (Video)
Carbohydrates: How carbs fit into a healthy diet
What Is Hypoglycemia?
Whereas a high level of glucose in your blood on a regular basis isn’t healthy, a blood glucose level that is too low, or hypoglycemia, can be unpleasant for many of us and downright dangerous for some with diabetes. Individuals who experience hypoglycemia may feel hungry, nervous, dizzy, light-headed, confused, weak, or shaky, and even begin to sweat. Eating or drinking carbohydrate-rich foods, such as hard candies, juice, or soda, can relieve these symptoms quickly and raise the blood glucose level to a normal range.
Those with diabetes who need to use insulin and/or blood glucose–lowering medications daily are at risk of hypoglycemia if they skip meals and snacks or if they don’t eat enough to cover the effects of the medication. If these individuals ignore their symptoms, their blood glucose level can drop so low that they could faint, or slip into a coma. Those with diabetes need to eat regularly to maintain blood glucose levels that coincide with their medication. A change in their activities or exercise level can also lower the blood glucose level. Diabetics need to check their blood glucose level before they exercise to determine if a snack is needed.
Though not common, people without diabetes may also experience bouts of hypoglycemia after meals, better known as reactive hypoglycemia, which may be hormone related. This can occur within four hours after a meal and cause the similar hypoglycemic symptoms: shakiness, dizziness, hunger, and perspiration. A doctor can diagnose this condition by testing the blood glucose level while the person is having these symptoms. Though the cause of reactive hypoglycemia is not known, one thought is that some people may be overly sensitive to epinephrine, one of the hormones normally released when the blood glucose level begins to drop. The hormone glucagon may also play a role. Eating smaller, well-balanced meals throughout the day can help avoid hypoglycemia.
Another type of hypoglycemia, called fasting hypoglycemia, can occur in the morning, after fasting throughout the night. It can also occur during long stretches between meals or after exercise. Some medications, illnesses, certain tumors, hormone imbalances, or drinking too much alcohol may cause this type of hypoglycemia.
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Symptoms of hypoglycemia include feeling hungry, nervous, light-headed, shaky, and sweaty. Those who take medication and/or insulin to manage their diabetes but don’t eat properly are at a greater risk of experiencing hypoglycemia. Individuals without diabetes may experience reactive hypoglycemia several hours after a meal. Fasting hypoglycemia can occur in the morning upon awakening and can be caused by some medications, illnesses, hormone imbalances, or excessive consumption of alcohol.
Americans, on average, are consuming only about half of the amount of fiber recommended daily
Carbohydrates
What Are Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that are predominant in plant-based foods, and they make up the foundation of many diets around the world. You need carbohydrates on a daily basis because they are the most desirable source of energy for your body.
Their main role is to supply fuel to your cells, primarily in the form of glucose (ose = carbohydrate), the predominant sugar in carbohydrate-rich foods. Plants form glucose in a process called photosynthesis.
Simple and Complex Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are divided into two categories based on the number of sugar units that are joined together. Simple carbohydrates, or sugars, include monosaccharides (mono = one, saccharide = sugar) and disaccharides (di = two), and complex carbohydrates include polysaccharides (poly = many).
Three monosaccharides are found in foods: glucose, fructose, and galactose. Fructose is the sweetest of the simple sugars and is found abundantly in fruit. For this reason, it is often referred to as fruit sugar. Galactose is found in dairy foods. From these three sugars, the other simple and complex carbohydrates can be created. When two glucose units join together, the disaccharide maltose is created. Maltose is the sugar found in grains. When glucose and fructose pair up, the disaccharide sucrose, or table sugar, is formed. Galactose is joined with glucose to create lactose (often called milk sugar, as it is found in dairy foods).
Polysaccharides contain the most sugars, so it makes sense that they are called complex carbohydrates. Starch, fiber, and glycogen are all polysaccharides.
Functions of Carbohydrates
Your body uses carbohydrates, specifically glucose, for energy, and there are chemical messengers called hormones that regulate the amount of glucose in your blood. To lower your blood glucose level, your pancreas releases the hormone insulin into the blood.
Surplus glucose is stored in long chains of glycogen. The process of generating glycogen for later use is called glycogenesis (glyco = sugar/sweet, genesis = origin). Glycogenesis occurs only in your liver and muscle cells. You can’t squirrel away unlimited extra energy reserves in the form of glycogen. However, you can store excess energy in the form of fat.
Your pancreas releases another hormone, glucagon, when the body needs to direct the release of glucose from the stored glycogen in your liver to help raise your blood glucose level. This breakdown of glycogen is called glycogenolysis (lysis = loosening).
Fiber Has Many Health Benefits
Fiber has been shown to help lower your risk of developing constipation, diverticulosis, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes mellitus.
