THE LOWDOWN ON SUGAR

To put it frankly, all carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules. These sugars are found in almost every food group apart from meat, seafood and eggs.

Sugars are classified according to their chemical structure and how quickly they are digested and absorbed into the body.

Strap in tight! - we're going to get super sciencey for a moment so that we understand the full break-down of this macro-nutrient...

Carbohydrates are divided into 4 categories:

1. Monosaccharides = the simplest form of sugars i.e. glucose, fructose & galactose.

2. Disaccharides = the sugar formed when two monosaccharide units are joint together via a glycosidic bond i.e. sucrose, lactose & maltose.

3. Oligosaccharides = a carbohydrate chain containing 3-10 sugar units (monomers) i.e. can be found in onions, leeks, garlic, kale, watermelon, blueberries, wheat, rye, lentils, peas and many other foods.

4. Polysaccharides = a long carbohydrate chain containing many monomer (single sugar units) and i.e. starch, cellulose, beta-glucan, pectin, carrageenan, agar & inulin.

| THE MYTH AROUND SUGAR & CARBS |

Carbs and have been hated on for eons in Western diet-culture mentality.

"They make you fat!"

"You don't need sugar at all!"

"You can only eat carbs before 12pm if you want to shed weight!"

Let's cut the c%#p and go back to square one just for a second... In order to lose fat your body needs to be burning more energy than it is consuming.

Now, this doesn't exactly mean:

calories in < calories out

Rather, think of it from a chemical and biological stand-point. Certain macro-nutrients will be digested, processed and absorbed in different ways e.g. fat and protein takes longer to break down than simple sugars (carbohydrates).

For this reason, we need to understand that eating too much of anything can make you gain weight.

Yes, even if you consume a surplus of protein, fruits and other 'healthier' foods in your day-to-day diet, your body's fat levels will more than likely increase unless the energy from these foods are utilised by your body internally or externally.

This doesn't mean that you're going to eat low-calorie foods (which are most likely pumped with fillers and chemical substances... i.e. junk food) in order to maintain a healthy weight. Rather, one should look to incorporate a wide variety of micro- and macro-nutrients into their eating regime.

This means having adequate quantities of micro-nutrients as well as the 4 macro-nutrients:

1. Fats

2. Proteins

3. Carbohydrates

4. Fibre

It's also important to note that everybody is different, some individuals may require more or less of a certain macro-nutrient depending on their physical needs throughout the day.

| SIMPLE CARBS vs. COMPLEX CARBS |

Let's keep it short and sweet here and not get too bogged down into the science..

Simple Carbohydrates = Are absorbed into the bloodstream immediately to be utilised by the body for short-lasting energy purposes. They spike glucose levels rapidly.

E.G. fruit, lollies, soft drinks etc

Complex Carbohydrates = Take longer for the body to digest and absorb. They are a more stable, longer-lasting energy source.

E.G. brown rice, oats, sweet potato, spelt etc

| SO... WHAT FORM OF CARBOHYDRATE SHOULD I EAT? |

Deciding which form of carbohydrate is 'better' for you would be like having to decide whether fruit or vegetables are better for you ...

Seeing as glucose is our body's preferred energy source, this means that both simple and complex carbs can benefit you (as well as complement your physical needs) in their own ways.

If you're after long-lasting energy on one particular day, then a complex carbohydrate rich breakfast or lunch will be your best option.

Complex Carb Meal Options:

• Steel-cut overnight oats/porridge with fruit and nuts

• Sweet potato 'toast' with nut butter and banana or avocado, tomato and your protein of choice

• Brown rice with veggies and chicken/tuna/tofu etc

• Minestrone soup made with veggies and barley.

If you need a quick pre-workout snack that will give you a temporary energy boost, then a piece of fruit - simple carbohydrate, will be your go-to!

Simple Carb Snack Options:

• A piece of fruit such as: banana/apple/citrus/berries etc

• A small tub of yoghurt (natural, simple sugars from the lactose)

• A handful of dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, raisins etc) Just ensure you choose wisely when it comes to consuming simple carbs.

From a nutritionist's stand-point, fruit is the preferred option if you're looking for that quick blood-sugar spike as it's also filled with vitamins, antioxidants and fibre that will provide your body with added nutritional value as well as a rapid energy boost! Lollies and juices on the other hand contain minimal - if any fibre at all and are potentially filled with colours, preservatives and artificial nasties that do your body no good in the long run!

This brings us to our final topic ...

| ALTERNATIVE SUGARS & ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS |

I'm going to let you in on a little secret - something for you to keep in mind next time you're tossing up whether to eat that decadent vegan and gluten-free brownie or that bakery style choc-chip brownie ...

The human body cannot tell the difference between the processed, white sugar used in the bakery brownie and the unrefined coconut sugar in the vegan brownie ...

mind = blown

Our bodies will process the coconut sugar in that vegan brownie exactly the same way as it will process the caster sugar in the bakery brownie.

Now this isn't to say that you should let loose and eat whatever sugary treats you like and never go for the unrefined options again. It's just a little something to keep you aware of what you're putting into your body.

Ideally, you want to be feeding your body natural, whole-food ingredients.

Some great forms of un-refined sugars to incorporate into your baking/cooking/diet include: Rapadura sugar, coconut sugar, Medjool dates, maple syrup, honey, agave and even bananas to name a few!

So, you ask, what about artificial sweeteners Mary? Well; this is perhaps one of the most controversial topics to date in the Nutrition/Dietetics field.

Personally, I advise my clients to steer clear of artificial sweeteners.

After spending over 6 years trying to heal my gut, the one thing I believed helped the most was cutting out these fake sweeteners that the body does not understand how to process - they are determined by your body as a 'foreign substance' meaning your body will work 10x harder to break it down, ingest it then rapidly excrete it.

It'd be like putting the wrong kind of fuel into your car and then expecting it to work...

No matter what anyone says, the low-caloric density of these artificial ingredients is not worth sacrificing your health or weight-loss goals over. In fact, did you know that artificial sweeteners have actually been seen to cause weight gain, cognitive disfunction and inflammation.

Yep. Yuck.

If you take anything out of this newsletter, it's this:

Stay away from these artificial sweeteners:

Equal (aspartame), Splenda (sucralose), Sweet N' Low (saccharin) and any other ingredient you cannot pronounce.

Incorporate more of these into your diet as refined sugar alternatives:

Maple syrup, Honey, Dates, Bananas

Remember not to beat yourself up too much about diet choices. Everyone is different. Every body will react differently to different foods. Focus on the little things you can do each day to improve yourself and your attitude towards diet and what you consume!