What Are The Advantages Of Deriving One's Calories From Complex Carbohydrates As Opposed To Sugars?

The foods you eat are made up of macronutrients including proteins, fats and carbohydrates, which supply the energy needed for your body to function. However, not all macronutrients are created equal, especially when it comes to choosing between complex carbohydrates and simple sugars. The classification between the two relies on the structure of the carbohydrate. Simple sugars, or simple carbohydrates, have one or two sugars, while complex carbohydrates have three or more. This difference in structure creates several advantages for complex carbohydrates over simpler sugars.

Fiber

One of the leading reasons for choosing complex carbohydrate calories over simple sugar is the presence of fiber. Complex carbohydrates foods, such as oats, brown rice, yams, beans, lentils and peas, all have higher contents of fiber.

Fiber comes in two forms, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber, such as the beta-glucans in oats, turns into a gel in the digestive tract that helps trap and prevent the absorption of cholesterol, which can help reduce your risks for heart diseases. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and provides bulk to your stool, helping improve your digestive tract.

Digestion Rate

The added fiber in complex carbohydrates creates another benefit for complex carbohydrates, which is a slower digestion rate. The structure of complex carbs makes them more difficult to break down in your digestive tract, extending digestion time. Longer digestion time also helps you feel fuller longer, which can help prevent snacking between meals.

Energy

Complex carbohydrates along with fiber include more starches. Once consumed by the body, starch breaks down into simple sugars. However, this complex carbohydrate takes a long time to break down into glucose, which the body needs to be able to use the food as energy. Because the breakdown to glucose is slower, starch complex carbs provide a long-lasting source for energy over simple sugars which break down to glucose much faster, and are used up quicker.

Blood Sugar Levels

The slower digestion rate of complex carbohydrates also helps control your blood glucose levels. Simple sugars digest quickly, making a large amount of glucose available in the bloodstream in a short amount of time. Complex carbohydrates digest slower, releasing glucose into the bloodstream more equally. This slower release of glucose is ideal, as high blood glucose levels can be dangerous for the body, especially if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic.