What More Fattening, Sugar or Fat?
Understand the Dangers: Carbohydrate is a nutrient that turns into sugar in the body. The refined version is the simple, short-chain type that is digested quickly and releases glucose into the blood very quickly and in large amounts.
Simple Carbohydrates: It is divided into fructose and sucrose. The first has 30% more sweetness and is natural, being found in fruits. But it can also be produced artificially, sweetening cakes, cookies and soft drinks. Sucrose is a mixture of glucose and fructose, and you can find it in refined sugar, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, demerara, etc. It makes the blood sugar level rise faster and, in excess, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and the appearance of terrible love handles.
Complex Carbohydrate: it takes time to digest, increasing the feeling of satiety, decreasing hunger outside of time and slowly releasing glucose into the blood, avoiding blood glucose spikes. Hence, it fights type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It can be found in whole foods.
Refined Sugar: It is a food totally dispensable to the organism that, in excess, is only bad for health. This type of sugar is stored in the form of love handles, serves as fuel for the fatty plaques in the vessels and alters blood glucose levels, increasing the risk of developing diabetes, in addition to raising cholesterol and triglycerides. Sugar also affects the organs because, in excess, it turns into fat , which is deposited in the liver, heart and kidneys. But glucose, like fat , also has its good side.
Fruit Sugar: In the case of fruit sugar, there is a supply of vitamins and minerals. Sugars are important in the production of cellular energy, so it is very difficult to live without any consumption of them, since several foods have the substance in their constitution.
Fats: For many years it was identified as responsible for cardiovascular problems and the enemy of diets. Excessive consumption of fat is related to weight gain and obesity, in addition to raising levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and causing the formation of atheromatous plaques in the arteries – plaques that form on the walls of blood vessels, causing they harden and become thicker. But know that it is not necessary to cut the fat in the diet, because there are those that are good for health and are essential for the body. Check out their ranking:
Trans fats: it was widely used in industrialized foods and is being reduced in production as they discover their harm to the body. It is formed by a process of hydrogenation, naturally or artificially manipulated, and causes several health problems, including the acceleration of obesity.
Saturated Fats: It is found in foods of animal origin, such as red meat and whole milk, and is considered a villain for the heart and good shape.
Unsaturated fats: this is called good fat and is divided into monounsaturated (found in avocado and olive oil) and polyunsaturated (rich in omega 3 and 6, present in sardines, salmon, flaxseed and vegetable oils). These fats decrease the risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, by acting in the balance of cholesterol rates.
Fats Are Necessary: Fats have specific functions in the body. They provide energy to cells, protect vital organs against trauma, function as a means of transporting vitamins and promote the feeling of satiety, as they delay the time for food to leave the stomach.