This roll of bread?

這個麵包卷？

This bowl of rice?

這碗飯？

Or this can of soda?

還是這罐汽水？

It's a trick question.

這其實是個陷阱題。

Although they may differ in fats, vitamins, and other nutritional content, when it comes to carbs, they're pretty much the same.

雖然它們的脂肪、維生素和其他的營養成分都不同，但其實他們的碳水化合物含量差不多。

So what exactly does that mean for your diet?

所以這跟我們的飲食有什麼關係？

First of all, carbohydrate is the nutritional category for sugars and molecules that your body breaks down to make sugars.

首先，碳水化合物在營養分類中被歸類為糖類分子，而你的身體會分解它來產生糖分。

Carbohydrates can be simple or complex depending on their structure.

碳水化合物的結構有簡單也有複雜的。

This is a simple sugar, or monosaccharide.

這是最簡單的糖，或稱單糖。

Glucose, fructose, and galactose are all simple sugars.

葡萄糖、果糖和半乳糖都是簡單的糖。

Link two of them together, and you've got a disaccharide, lactose, maltose, or sucrose.

兩個單糖連結在一起就形成了雙糖、乳糖、麥芽糖或蔗糖 。

Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, have three or more simple sugars strung together.

另一方面，複合碳水化合物則是由三個或三個以上的單糖鍵結。

Complex carbohydrates with three to ten linked sugars are oligosaccharides.

如果有三到十個複合碳水化合物鍵結在一起，則被稱作寡糖 。

Those with more than ten are polysaccharides.

而在十個以上的則是多糖。

During digestion, your body breaks down those complex carbohydrates into their monosaccharide building blocks, which your cells can use for energy.

在消化過程中，我們的身體會把這些複合碳水化合物分解成單糖體 ，作為細胞的能量來源 。

So when you eat any carbohydrate-rich food, the sugar level in your blood, normally about a teaspoon, goes up.

所以當你吃了富含碳水化合物的食物後，你的血糖通常會升高大約一茶匙的糖量。

But your digestive tract doesn't respond to all carbohydrates the same.

但是我們的消化系統對不同的碳水化合物會有不同的反應。

Consider starch and fiber, both polysaccharides, both derived from plants, both composed of hundreds to thousands of monosaccharides joined together,

比如澱粉和纖維，兩者都是多糖，都是來自植物，也都是由上百或是上千的單糖體復合組成，

but they're joined together differently, and that changes the effect they have on your body.

但由於它們組合的方法不同，便改變了對身體的效果。

In starches, which plants mostly store for energy in roots and seeds, glucose molecules are joined together by alpha linkages, most of which can be easily cleaved by enzymes in your digestive tract.

澱粉是植物在根部和種子中最常見的能量儲存方式，以阿爾法方式鍵結葡萄醣分子，並且最容易被體內的酵素切斷。

But in fiber, the bonds between monosaccharide molecules are beta bonds, which your body can't break down.

而纖維則是由單糖體分子以貝它方式鍵結在一起，而我們的身體無法分解這種鍵結。

Fiber can also trap some starches, preventing them from being cleaved, resulting in something called resistant starch.

同時纖維也會阻攔一些澱粉，防止它被分解。這就被稱為抗性澱粉 。

So foods high in starch, like crackers and white bread, are digested easily, quickly releasing a whole bunch of glucose into your blood, exactly what would happen if you drank something high in glucose, like soda.

像是餅乾或白麵包等含有高澱粉的食物很容易被消化，並快速地釋放葡萄糖到血液中，其效果就如同你直接喝下像是汽水等富含高葡萄糖的飲料一樣。

These foods have a high glycemic index, the amount that a particular food raises the sugar level in your blood.

這些食物的升糖指數高，容易讓你的血糖也跟著飆高。

Soda and white bread have a similar glycemic index because they have a similar effect on your blood sugar.

汽水和白麵包的升糖指數差不多，因為他們對血糖的影響效果不相上下。

But when you eat foods high in fiber, like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, those indigestible beta bonds slow the release of glucose into the blood.

而當你吃下像是蔬菜、水果、或是全麥麵包等具有大量纖維的食物時，那些不能消化的貝它鍵結則會減緩葡萄糖被釋放到血液中的速度。

Those foods have a lower glycemic index, and foods like eggs, cheese, and meats have the lowest glycemic index.

這些食物的低升糖指數較低，而像是雞蛋、乳酪和肉類等的食物具有最低的升糖指數。

When sugar moves from the digestive tract to the bloodstream, your body kicks into action to transfer it into your tissues where it can be processed and used for energy.

當糖從消化器系統擴散到血液中時，身體會開始將糖輸送至組織中，並轉換成能量來源 。

Insulin, a hormone synthesized in the pancreas, is one of the body's main tools for sugar management.

胰島素是一種在胰腺中合成的激素，也是身體控制血糖含量的主要激素之一。

When you eat and your blood sugar rises, insulin is secreted into the blood.

當我們吃完東西後血糖上升時，身體會分泌胰島素到血液中 。

It prompts your muscle and fat cells to let glucose in, and jump-starts the conversion of sugar to energy.

它會促進葡萄糖進入肌肉和脂肪細胞中，並將糖分開始轉換成能量 。

The degree to which a unit of insulin lowers the blood sugar helps us understand something called insulin sensitivity.

每單位的胰島素能夠降下多少血糖，能讓我們得知細胞對胰島素的敏感度。

The more a given unit of insulin lowers blood sugar, the more sensitive you are to insulin.

每單位胰島素所降低的血糖越多，代表細胞對胰島素越敏感。

If insulin sensitivity goes down, that's known as insulin resistance.

如果身體對胰島素的敏感度降低，即發生了所謂胰島素抗性的現象。

The pancreas still sends out insulin, but cells, especially muscle cells, are less and less responsive to it, so blood sugar fails to decrease, and blood insulin continues to rise.

儘管胰腺持續分泌胰島素，但細胞，特別是肌肉細胞，對胰島素越來越不敏感，使血糖無法下降，但血液中胰島素卻持續上升。

Chronically consuming a lot of carbohydrates may lead to insulin resistance, and many scientists believe that insulin resistance leads to a serious condition called metabolic syndrome.

長期攝取過多的碳水化合物可能導致胰島素抗性，而許多科學家認為胰島素抗性會導致一種稱為代謝症候群的嚴重狀況 。

That involves a constellation of symptoms, including high blood sugar, increased waist circumference, and high blood pressure.

該症候群包括了一系列的症狀，包含了高血糖、腰圍增加和高血壓 。

It increases the risk of developing conditions, like cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes.

如此下來便可能提升罹患心血管疾病與第二型糖尿病等疾病的風險。

And its prevalence is rapidly increasing all over the world.

而這種問題正在全世界蔓延。

As much as 32% of the population in the US has metabolic syndrome.

在美國 32% 的人有代謝症候群。

So let's get back to your diet.

讓我們回頭談談你的飲食吧。

Whether your food tastes sweet or not, sugar is sugar, and too many carbs can be a problem.

不論你的食物吃起來甜不甜，糖就是糖，而攝取太多碳水化合物會造成健康問題。

So maybe you'll want to take a pass on that pasta sushi roll pita burrito donut burger sandwich.

所以在你準備大啖這份義大利麵壽司捲餅皮塔甜甜圈漢堡三明治之前，先審慎考慮一下。