Complex and Simple Carbohydrates - How Do They Affect a Type 1 Diabetic’s Blood Sugar?

Title:

Complex and Simple Carbohydrates:

How do they affect a Type 1 Diabetic’s Blood Sugar?

Name:

Ashley Andraski, Lilli Bramley, and Leah Laskowski

Project Question:

Which type of carbohydrate raises the blood sugar of a Type 1 Diabetic more: Complex or Simple Carbohydrates?

Introduction/ Rationale:

Type 1 Diabetes is when the organ in your body called the pancreas no longer produces a vital medicine called insulin or doesn’t produce enough for your body to stay healthy.  Insulin is needed on a regular basis to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.  Not only is insulin a major part of keeping your blood sugar in balance but so are the foods you eat.  Although proteins build tissue and muscle, carbohydrates are responsible for the production of energy. Meals and snacks throughout the day either consist of simple carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates.  Simple carbohydrates are carbs with a chemical structure of only one or two sugars while complex carbohydrates are carbs with a chemical structure of three or more sugars.   Simple carbohydrates have less nutritional value and are supposed to be consumed in small quantities.  The body digests simple carbohydrates quickly because they have a simple chemical structure.  Although most simple carbohydrates do not contain enough essential nutrients, some foods such as fruits are still good for the body.  Some examples of simple carbohydrates are table sugar, products with white flour, honey, milk, yogurt, candy, chocolate, fruit, fruit juice, cake, jam, biscuits, molasses, soda and packaged cereals.  Next, complex carbohydrates are more nutritional for the body.  These carbs are rich in fibers, vitamins, and minerals.  Complex carbohydrates take longer to be digested by the body because of their more complex chemical structure.  Some examples of complex carbohydrates are spinach, yams, broccoli, beans, zucchini, skimmed milk, whole grains and many other plants and vegetables.  Lastly, as a Type 1 Diabetic there is a certain range you aim for your blood sugars to stay in and that is 70 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL.  There is a bigger range for people with Diabetes because they do not have a pancreas that is constantly regulating blood sugar levels and giving insulin without having to be informed.  For a person without Diabetes their blood sugar range should be from 70 mg/dL to about 92 mg/dL.  As you can see, carbohydrates (simple and complex), the intake of insulin, and regulating blood sugar is a major part of staying health.  Doing this experiment would allow for advancements in technology where blood sugars could be more tightly controlled and more accurately accounted for along with the foods that are eaten everyday.  This personally affects my life because I live everyday with Type 1 Diabetes and it would be amazing to find ways to make it just a little bit easier.  The stress of it all can negatively affect me at times, which is unhealthy for my body.

Hypothesis:

I hypothesize that a meal consisting of simple carbohydrates will raise the blood sugar of a Type 1 Diabetic more than meals consisting of complex carbohydrates.  In more detail, I hypothesize that the complex carbohydrates will not raise a Diabetic’s blood sugar as much as a simple carbohydrates because simple carbohydrates have a chemical structure of only one or two sugars (less nutritional value) while complex carbs have a chemical structure of three or more sugars (more nutritional value).  The range that a Type 1 Diabetic should aim for is 70 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL.  Those blood sugars are considered healthy. If I eat a meal with made up of simple carbohydrates, then my blood sugar will raise above 180 mg/dL most of the time.  On the other hand, if I eat a meal consisting of only complex carbohydrates then my blood sugar will not raise above 180 mg/dL as much.  I believe my project will demonstrate that you will need a higher intake of insulin when eating simple carbs and a smaller amount when eating complex carbs to maintain a healthy life.  I am predicting that I will see that as the amounts of simple carbs increase so will the blood sugars of a Type 1 Diabetic.   For example, I predict if I eat a meal with 60 grams of simple then my blood sugar will be about 220 mg/dL two hours later due to the higher amount of simple carbohydrates.  On the other hand, I predict if I eat a meal with 60 grams of complex carbs then my blood sugar will only rise to about 170 mg/dL two hours post meal.