Once that sweet treat passes your lips, do you know what it actually gets up to in your bod?
Truth be told, different types of sugars are broken down and processed in a variety of ways. Let’s take a look…
Fructose.
When you eat fructose, it gets dumped straight on your liver. Your body has sugar “transporters” for both fructose and glucose, but as we have minimal fructose transporters (GLUT-5), fructose can’t be absorbed by most cells. This means it heads straight to your liver to be processed, putting a lot of extra strain on this one organ. When you consume too much fructose (more than your six to nine teaspoons a day) it promotes lipogenesis (AKA a buildup of fatty acid) and can even lead to fatty liver disease. Eek!
Glucose.
This sugar is easily metabolised by the body and due to an abundance of glucose transporters (GLUT-4), it’s absorbed by most cells and can then be used for energy. This process is triggered by an insulin response, so as long as we don’t overdo it, as the body is able to metabolise glucose effectively, it’s safe to eat in moderation.
Maltose.
Put simply, maltose is two glucose units joined together. It’s not as common in foods as the other sugars – found mostly in “malt products” and beer – and as it’s made from glucose, it’s processed by the body in the same way.
Sucrose.
Sucrose is simply another name for table sugar which is made up of 50 per cent glucose and 50 per cent fructose. When you eat sucrose, your body splits it into the fructose and glucose units and processes it accordingly. We still keep away from sucrose as the fructose will wreak havoc in your body.
Learn how to enjoy a life without sugar on our 8-Week Program!
0 comments :
Post a Comment