The Bottom Line. Simple sugars are carbs with one (monosaccharide) or two (disaccharide) sugar molecules. Many healthy foods like fruit and vegetables naturally contain sugar and shouldn't be avoided as they benefit your health.

What are examples of simple sugars?

Simple carbohydrates

Sugars can be categorised as single sugars (monosaccharides), which include glucose, fructose and galactose, or double sugars (disaccharides), which include sucrose (table sugar), lactose and maltose.

What are the 5 simple sugars?

The monosaccharides glucose, fructose, and galactose are single sugar molecules. The disaccharides sucrose, lactose, and maltose are double sugar molecules. Complex carbohydrates are chains of more than two sugar molecules.