Sugars and Health Workshop : summary and conclusions 1 – 4

INTRODUCTION Carbohydrates are an important component of diets and food supplies throughout the world. They are involved in physiologic, sensory, textural, and physicochemical roles. Carbohydrates are typically classified into 3 principal groups based on degree of polymerization (DP): sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides), oligosaccharides (DP: 3–9), and polysaccharides (DP > 10). During discussions of defining and interpreting intakes of sugars, it became readily apparent that 2 major problems existed: 1) a lack of agreement on a common definition of sugars and imprecision when the terms are used in research studies and 2) a limitation in accuracy in estimating actual sugars intake by humans. Because both definition and accuracy are critically important in the consideration of the health effects of sugars consumption, they require attention and clarification. Physiologic effects of carbohydrates and sugars are defined for research purposes and in some other instances by their effects on blood glucose concentrations. Several different terms are used for this, including glycemic index (GI), glycemic load, and insulinemic index. These are described in the presentations summarized in the following sections. Note that the GI and glycemic load are correctly applied only to carbohydrate foods. In some instances, glycemic load has been used incorrectly with foods that do not contain carbohydrate. For such foods, the glycemic load is zero. Furthermore, sugars are moderate to low in GI and glycemic load. Also, they have a lower GI than do many starch foods. The following sections summarize the discussions held during the workshop.