Nutrition - Carbonhydrates and Added Sugars

 Blog #2 - Carbonhydrates and Added Sugar

Differences between Foods that are High in Carbohydrates and Foods with Added Sugar

You can find the differences when you read the food labels of the respective food prodcts. The first label is the food that is high in carbonhydrates. As you can see in the section of "Carbonhydrates", it showed 34g with 2g of fibre but there is no sugars. In the second label, the one with added sugars also contains  carbonhydrates (26g in this example) but there is also 22g of sugars. From this difference, you can distinguish between these 2 food products.

Food that is high in carbonhydrates

Food with added sugars

Negative Health Effects of Eating Too Many Added Sugars in Our Diets

Based on the information from Harvard Health Publishing (2022), when you are consuming too much sugars (an adult man taking an average of 24 teaspoons per day), there is a high risk of obesity and diabetes. Besides that, there is a serious impact on heart health.

What is a Whole Grain?

From Harvard School of Public Health, a whole grain offers a more healthy food than refined grain, which valuable nutrients are removed during the refining process. A whole grain consists of 3 parts: bran, endosperm and germ. Each part has its own nutrients:

• Barn is the outer firbre layer that contains B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
• Germ is the core of the seed which growth takes place. It contains healthy fats, vitamin E, B vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants.
• Endosperm is the inner layer that contains carbohydrates, protein, and small amounts of some B vitamins and minerals.

Health Benefits of Incorporating Whole Grains in Our Diet

Based on the information from Havard School of Public Health, eating whole grains provides the following benefits to the body:

• Bran and fibre can slow the breakdown of starch into glucose which maintains a steady blood sugar rather than a sharp rise.
• Fibre can help lower cholesterol and move wastes through the digestive tract.
• Fibre may also help prevent the formation of small blood clots that can trigger heart attacks or strokes.
• Phytochemicals and other essential minerals such as magnesium, selenium and copper found in whole grains may protect against some cancer diseases.

Food Products Found in Grocery Store

The following products can be found in the grocery store.

Food containing carbonhydrates

Food with added sugar

Example of whole grain

Another example of whole grain

Identify Added Sugar in My Chosen Food

The chosen food is a Kit Kat, which is the food with added sugars. According to its food label, it contains 23g of added sugar.

Personal Recipe

Braised Pork Shoulder Shank with multigrain rice

Servings for 4 to 5 persons

Ingredients

Pork shoulder shank, 500g

10 multigrain rice, 1 rice cup

White rice, 1 rice cup

Choy sum, 200g

Dried mushroom, 20g

Sesame oil, 1/4 cup

Salt and olive oil

Preparation time: 3 hours

Cooking time: 1 hour

Steps

1.    Wash pork shoulder shank and dry with paper towel. Marinate with sesame oil and salt for 3 hours. Reserve in fridge. 

2.    Rinse multigrain rice 2 times and soak with cold water for 2 hours.

3.    Wash dried mushrooms and soak with cold water for 3 hours.

4.    Cut choy sum into small pieces and wash in cold water.

5.    Rinse white rice 2 times and put in pot of rice cooker. Remove water from multigrain rice and put on top of white rice. Add water to the level 2 mark (i.e. 2 cups of rice).

6.    Dry mushrooms with paper towel and cut mushrooms into slices. Put on top of multigrain.

7.    Cut Pork Shoulder Shank in slices and put on top of the pot. Put the pot to rice cooker and start cooking.

8.    Blanch choy sum with water, salt and olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Remove water.

9.    When multigrain rice is done, mix with choy sum. Serve with bowls.

Reflection

All the ingrediments in the personal recipe above can be found in most of the Chinese supermarkets. Although there is no new skill learnt from making this dish, special attention should be paid to season the pork shoulder shank. It cannot be too salty or mild. Otherwise, it will adversely affected the wholegrain and rice. 

We will make this dish again as this dish contains the wholegrain, meat and vegetables, which they are cooked in a healthy manner.

Reference

Harvard Health Publishing. (2022, January 6). The sweet danger of sugar. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar

Harvard School of Publich Health. (n.d.) Whole Grains. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/whole-grains/