Meals high in fiber are typically digested more slowly, which allows the absorption of the nutrients to be extended over a longer period of time. Foods high in fiber, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, can add to satiation so that you need to eat fewer calories to feel full.
Viscous, soluble fibers have been shown to help lower elevated blood cholesterol levels. A high blood cholesterol level can increase the risk of heart disease.
Daily Needs
The latest Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for carbohydrates recommend that adults and children consume a minimum of 130 grams daily. This is based on the estimated minimum amount of glucose your brain needs to function efficiently. A quick look at MyPyramid shows that 130 grams is less than the amount you would consume by eating the minimum recommended daily servings from the grain group (6 servings), vegetable group (3 servings), fruit group (2 servings), and milk group (3 servings).
In the United States, adult males consume, on average, 220 grams to 330 grams of carbohydrates daily, whereas adult females eat 180 grams to 230 grams daily, well over the minimum DRI.
The latest DRIs indicate that 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories should come from carbohydrates. Adults in the United States consume about half of their calories from carbohydrate-laden foods, so they are easily meeting this optimal range.
Food Sources
In general, you want your diet to contain low to moderate amounts of simple carbohydrates and be high in fiber and other complex carbohydrates. This is the best strategy for long-term health Simple carbohydrates are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods.
Though you can also get simple sugars from processed foods and sweets, the higher calorie and lower nutrient levels in these foods make them a less healthy option.
Complex carbohydrates, including starch and fiber, are found abundantly in grains, whole fruits, and vegetables. Starch is the primary complex carbohydrate found in grains and potatoes, while fiber is found in whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Too Much or Too Little?
Adding too much carbohydrate in the diet can displace other essential nutrients, whereas consuming too little carbohydrate can create a diet that falls short of many vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals. Both extremes will produce an unbalanced diet.
Individuals with diabetes need to monitor their carbohydrate intake to maintain a healthy blood glucose level. Chronic, poor regulation of blood glucose levels can damage the body.
What Is Diabetes?
Individuals develop diabetes because they aren’t producing enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) and/or they have developed insulin resistance, such that their cells do not respond to the insulin when it arrives (type 2 diabetes).
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease and is the rarer of the two forms. Type 2 is the more common form and is seen in people who have become insulin resistant. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of diagnoses of the disease.
Diabetes, especially if it is poorly managed, increases the likelihood of a multitude of dire effects such as nerve damage, leg and foot amputations, eye diseases, including blindness, tooth loss, gum problems, kidney disease, and heart disease. Diabetes can also damage the tiny blood vessels in the retina of the eye, which can cause bleeding and cloudy vision, and eventually destroy the retina and cause blindness.
Good nutrition habits play a key role in both the prevention and management of diabetes. The ADA (American Diabetes Association) recommends that individuals with diabetes consume a diet that includes a combination of predominantly high-fiber carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, along with low-fat milk, adequate amounts of lean protein sources, and unsaturated fats.
Two Points of View
Can Soft Drinks Be Part of a Healthy Diet? Soft drinks are nonalcoholic beverages, including carbonated versions like sodas, as well as fruit drinks and sports drinks. In addition to water and fruit juice, they can contain low-calorie sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and caffeine. While many nutrition experts feel that soft drinks are a primary culprit in the overconsumption of calories and the rise in obesity that’s occurred in the United States over the last few decades, other individuals argue that soft drinks can be part of a healthy diet. Can you consume soft drinks and still be healthy? Or do these drinks just provide empty calories and contribute to weight gain?
Read the arguments, then consider the critical thinking questions and decide for yourself
YES
Soda, along with sweetened waters, sports drinks, and energy drinks, contribute only 5.5 percent of the calories in the American diet.2
Beverages that have no calories, including diet soft drinks, are useful for hydration, particularly for people who may not like to drink milk or water.
Science shows that, when it comes to tackling obesity, what matters most is balancing the calories from all the foods and beverages we eat and drink with those we burn through regular physical activity.
The beverage industry is producing more good-tasting, lower-calorie choices that are popular with consumers. In fact, since 1998, there has been a 21 percent reduction in calories in beverages in the marketplace.
Diet soft drinks can be helpful for consumers who are hooked on regular sodas and trying to wean themselves off the sugary beverages
NO
Studies consistently show that increased consumption of soft drinks is associated with increased energy intake. Fluids don’t provide the same feeling of fullness or satisfaction that solid foods do, which might prompt you to keep eating. This would mean that soda calories are added on top of calories from the rest of the diet.
