I saw my friend eating a banana, and he said “I’m trying to eat more fruits instead of junk like bread and crackers”, and my other friend said “that doesn’t matter. Carbs are carbs.”
Now at face value, it seems a bit silly: we are all brought up to believe that fruits have other nutrients that are beneficial to us. But in the end, are the carbs in both sources the same? Similarly, can one say that the sugars one obtains in a fruit are the same as those obtained in a candy bar?
My intuitive understanding is, while “sugar” is in fact just sugar (irrespective of the source), the reason we consider fruits or vegetables important is because of the other nutrients and vitamins they contain, giving them an overall better nutritional profile than their processed counterparts. In addition, I think that the chemical modifications that manufacturers make to their goods are considered unhealthy. But In the end, is it fair to say that a “carb is just a carb”? Or sugar a sugar?
In: Biology
Carbs are made of starch or sugar. Starches are broken up into glycemic index which affects your blood sugar response. Generally a low glycemic index food is more preferable as to not cause spikes in your blood sugar. Such as brown rice vs white rice.
Then sugar is broken up as well into glucose which is from starches, fructose, and sucrose. Fructose is probably the worst for you then glucose then sucrose. But any added sugar (as opposed to naturally occuring) should be avoided.
So yes there are good and bad carbs. Same for fats, which are broken in mono unsaturated, poly unsaturated, saturated, and trans.
Eating an apple and eating candy both have sugar or carbs. But the apple is healthy because of the nutrients which the candy does not likely have.
So healthy is something that has nutrients such as vitamins and minerals in addition to fats, carbs, and protein. “Empty” carbs are carbs such as candy and soda which contain no nutrients.
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