What is the advantage of sugar in the body?
We have both advantages and disadvantages for what we know as sugar, table sugar or refined sugar, which is biologically known as '' Sucrose ''.
Its composition is both an advantage and a disadvantage (the latter only when consumed in excess, as everything in life).
Sucrose is composed of two simple carbohydrates, a molecule of glucose linked to a molecule of fructose.
Glucose is the one that represents the essential advantage for the organism and is due to its caloric contribution, or energy contribution. Carbohydrates are the main source of calories for the body to use immediately, that is, it is our contribution of immediate energy (there are other contributions such as fats, but these are stored and are only used when depleting glucose reserves). Complex carbohydrates are divided into simple carbohydrates and those with glucose pass through a catabolic process called glycolysis (glucose breakdown) which generates pyruvate and ATP (energy).
Even glucose is an essential compound for our brain since unlike the rest of the cells of the body that obtain energy from various compounds; The nerve cells (neurons) in our brain depend solely on glucose as an energy source. Without it the neurons die and the brain collapses. That's why you have to be careful with the hypoglycemia pictures (to which the body adapts by storing a limited supply of sugar).
This is why another advantage of refined sugar is being able to attack the hypoglycemia frames, returning blood levels to normal (from a low level to a stable level).
Of course, sugar is not essential for the body or to produce glucose since in the liver it produces glucose from fats, glycerol, among others; by gluconeogenesis (glucose formation). Ketone bodies are also produced here which are used when normal glucose levels are over.
Now, before I mentioned that sacarose was a problem in high quantities, right? This is because fructose is only stored in the liver. It means that in high concentrations there will be an excess in the liver and this is stored in the form of fat; thus producing fatty liver syndrome, from here can lead to major problems such as insulin resistance, diabetes and heart problems.
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