Strong evidence indicates that sugar sweetened soft drinks contribute to the development of diabetes. In the well-known Nurses’ Health Study, the nurses who said they had one or more servings a day of a sugar-sweetened soft drink or fruit punch were twice as likely to have developed type 2 diabetes than those who rarely had these beverages.7
The Nurses’ Health Study also found that women who drank more than two servings of sugary beverage each day had a 40 percent higher risk of heart attacks or death from heart disease than women who rarely drank sugary beverages
The Top Ten Points to Remember
1. Glucose, fructose, and galactose are monosaccharide’s. Glucose is the most abundant monosaccharide and the preferred fuel for the body. When two monosaccharide’s are joined, a disaccharide is formed. The best-known disaccharide, sucrose (table sugar), is made of fructose and glucose. Lactose, or milk sugar, is made up of glucose and galactose. Maltose is two glucose units joined together. When many glucose units are joined together, starch, a polysaccharide, is formed. Glycogen is the polysaccharide storage form of glucose in your body. Fiber is a nondigestible polysaccharide.
2. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth, where the enzyme amylase begins to break down starch. In the small intestine, enzymes such as pancreatic amylase, maltase, lactase, and sucrase continue to break down starch and the disaccharides into monosaccharides, which are then absorbed through the intestinal wall. The absorbed monosaccharides travel in the blood to the liver, where fructose and galactose are converted to glucose. Glucose is then either stored or shipped back out to the cells. Lactose maldigestion and lactose intolerance are two conditions experienced by people who cannot digest the milk sugar, lactose.
3. The major functions of glucose are to provide fuel for the body, particularly the brain and red blood cells, and to spare protein for other uses. Your blood glucose level is maintained in a healthy range with the help of hormones. Insulin directs glucose into cells. When your blood glucose level drops too low, the hormone glucagon is released to increase the blood glucose level. When your diet is deficient in carbohydrates, your body will not be able to break down fat completely. Ketone bodies are created.
4. A minimum of 130 grams of dietary carbohydrates is needed daily. It’s recommended that 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories come from carbohydrates. Adults should consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber daily, depending on their age and gender. The best food sources of carbohydrates are fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.
5. Your body can’t distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugar. Food sources of naturally occurring sugars tend to be more nutritious than foods with a lot of added sugar. The major source of dietary added sugar is soft drinks. Sugary foods contain calories but little else and can crowd out more nutritious food choices in the diet. Frequently exposing your teeth to starchy and sugary foods, especially sticky foods, can increase your risk of dental caries.
6. Polyols, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, rebaudioside A, and neotame are sugar substitutes currently deemed safe by the FDA. Because aspartame contains the amino acid phenylalanine, individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU) must limit all dietary sources of this amino acid.
7. Soluble fiber is important to a healthy diet because it provides bulk to stool and helps food move along the GI tract. Adequate fiber intake has been shown to help lower the risk of constipation, diverticulosis, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes mellitus. Increasing fiber intake too quickly can lead to intestinal gas, so changes should be made gradually and be accompanied by plenty of fluids.
8. Whole grains contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals. Whereas refined grains can be “enriched” with some of the vitamins and minerals that were lost during processing, the fiber and phytochemicals are not added back. At least half of your daily servings of grains should be whole grains.
9. Diabetes mellitus, particularly type 2 diabetes, is becoming more prevalent in the United States, especially among children. Those with diabetes should consume a well-balanced diet and exercise regularly to help maintain a blood glucose level within a healthy range. Medication and/or insulin as well as regular blood tests may also be needed to manage blood glucose.
10. Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar can occur in individuals with diabetes, especially if they are taking medication and/or insulin and are not eating properly. Individuals without diabetes can also experience hypoglycemia, but the incidence is less common.
Answers to Myths and Misperceptions
1. False. You need a minimum amount of carbohydrates daily to fuel your brain.
2. False. Dark bread doesn’t necessarily have more fiber than white bread.
3. True. The average American consumes about half the amount of fiber that’s recommended daily.
4. False. Many people who are lactose intolerant may still be able to enjoy some dairy products, especially if they are eaten with meals. In fact, dairy foods may be just what the doctor ordered.
5. False. Calories, not carbs, are what you need to monitor to avoid weight gain. In fact, some high-fiber carbohydrates can actually help you lose weight.
6. True. The more sugar you eat, the more likely you are to have tooth decay.
7. False. Honey contains a small amount of nutrients but not enough to make it nutritionally superior to sugar.
8. False. Foods that contain sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, can be labeled “sugar free” because they are carbohydrates but not sugars. But they still provide calories.
9. False. Though saccharin once bore the stigma of being a cancer causer, it’s no longer thought to cause cancer in humans.
10. True. Being overweight or obese can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
Web Resources:
For more on fiber, visit the American Heart Association at www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
For more on diabetes, visit the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) at www.ndep.nih.gov/
For more on lactose intolerance, visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) at http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/lactoseintolerance
