In actual fact, sugar is both.  However, the source of the sugar determines whether or not it will benefit you, or impair your health. Put simply, sugar is the simplest form of carbohydrate, an essential nutrient for life.  Carbohydrates are divided into two groups: complex and simple. Complex carbohydrates include vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts.  Simple carbohydrates include cane sugar, honey, fruit, pasta and white rice.

Our bodies are designed to utilise sugar, as both complex and simple carbohydrates, to create energy.  This energy is used for many things; including brain, heart, and liver function.  When we have too much, or not enough sugar, our health suffers. Ideally, our body requires foods from the complex carbohydrate group in order to  function best. These foods take longer to break down in our digestive system, and therefore provide a slow, steady stream of energy.  Complex carbohydrates are also rich in many other nutrients such as B vitamins, magnesium and fibre.

Certain other nutrients are required in order to turn carbohydrates into energy.  A complex carbohydrate will come with its own source of these enzymes and nutrients. A simple carbohydrate lacks such nutrition.  This means that the body has to draw on it own supply in order to break down the food you have just eaten.  Remembering that B vitamins are often in short supply in our bodies, by eating simple carbohydrates you are depleting your B vitamins, and other nutrients.  Here begins a cycle:

1. Hunger strikes! You quickly reach for a chocolate bar, chips or crackers.

2. This gives your body a very quick source of energy, the simple carbohydrate content is metabolised easily.

3. Your body is drawing on a small supply of B vitamins, magnesium and potassium, to turn your snack into energy.

4. As a result of ingesting simple carbohydrates, your blood is now flowing with energy.  However, as quickly as you feel better, you feel hungry again.

5. If this is the pattern you follow, then after a while you will notice that along with hunger, you experience headaches, moodiness, anxiety, shakiness, and fatigue.  If you have been eating like this for a long time, you may even experience bloating, insomnia, poor memory, low libido and even allergies.

6. Your next meal may not be a quick fix, however anything that involves processed foods is likely to create the same scenario. So, having crashed down from the sugar “high” that your snack gave you, imagine your next meal is a pasta dish.

7. You happily sit and renew your energy with a meal rich in simple carbohydrates.  If most of your meals are carbohydrate based, then after a period of time, your body will run out of its supply of nutrients.  Some of these deficiencies you won’t notice for a long time.  Magnesium, for instance, is stored for much longer than vitamin B1, which can deplete in a matter of days or less.

8. The longer you give your body a “quick fix” of energy, the more long term damage you are causing.  If you choose to swap your meal choices to foods rich in complex carbohydrates, you will still receive the energy you require, without depleting your system of essential nutrients.

Often I have heard people claim that they do not eat sugary foods.  Let me clarify that the majority of processed foods, whether sweet or not, are simple carbohydrates.

Many people have had success with weight loss on high protein, low carbohydrate diets. Let me emphasize that these diets still require carbohydrates for survival. In fact, a diet of “pure protein” although near impossible, can actually be just as dangerous as too much carbohydrate. Should you feel the need to reduce your carbohydrate intake for any reason, you may still consume a large quantity of vegetables and see the benefit. Even some fruits, such as berries, contain a lower sugar load than other fruits, and are great for your health, and as a sweet treat.

So, which sugars are your friends? Generally, any food in its whole, unprocessed form is good for you.  Vegetables are fantastic, especially leafy greens, lentils, nuts, and grains. Grains such millet, quinoa, spelt and rye are all good options.  If you must have pasta, rice or pizza, use a whole-meal base, and vegetables to fill up rather than the grain base.

For inspiration on sweet treats, scour the internet (or past WWWM issues!) for raw dessert recipes.  Whilst still simple sugars, these sweet treats use whole foods as a base, and are therefore better for you than your average chocolate brownie. Sugar is not the enemy when eaten sensibly, and when you feel the benefits of a whole-food diet, you will certainly consider complex-carbohydrates your friends.

By Mem Davis