5 ms·

Why is sugar so much worse than starch?

by krzat 8y ago

Gibbon1 8y ago
Half of sugar is fructose which follows a different metabolic pathway than glucose.
geomark 8y ago
Actually, some starchy foods are worse than pure sugar when considering their glycemic index. Jasmine rice, for example, has a GI of 109, where pure sugar is 100. So choose your starches smartly so that you don't get the large spike in blood sugar that can lead to health problems.
- GordonS 8y ago
  Even how you cook starches impacts on the GI - the more cook them, the worse it gets.
- KozmoNau7 8y ago
  And yet people in countries with primarily rice-based diets didn't have widespread obesity issues until they started introduced modern empty calorie-laden soda drinks and candy. You can eat thousands of calories of candy or drink a similar amount of calories from soda in a day, and not feel particularly sated. Try doing that with rice and you'll feel bloated in no time. A ~200g bag of peanut M&M's can easily be eaten by most people, during the ads in a cinema before the movie even starts. That's over 1000 calories right there, consumed in 10-15 minutes.
  - geomark 8y ago
    I had the same impression about countries with rice-based diets. But, anecdotally, after I moved to Thailand I learned that many of my spouse's relatives and friends are diabetic, some seriously. All of them are of older generations that were never exposed to modern junk food and don't indulge in it even now. But they have always eaten a lot of Jasmine rice and sticky rice, both very high GI foods. They typically were not obese, but they definitely were doing something that led to diabetes. Actually, obesity seemed pretty rare when I first came to Thailand about 20 years ago. One rarely saw a truly big person when out shopping or dining. In fact, there used to be "jumbo" contests which were beauty pageants for obese women. Really large girls were considered sort of cute, and there really were not very many of them. Hence the contests. But that has changed and now the trend is the same as western countries with many obese young people indulging in modern junk food. They still eat the high GI rice-based diet, but now have added on sodas and all the other sugar-loaded junk food. The future is bleak.

Why is sugar so much worse than starch?

by krzat 8y ago

Why is sugar so much worse than starch?

Gibbon1 8y ago

Half of sugar is fructose which follows a different metabolic pathway than glucose.

geomark 8y ago

Actually, some starchy foods are worse than pure sugar when considering their glycemic index. Jasmine rice, for example, has a GI of 109, where pure sugar is 100. So choose your starches smartly so that you don't get the large spike in blood sugar that can lead to health problems.

GordonS 8y ago
Even how you cook starches impacts on the GI - the more cook them, the worse it gets.
KozmoNau7 8y ago
And yet people in countries with primarily rice-based diets didn't have widespread obesity issues until they started introduced modern empty calorie-laden soda drinks and candy. You can eat thousands of calories of candy or drink a similar amount of calories from soda in a day, and not feel particularly sated. Try doing that with rice and you'll feel bloated in no time. A ~200g bag of peanut M&M's can easily be eaten by most people, during the ads in a cinema before the movie even starts. That's over 1000 calories right there, consumed in 10-15 minutes.
- geomark 8y ago
  I had the same impression about countries with rice-based diets. But, anecdotally, after I moved to Thailand I learned that many of my spouse's relatives and friends are diabetic, some seriously. All of them are of older generations that were never exposed to modern junk food and don't indulge in it even now. But they have always eaten a lot of Jasmine rice and sticky rice, both very high GI foods. They typically were not obese, but they definitely were doing something that led to diabetes. Actually, obesity seemed pretty rare when I first came to Thailand about 20 years ago. One rarely saw a truly big person when out shopping or dining. In fact, there used to be "jumbo" contests which were beauty pageants for obese women. Really large girls were considered sort of cute, and there really were not very many of them. Hence the contests. But that has changed and now the trend is the same as western countries with many obese young people indulging in modern junk food. They still eat the high GI rice-based diet, but now have added on sodas and all the other sugar-loaded junk food. The future is bleak.