Can someone explain the "which turns to Sugar" ??

[trueblue]

I am pretty sure I saw on here that someone said when looking at nutrition labels to not go by the what tuns to sugar part under carbs and that ALL carbs turn to sugar.

Is that true? If so how do the food companies get away with making out that their foods have a lot less sugar in them than what they actually would have,,,at best its misleading? Has it got anything to do with how quickly it turns to sugar. I have noticed in foods that often get described as healthy eg porridge that there will often be a massive difference say like ,,, carbs 55g of which turns to suagr 6g,,, leading you to think this isn't going to be bad.. whereas the foods you would expect like sweets etc its pretty much like for like

Is a lower which turns to sugar really helpful if it all turns to sugar regardless ??

Hopefully someone can explain the science behind the label as I am really curious to know now what I am eating these days.

 

[vit90]

Yes it's the speed at which the carbs are turned into glucose. Good carbs get converted slowly but you still need to control the total carb intake. With good carb food the total carb figure and 'of which sugars' is not an indication of how much of the carbs will turn into sugar but how much of the carb content already is sugar. Theoretically, all the carbs will be turned into sugar through digestion although some which make up dietary fibre may not be - someone else might be able to clarify this better than I can. I've chosen to reduce carbs for a period of time and so I look at the total carb value.

(Update) OK have done some research I now think that food labels indicate the maximum carb content but with some foods (like those high in fibre) it's possible that some of that carb content will not be converted into sugar. However, you can't assume that all, for example, fibre carbs won't be converted to absorb-able carbs because gut fermentation can convert some or all of this type of carbohydrate to sugar which the gut will absorb. So it's better to err on the side of caution and count the total carbs.

 

[pavlosn]

I may be wrong but I believe the correct label is "of which sugars" not " which turn to sugars"

There are different type of carbs, sugar and dietary fiber being two types.

The figure quoted on nutrition labels for carbs in grams includes the amount of grams of sugar which is then stated for information purposes below the carbs data labeled "of which sugars".

So a food item labeled carbohydrates 50g of which sugars 20g, has 20g of sugar and 30g of other type of carbs making up a total of 50g of carb content.

To make matters even more confusing the way that carbs and dietary fiber information differs between the UK and the States. In the former the amount of Carbs is stated net I.e after deducting the amount of dietary fibre while in the Latter the two are given gross.

For diabetic control what is important is the amount of carbs net of any dietary fibre.

The "of which sugars" numbers are of little use other than as a very rough indication of how quickly the carbs will turn to glucose.

Pavlos

If I got the net gross distinction between UK and USA the wrong way round, someone please correct me.

 

[Yorksman]

Total carbohydrate values include the weight of all sugars, sugar alcohols, fiber and any other carbohydrate-based ingredient like maltodextrins. When this is high, treat with caution.

The sugars amount includes sugars that are present naturally in the food such as lactose in milk and fructose in fruit, sucrose in fruits and vegetables, as well as sugars added to the food during processing, such as sugar / sucrose, corn syrup, honey, high fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates and dextrose. When this is high, avoid it.

Not all carbs are turned into glucose, just about all beta carbs are indigestable and some alpha carbs in the oligosaccharide group are only partially digestible, so they won't make much of a difference to your BG levels.

Not all sugars will get turned into glucose either. Lactose in milk is digestible by most people in northern europe but it is quite different in southern europe. Even in the UK, 15% can't digest it. If you look at some of artifical sugars, you will see that they have very high contents, eg Truvia is 99% but, it has no calories, because you do not digest any of it.

However, food labelling cannot give a breakdown of the different types of carbohydrates; monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosacchardies and polysaccharides and a list of the various alpha and beta carbohydrate types, because most people don't know what they are. What we see, carbs, sugars and fibre is only a very rough guide.

Having a little bit and testing to see what effect it had is the best guide because, all humans are different. Even non diabetics say 'I avoid that food, it doesn't agree with me'. Diabetics are just a bit more finicky with what they can or cannot eat,

 

[Daibell]

Yes, as others have said it's total carbs to look for but some of this will be fibre and so on so be aware of that. Carbs that are absorbed will become glucose in the body. The food industry and even the community at large has been focussed for many years on fats being an issue and not carbs (very convenient for the food industry as sugar is mega profitable). So,food labelling is not targeted at diabetics or even the obese it's just not matched to the real needs we have. BTW, 'sugar' i.e. sucrose is converted by the body to 50% glucose and 50% fructose. The latter is stored by the liver as fat.

 

[douglas99]

Yes, as others have said it's total carbs to look for but some of this will be fibre and so on so be aware of that. Carbs that are absorbed will become glucose in the body. The food industry and even the community at large has been focussed for many years on fats being an issue and not carbs (very convenient for the food industry as sugar is mega profitable). So,food labelling is not targeted at diabetics or even the obese it's just not matched to the real needs we have. BTW, 'sugar' i.e. sucrose is converted by the body to 50% glucose and 50% fructose. The latter is stored by the liver as fat.

Most things are stored in the liver as fat.
If you want to understand your liver, this was a good course, do it when it comes round again.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/liver-disease

 

[trueblue]

Thanks guys very informative as always. Been watching the overall carb count so far anyway but was just curious. I had heard before that porridge etc was slow release energy and thought it might be down to that,,seemed pretty obvious with the bad ones and dont miss them anyway

Cheers again