Carbohydrates
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Carbohydrates are formed when green plants combine carbon dioxide and water during the process of photosynthesis. According to Dr. Jensen in Dr. Jensen’s Guide To Body Chemistry & Nutrition (2000), carbohydrates are “molecules of varying size and complexity that provide fuel for energy, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and fiber.” (25) Carbohydrates are broken up into two categories: simple and complex. Both types of carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules. We find out what makes a simple carbohydrate different than a complex carbohydrate in the book Healing Power Of Exercise (2000) by Lynn Goldberg, M.D. and Diane L. Elliot, M.D. “When only one or two sugar molecules are linked together, as in table sugar (sucrose) . . .we have simple carbohydrates. When several sugar molecules are linked together in chains, as in rice, breads, and cereals, they are referred to as complex carbohydrates.” Complex carbohydrates take longer for the body to absorb, thus extending their energy over a longer time.
We take in carbohydrates in the forms of starchy foods, such as rice and potatoes, table sugar, and all fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Many fruits and vegetables are considered complex carbohydrates, which provide slow and steady amounts of sugar to the blood. Starches include grains, legumes, and underground root vegetables. According to Dr. Jensen, “Some doctors believe that starchy vegetables and high-sugar vegetables such as corn, carrots, peas, and beets are as much responsible for obesity as high-fat meats and dairy products.” (26)
Carbohydrates, according to the USDA website (www.usda.gov), serve many different functions. They supply energy, spare proteins to be used for growth and maintenance of body tissues rather than energy, and provide fiber. Dr. Bernard Jensen adds to this in Dr. Jensen’s Guide To Body Chemistry & Nutrition (2000), saying that carbohydrates are important in helping with “kidney and liver problems, manic behavior, and low threshold anger tendencies.” (25)
All carbohydrates are transformed into glucose in the body. In Food (1995), Susan Powter explains, “Before it is used for energy, sugar is broken down by your body as glucose or blood sugar.” Glucose is absolutely necessary in the body and, as Sally Fallon says in Nutritional Healing (2001), “As the body uses glucose for all its processes, it can be said that sugar is essential to life.” Fallon goes on to say that the body, “doesn’t actually need to ingest sugar, or even large quantities of carbohydrates, to produce it. She cites the case of several isolated traditional groups, such as the Eskimos and the medieval inhabitants of Greenland, who subsisted on diets composed almost entirely of animal products, proteins and fats. The skulls of those groups of people showed a virtual absence of tooth decay, which shows a high level of general health, even without the consumption of carbohydrates.”
Starch is a polysaccharide composed exclusively of glucose molecules. The glucose, when digested in the body, enters the bloodstream through the small intestine and from there, it supplies energy to all parts of the body, wherever it is needed.
There are many types of sugars. We talked about a few in the preceding paragraphs, but there are many, many different substances you can use instead of just plain white table sugar (sucrose).
Nutrition is not simply a collection of ideas about carbohydrate s and such. Nutrition is the essence of our very being. Some think it is simple, others complex but it is all relative. There is no need to be an intense calorie counter, with the right knowledge it is easy to have a healthy diet. High nutrition low nutrient density food seems to be the best if longevity is your goal. Health education can only go so far it is up to the student to determine how it is applied. The mass media has poor nutrition data. Life on earth has never been more complex until now. The universal science center cannot supply you with all the answers. Maybe a food journal will give you crucial life insight. The herbal solution could already be in your house.