| Goals & Objectives | Materials | Ready |
| Set | Go | Resources |
1. Students will understand that all sugars give you the same amount of energy per gram.
2. Students will understand that complex carbohydrates are an excellent source of energy because foods high in complex carbohydrates may also be low in calories and high in other nutrients.
3. Students will compare nutrient levels of different foods that contain approximately the same number of carbohydrate grams.
Materials:
1. Class sets of Nutrient Friendly Vs. Lonely Sugars and Graph the Sugar activity sheet.
Ready
Gather all materials needed.
Set
At the end of the lesson make sure the students understand that all carbohydrates; both simple and complex gives us energy. Regardless of which carbohydrate source is used for energy, carbohydrates from all sources end up as sugars (glucose) in our bodies. So, whether a food carbohydrate started out as starch, fruit sugar, or refined table sugar the energy source in the body remains the same (glucose). The goal is to get students to understand that all carbohydrates will give you energy, but the foods they choose can differ in the level of nutrients it provides.* Complex carbohydrates are recommended because;
1. They are digested more slowly thus it stays in the stomach for longer periods of time so you do not feel as hungry as quickly and you avoid the dramatic blood sugar highs and lows (impacting mood and energy level).
2. They often appear in foods rich in other nutrients.
3. High fiber and low calories are other typical benefits.* But remember
1. White refined flour is high starch and low nutrients and fiber.
2. Simple carbohydrates found naturally in fruits and other foods are recommended.
3. It is added sugars we should watch because all they offer are calories and not vitamins, minerals or fiber.The categories have been titled "Mostly Added Sugars" and "Mostly Naturally Occurring Sugars" to avoid the confusion that some sugars are unnatural. All sugars are natural and are produced by plants. This lesson states that the body uses all sugars the same way to get the same energy. This lesson does not address the fact that some sugars may be digested differently by some people. There is also no nutritional value (negligible) value between sugars, so there is no nutritional reason to choose one sugar over another in food.
Go
Read over the directions with the students. Before starting the lesson have the students verbally predict what they think they will find out. Do they think the energy will be different in any way? Then have the students look at the categories of foods and the nutritional information listed. Have them choose one food from each category to graph the nutritional information. You may wish to display the graphs on a bulletin board or even make some overhead of a few graphs to "Set" portion of this lesson for the goals of what you want the students to learn and the teacher information to help you in facilitating the discussion. The questions at the bottom of the activity sheet will help you evaluate if the students understood the concept.
Answers:
1. Was the energy from one of the carbohydrate categories superior to the others? NO Why or why not?
Our body breaks down all carbohydrates into the same simple sugars for digestion and release of energy.
The energy is the same.2. Why do you think the topic for this lesson was Nutrient Friendly Vs. Lonely Sugars and not Good Vs. Bad Sugars? It is not the sugar that is inherently bad: our body uses all sugar in the same way to produce the same energy. Our body changes all carbohydrates into the same sugar (glucose) for energy. The difference is in the food.
3. What do you think the difference is between added simple sugars and naturally occurring simple sugars?
Naturally occurring simple sugars are found in the nutrient rich plant that created it. Added simple sugars
are man made foods in which sugar has been added, often foods that are high in calories (sometimes
added extra calories only) and low in nutrients.4. Do you think the added simple sugars are "unnatural"? No, they were naturally created by plants but then processed or refined by man and then added to foods.
5. If these foods all provide the same energy why choose one over the other? Some foods are rich in nutrients the
body needs to work properly and others are empty calories or high in fat.6. If both naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates are good energy sources, why eat both? Why
not eat just one? Different food provide different nutrients, we need a variety. Fresh fruit provide different
nutrients than bread and both are needed in a healthy balanced diet (refer students to the food pyramid).7. What would be your recommendations as to the best way to get carbohydrates you need in your diet?
Student answers will vary.
Extension: Have students debate the if they think simple sugars have a place in our diet. Make sure they cover information on fresh fruits and vegetables, that occasional treats are all right, and dispel myths about some sugars being bad.