Types of sugar

There are various types of sugar available in the market. sugar is one of the most discussed subjects these days because of increased health consequences. it’s hard to resist sugar when markets are full of tempting sweet products, I guess sugar always has a soft corner in our heart hence we always keep on finding all possible ways to add sugar in our food. moreover, the advanced market knows how to make a product good tasting in every possible way. The most common type of sugar is table sugar. In this article, we will go through all types of sugar which we commonly consume in our day to day life.

Difference between Added sugar and Natural sugar

Added Sugar

Added sugar is the sugar which is added to food and beverages when food is prepared or processed. For example, added sugar is present in almost all market products such as juices, baked goods and breakfast cereals etc. when you purchase food product you can also read product label that how much amount of added sugar present in that product.

Natural Sugar

It’s naturally present in fruits, honey, milk, and agave, etc. and it’s usually present in the form of fructose and lactose. Fructose is present in fruits and lactose is present in milk. natural sugar is healthier as compared to sucrose because fructose GI is 19 and sucrose GI is 65. hence it also considered safe for diabetics and when we eat fruit we are also eating all the other nutrients present in that food, which includes water, starch, fat, and other vitamin and antioxidants.

Types of sugar

Sugar is a form of carbohydrate present in nature. Once eaten sugar is breakdown into glucose and then converted into energy.

Following are the types of sugar present in nature:

1. Monosaccharides: glucose, fructose, galactose
2. Disaccharides: Sucrose, lactose, maltose
3. Oligosaccharides: Maltodextrin, raffinose
4. Polyols(sugar alcohols): Maltitol, Erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol

Monosaccharides: it’s the simplest form of carbohydrate and easiest to digest by the body. They can be further hydrolyzed to simple chemical compounds. The most common form of monosaccharides is glucose.

Disaccharides: they are formed by the combination of two monosaccharides by glycosidic linkages, such as sucrose is composed by glucose and fructose.

Oligosaccharides: when two to ten monosaccharides units are composed together they are known as oligosaccharides. Fructooligosaccharides(FOS) cannot be digested by the small intestine. only small portion digested in the large intestine. hence it does not increase blood glucose level also it contains a lot of fibre hence it is also good for gut health.

Polyols: also known as a sugar alcohol, they are derived from the reduction of sugars both mono and polysaccharides. They contribute fewer calories as compared to sugar. polyols also prevent tooth decay. They have many similar properties like sugar but they are less sweet as compared to sugar. These days this types of sugar are very popular for preparing no added sugar product because of their similarities to sugar, we can do one to one replacement of polyol for sugar to get similar physical properties and less sweetness.

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