We often hear the words starch and glucose being spoken in the fitness community a lot. Starch is a form of complex carbohydrate while glucose, a monosaccharide, is a form of sugar absorbed through the intestine into your bloodstream. The reason these 2 are talked about together is because of their effect on the blood glucose level. Glucose is absorbed directly in the blood stream which is why it created a instant blood sugar spike. While on the other hand starches have a slower absorption in the body. Starches contain between 300 to 1,000 glucose units stuck together in a long chain. If you hold a starch in your mouth, amylase, one of the enzymes in saliva, will begin to break it down. Because of the many bonds present in the starch they absorb and digest fairly slowly and hence have a much more stabilised effect on the blood sugar level. Although glucose gets instantly absorbed and spikes blood sugar level, it can be helpful for people with hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar levels as it helps them get and instant spike. Sometimes even bodybuilders take a dose of glucose either in the form of glucose powders or sweets immediately post workout to up their nutrition uptake.
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