**Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed professional, doctor, or trainer. I’ve done some research on this topic. Please do not change your diet based on my posts. Consult your doctor prior to changing anything.**

The health and fitness industry is forever changing. One minute we are being told something is extremely terrible for you, the next minute we are being told that same thing is good for us. Whether you are arguing about eggs being good/bad for you, or even if fat is good/bad for you, today we will talk about the difference of good sugars, and bad sugars. We are constantly learning about new diets and if you’re like me, you like to test out different fad diets for fun.

I’m going to be completely honest with you. I love both bad and good sugars. There are probably more bad sugars currently in my body because I have slightly fallen off the bandwagon a bit when it comes to clean eating. Even when I am clean eating, or dieting, I allow myself a cheat meal or dessert. Unless of course I’m doing keto, then I feel terrible and have to go through the keto flu all over again. Read about my keto experience here and here.

Sugar Explained

Sugars and carbs can play a role in a well balanced diet, believe it or not. Not all sugars and carbs are bad. Unless you are diabetic, then this may be different for you. The difference between good and bad sugar is not necessarily how much of it you eat, but how quickly they cause your blood glucose levels to rise. The easiest way to understand the difference between good and bad sugar, is good sugar is in healthy foods (such as fruits), and bad sugar is in highly processed or refined foods (pop tarts shown above). Sugars that cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels can be thought of as “bad” and those that don’t can be considered “good.”

The different types of Sugars

3 Types of Carbs built from sugar molecules

Sugar
Starch
Fiber

Starch and fiber are complex carbs. While your body is digesting sugar and starch they are processed into glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar that is used as energy in your bloodstream.

Sugars only containing one or two sugar molecules

Sucrose
Fructose
Lactose

The difference between natural sugars and added sugars

While this can be somewhat simple (natural is found in fruits, veggies, etc. while added is found in highly processed foods), there are a few ways of knowing which sugar is which. Simple sugars found in fruits, veggies, beans, and nuts, provide a range of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber. Fiber helps to slow down the absorption of sugar, which in turn helps monitor your blood sugar levels. Now, added sugars, the good parts (vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber) are refined out of the sugar. Not all added sugars are considered bad, but they need to be balanced by fiber.

Example of Added Sugar

Let’s look at the sugar content of the pop tarts pictured above just as a quick example.

Serving Size 1 Pastry (Even though it comes in a package of 2 and how does one only eat 1?!)
Calories 200 (so, if you’re a fat ass like me, you already consumed 400 calories in one sitting)
Total Carbs 36 grams (just as a comparison, when I was doing keto I only ate about 20 grams of carbs a day, but for weight loss, the average carb intake per day should be 50-150 grams, and remember this is doubled if you eat the entire package so that’s already close to the average carb intake per day)
Total Dietary Fiber less than 1 gram (insert bulging eye emoji here)
Total Sugars 15 grams (if you ate both pop tarts in the package you’re up to 30 grams of sugar in one sitting, the average daily intake should be 25 grams, eeeek)

At the end of the day

It really all depends on you, how much sugar you put into your body. Since I’ve fallen off the bandwagon I’ve inhaled quite a bit of bad sugar, and I can see it affecting me. I’m more sluggish, tired, and not as focused. This isn’t even including the extra fat that I’ve packed on. Lately, my body has been telling me I need to start taking care of it again. Your body will tell you when something isn’t right. When that happens, listen to it and change your diet.