A Personal Research On Carbohydrate and Sugar
Without any doubt, I love carbohydrate foods. In fact, is it possible to have a meal in a day without eating carbs, it is no news that news media and numerous articles talk about the danger of carbohydrates to our health saying they are more dangerous than saturated fats, or that they increase heart disease risk? While I love carbs a lot, I try to find answers to whether they are actually a killer class of food, and whether can I reduce my carbohydrate intake. You know, carbs are very difficult to avoid especially when you intend to eat cheap food or junk food. When you are asked what food contain carbohydrate, you might start to say Biscuit, bread, and Wheat but do not be shocked when I say that your favorite Brocolli and Beans also have carbohydrate in them.
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Remember that junior school definition of carbohydrates which are large molecules that contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen? Yes, that carbohydrate, combined with protein and fat is very important for providing nutrients to our bodies, and when it comes to energy, we just go directly to carbohydrate, even though fat does a good job as well. These carbs are broken down to glucose which is then used for energy in the body but when it is excessive in the body, it will be stored as fat in the body tissue. While I was going to argue to there is vegetable and fruit, I realize that fruits are a type of fiber which are carbohydrate (we can refer to as green carbs) that releases energy slowly, good for out gut, and doesn't store as fat in our body. So what do we eat that doesn't contain the white carb, the beige carb, and the green carb?
It is so surprising to see that in our lifetime, we can eat up to 7 tonnes of white and beige carb. While someone like myself eat a lot of carbohydrate and do not get fat, my friend eats the same thing and she is almost obesed, funny thing is we eat the same thing. In fact, she is the reason I decidd to do this personal research. While I was doing my research, I came across an article which was a Amylase experiment on crackers by Dr. Sharon Moalem. It explains that people that can quickly fell the changes of food in their mouth have very much and active amylase enzymes that breakdown that starch. It is very surprising how people feel like food such as rice do not have much sugar compared to strawberry, whereas rice have more sugar content than strawberry, although strawberry taste sweeter. My friend doesn't like to take edibles that taste sugary but that's not true because looks can be decieving, and I am not saying because it is sweet means it doesn't have much sugar, what I am saying is that some food might not taste sweet but then they contain a lot of sugar content.
While we say starch can be broken down and excessive glucose is stored as fat, there are another form of starch known as resistance starch. Resistance starch do not digest in the small intestine, but rather ferments in the large intestine where the gut bacteria feed on them. They are found in Brown rice, Whole-grain bread and pasta, Cashews and so on.
Also, while I was doing my personal research, I understood that swilling and spitting energy drink is as good as swallowing it because specific receptors in the mouth send messages to the brain causing the stimulation of the area of the brain involved in motivation. I could say the body was using the stored carbohydrate or fat stored in the body to start working.
I started to ask myself, do we take more than the needed amount of carbohydrate on a daily basis? It look like almost everyfood contains carbohydrate, so are we taking the bad carbs/wrong carbs which then store in our body making us obese? These questions kept on running through my mind.
This Simple "Cracker Test" Could Tell You How Many Carbs You Should Be Eating
This 30-Second Cracker Test Will Tell You How Many Carbs You Should Be Eating For Your DNA
What to Know About Resistant Starches
Why spitting is as good as swallowing when it comes to sports drinks
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I must say that I am interested in trying out the cracker test. I do not know if it has been fully accepted but such an Amylase enzyme theory can do a lot of good to help people who can become obese as a result of eating excessive carbs.
I guess much depends on the type of carb, and whether or not it's processed. Gluten-containing carbs seem to be especially dangerous, with Alessio Fasano from Harvard, who discovered the zonulin molecule, claiming that autoimmune disease wouldn't exist without the intake of gluten.