What's sugar?

Sugar is a carbohydrate and a structural component of the cells and a source of energy in the body, there are two main types of sugar, simple and complex, the difference between the two is in their structure, complex sugars are more complex in their form compared to simple sugar, which means containing three or more units of sugar, the other difference is the rate of absorption by the body, all carbohydrates have to be converted into simple sugars before being absorbed, simple sugars such as glucose, fructose (sugar from fruits), lactose (sugar from milk), sucrose (table sugar) are usually absorbed, digested and used quickly as energy by the body while complex sugars usually found in food such as wheat, oats and vegetables tend to take longer.

Unfortunately what a lot of people don't know is that sugar can be brutal for your body when abused, besides the fact that sugar contribute to obesity by causing metabolic imbalances, sugar can actually:

Feed cancer
Increase cholesterol
Decrease growth hormones
Weakens eyesight
Causes drowsiness
Causes food allergies
Contributes to the reduction in the defense against bacterial infections
Contributes to diabetes

After all sugar can turn into an addiction, making you eat more, if you are reading this and thinking that you can't live without sugar then you probably have a sugar addiction and it's time for you to start taking sugar responsibly and wisely before it's late!

How? to answer this question we are going to have to answer two other questions, the what sugar to consume and when.

What's not to take?

Table sugar, if you really need to add sugar to your tea or coffee then consider Stevia, a natural, zero-calories, that has proven to be safe, with no toxicity reported from its use to date.

Beverages, soda and such are filled with sugar, a 12 oz of coke has about 40 g of sugar which's WAY too much, and no, diet drinks aren't any better, considering the fact that some of the artificial sweeteners being used are toxic.

Processed juice, those orange juices you find at your local store can have a lot of added sugar, be smart when buying those and read the nutritional fact label, yet to be avoided, the best and safest way is to buy fresh fruits and make your own juice at home.

Any other processed food, cakes, cookies, candies are just bad and should not be consumed at anytime.

Now that you know the difference between simple and complex sugar you also need to know the best time to consume each, simple sugars are best consumed in the morning to take advantage of the obtained energy, or after a hard exercise, as part of a recovery drink to replenish the blood sugar quickly, you definitely don't want to feed your body with simple sugar right before going to bed.

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Simo Benyoussef
Independent Team Beachbody coach.