Carbohydrate Guide
Sugar vs. starch: are all carbs created equal?
Both break down to glucose eventually — but the path they take there is very different.
Sugars are simple carbohydrates — one or two linked sugar units — found naturally in fruit and dairy, or added to food as table sugar, syrup, or honey. They're absorbed quickly. Starches are long chains of glucose units (a complex carbohydrate) found in grains, potatoes, and legumes, and take longer to break down during digestion, generally producing a more gradual rise in blood sugar.
The nuance
Naturally occurring sugar in whole fruit comes packaged with fiber and water that slow its absorption, unlike the same amount of sugar in a soda. And highly refined starches (white bread, white rice) can behave more like sugar in terms of blood sugar response than a whole-grain starch would. The form of the carbohydrate — whole and fiber-intact vs. refined — often matters as much as whether it's technically a "sugar" or a "starch."
Keep reading: Simple vs. complex carbs · What is the glycemic index? · Why fiber matters