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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Does sugar from the breakdown of carbohydrates need insulin to be used?

    Related Topic
    Nutrition
    Insulin is needed by the body to be able to metabolise sugar, does this happen with carbs the same way?
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    Fumi Somehara

    Dietitian, Nutritionist

    Fumi is a dietitian (APD) specialising in Dancer's Health and Eating Disorders Treatment. Her work is grounded in Health At Every Size (R) and Non-Diet … View Profile

    We need insulin to draw sugar in the blood into our cells.

    When you eat foods containing carbohydrate, they get broken down in to simpler molecules called glucose (sugar). Glucose then enters the blood stream. As the levels of glucose in the blood rise, the pancreas produces insulin. Insulin prompts the cells to absorb the glucose. Any excess glucose will be stored (as glycogen) in muscle and liver cells.

    Majority of carbohydrate is digested in the small intestine as above. Some forms of carbohydrate (eg oligosaccharides) are prebiotic, meaning they will reach the large intestine and feed the good bacteria. Dietary fibre, which is also carbohydrate, gets excreted in faeces as it doesn't get absorbed in the intestine.

     

     

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    Arlene Normand

    Dietitian

    Arlene is a registered practising dietitian, with a private practice in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and has built a strong business over the last … View Profile

    The foods we eat contain nutrients that provide energy and other things the body needs, and one of these is carbohydrates. The two main forms of carbohydrates are:

    1. sugars such as fructose, glucose, and lactose
    2. starches, which are found in foods such as starchy vegetables (like potatoes or corn), grains, rice, breads, and cereals

    The body breaks down or converts most carbohydrates into the sugar glucose. Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, and with the help of a hormone called insulin  it travels into the cells of the body where it can be used for energy.

    People with diabetes have problems with insulin that can cause blood sugar levels to rise. For people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas loses the ability to make insulin. For people with type 2 diabetes, the body can't respond normally to the insulin that is made or the body cannot produce enough insulin – both of these cause the blood sugar level to rise and prevents the body from using the glucose in the cells for energy.

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    Dr Rebecca Reynolds

    Nutritionist

    Rebecca Charlotte Reynolds, PhD (Dr Bec) Personable and ethical registered nutritionist (RNutr) and lecturer at UNSW Australia in lifestyle and health. Regular consultant to the … View Profile

    Hello!

    Carbohydrates occur in foods and drinks as:

    1. Sugars, including glucose (think of some energy drinks), frutcose (think of an apple), sucrose (think of table sugar)

    2. Starches (think of foods like pasta, potatoes, rice, bread)

    3. Fibre (think of foods like oats, vegetables)

    Insulin is mainly required for numbers 1 and 2, sugars and starches. When you eat or drink foods or drinks that contain sugars or starches, your intestine mainly converts these sugars and starches into the blood sugar called glucose (glucose occurs in foods and drinks as well as in your blood). 

    Your body cells, e.g. a muscle cell in your arm, want to use this blood glucose for energy, e.g. to pick up your cup of coffee! For your body cells to be able to get the energy from the glucose, your pancreas (an organ) produces a hormone called insulin, which is like a key that opens the cell doors to allow glucose to enter the muscle cells in your arm and provide energy for you to lift your coffee cup.

    If you have a level of insulin resistance, your insulin key doesn't work so well to unlock these doors, i.e. your muscle cells for example are resistant to the effects of the insulin key. This is common in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

    Hope that helps :)

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