Sugar: It's good for you! kind of.

As a part of my "What I eat" series, I wanted to share my opinions on food that's "bad for you" vs. food that's "good for you" vs.  "food you have to eat".  In order to tackle that topic, I must first describe my [relatively educated, but certainly not expert] opinions on three major food components: carbohydrates (sugars), proteins, and fats.

In the last two decades carbohydrates have received a lot of bad rep.  To make a blanket statement that sugar is bad for you is absurd.  Dangerous fad diets that promote low carbohydrate intake, such as Atkins, have contributed to huge misunderstandings about sugar.

What are carbohydrates? 
Carbohydrates are a group of molecules made out of sugars (monosacharides).  Carbohydrates can be made of one of these sugars, or two (simple carbohydrates), or they can be long chains of these same sugar molecules (complex carbohydrates).  For example: glucose and fructose are both simple sugars (monosacharides), sucrose and lactose (the sugar in milk) are made of two (disacharides), while starch is a long long chain of many glucose molecules connected to each other.

What are carbohydrates for?
Most cells, from simple bacteria to all those that make up the human body, are fueled almost entirely by sugar.  I mean that all of that work that your cells (and therefore the organs that they make up) do is fueled by sugar, the way your car is fueled by gasoline.  Specifically, it is the glucose molecules that are absorbed into your blood stream and distributed to every cell for fuel.  This is a continual process.  Having a steady supply of glucose in our blood is extremely crucial.  Our brains are especially sensitive to any glucose lows (I can usually tell when Zach's sugars (he's type one diabetic) are really low because he takes ten seconds to think of each word in his sentence and still ends up making no sense).

Are all carbohydrates created equal?
Glucose is what we have evolved to use as fuel.  Most other carbohydrates (other than fiber) get broken down or converted into glucose.  Fructose is processed a little differently, as it is metabolized entirely by the liver.  One study showed that rats who drank fructose sweetened drinks had a liver that looked like livers of alcoholics (this would only be an issue if one at A LOT of fructose).  Sucrose, or table sugar, is made of two sugars that are attached together: fructose and glucose.  Our body breaks it in half and processes each separately.

Straight glucose spikes our blood sugar much faster than other molecules, because it does not have to be processed or broken down and can be used by cells almost immediately.  This is why it has a high glycemic index (measure of the effect carbs have on our blood sugar level).  Complex carbohydrates (those long chains of glucose) have a more mild effect on blood sugar because it takes some time for our body to brake those chains down into glucose molecules. Fructose also has a lower glycemic index because it must be processed through the liver first, which takes time.

Is sugar bad for you?
I hope it is obvious that sugar is absolutely necessary for us to survive, so you cannot say it's "bad for you".  It is crucial to have a stable glucose level in our blood to fuel our body.   It is very important, however, to not consume significantly more energy than your body uses.  Eating too much sugar makes your pancreas create too much insulin to which your body can become insensitive (as in type two diabetes).  Carbohydrates should be the largest part of your food intake, but still kept within moderation (this will depend on your size and activity level).

Sugar is fuel and we need it to survive.  But to be healthy, we need much more than fuel.  We need nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in very small amounts (in comparison to the amounts of carbs).  It is ideal to consume carbohydrates that will not only give you energy, but will provide these nutrients.  Choosing whole wheat instead of white is wise not because white is "bad" but because whole wheat has all that white has plus more good stuff!

I also want to point out that some processed carbohydrates, though not "bad" themselves, come in forms that are loaded with random chemicals and nasty additives (think Twinkie), and those are definitely not good for us.

Bottom line:
You need to eat carbs.  They are essential.  You will real mess up your precious body over time if you do not eat enough of them for.  When choosing your carbohydrates, choose those that come with additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  And obviously do not choose the ones that have unidentifiable ingredients added to them.

Foods made of carbs and other good stuff:

Whole wheat varieties of white stuff (pasta, bread), whole grains, brown rice, beans, potatoes, fruit and berries.  Don't feel guilty serving white pasta if it is paired with veggies or other nutrient-rich food (most of my pasta meals have half white half whole wheat pasta).