By Nnamdi Bonny
Everyone in some way is associated with sugar either for food or in verbal expressions figuratively depicting sweetness or pleasantness.
Sugar as it is known in health science falls under a class of food known as carbohydrate. There are three broad classifications of sugar on the basis of their number of molecules. They include: monosaccharide / one sugar molecule (glucose, fructose and galactose), disaccharide / two sugar molecules (maltose, sucrose and lactose) and polysaccharide / three or more sugar molecules (starch and glycogen). Glucose however is the only operational form of sugar in the body as every other sugar form must be converted to glucose to perform its function. It therefore follows to say that the table sugar in our tea, the rice, 'garri', yam 'akpu', bread and other starchy food breakdown to glucose to be absorbed in the body tissue. One major function of glucose is its role as a source of energy for the body. This it does by serving as a transport medium for ATP (Adenine triphosphate) -the energy molecule.
Another role sugar (glucose) plays, which I consider to be the core of its function, is its role as sole fuel for the brain. This explains why an individual cannot articulate things properly when hungry.Finally, by a process of fermentation, adequate intake of starchy food produces sufficient glucose which accounts for the alcohol needs of the body. Therefore other alcohol supplements (beer, red wine and other alcoholic drink) are really not necessary.
All these go to tell how critically essential sugar is for the proper functioning of the body. However, it's not left without some dark sides and that we will consider in the next bulletin.
…To be continued
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