What are Carbohydrates and Where are They Found?
Carbohydrates are one of three main sources of energy. They’re found in all kinds of different foods, including bread and cakes, pasta and rice, fruit and vegetables, milk and dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. Even sugary drinks like coke contain carbohydrates!
What happens to my body when I eat carbohydrates?
When we eat carbohydrate-rich foods they are digested and turned into glucose (a type of sugar) which enters our bloodstream. Our bodies use this glucose for energy or store it in our liver and muscles for later use. As the amount in circulation increases, people with diabetes may notice their blood sugars rising.
Is it possible to limit the number of carbohydrates I eat?
Yes – eating a healthy balanced diet that includes some carbohydrate-rich foods will usually give you enough carbohydrates without going over your daily allowance, which is based on your weight and height.
People who want to lose weight may need to reduce the overall amount of calories by eating less food or being more careful about what they choose – check out this article for more info.
It’s particularly important to watch the number of carbohydrates in snacks and drinks as these often contain a lot. If there isn’t enough insulin available then the glucose from snacks and drinks can build up in the bloodstream faster than it can be removed leading to raised blood sugar levels. You should monitor your blood sugar levels after eating and drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
How can I work out how many carbohydrates are in the foods I eat?
There are lots of carbohydrate counting books, apps, and websites that can help you do this. Check out this article for more information.
If you’re using insulin injector pens then your insulin dosage is already adjusted according to your body weight or height so it’s important not to change that – otherwise you may end up with too much or too little insulin! Talk to a healthcare professional before making any changes to your treatment plan.
what are carbohydrates made of:
Carbohydrates are a large group of organic compounds that can be classified into monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides depending on the number of monomers (sugar) units they contain. Carbohydrate is mainly associated with food but it is also found in nature as structural elements such as cell walls and wood.
what are carbohydrates foods?
Carbohydrates are ubiquitously found in both animals and plants. However, they are not equally distributed within the body whether you are an animal or plant (phytochemicals).
Monosaccharides:
These are the smallest carbohydrate units that cannot further break down into monomers. They usually contain three carbon atoms, but for these to be considered carbohydrates they must have at least one oxygen atom attached. The most common ones include fructose (fruit sugar), glucose (also known as dextrose), and galactose.
When two monosaccharides combine it is called a disaccharide while many become polysaccharides when more than two join together. This is because monosaccharide units can be arranged in many ways with many chemical bonds. Hence, the amount of monosaccharides determines whether a carbohydrate is considered a simple or complex one.
Monosaccharide units can be bound together in different ways to form disaccharides. Two sugar units are bound together by either a dehydration reaction (losing water) or an addition reaction (adding another compound).
The most well-known disaccharide is sucrose which consists of fructose attached to glucose. This bond forms when the hydroxyl group (-OH) on each monomer combines with the carbon atom at the opposite end of the chain attached to its sugar unit.
An example of an additional reaction between monosaccharides includes lactose which is made up of glucose and galactose joined together. Lactose is made when the hydroxyl group on one monosaccharide (galactose) combines with the carbon at the opposite end of another monosaccharide (glucose).
examples of carbohydrates:
Sucrose:
Sucrose is a disaccharide that consists of one unit of glucose and another fructose. The first carbon atom on the glucose attaches to another carbon atom at an opposite end to its own, while the other unit attaches to a hydroxyl group (-OH) on the second carbon atom. It is commonly known as table sugar.
Lactose:
The three monosaccharides in this example are arranged differently from sucrose because they are attached through dehydration reactions. Both units are C3 but different atoms form what are called glycosidic bonds which hold them together. Lactose has many health benefits for infants due to the presence of galactose which helps synthesize fats for energy and growth.
Cellulose:
Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate made of many glucose units bonded together through dehydration reactions. It can be found in the cell walls of plants and is notable for its structural role due to its rigid nature making it difficult for enzymes to break down.
Starches:
Starches are polysaccharides that consist of long chains of glucose monomers that can be branched or unbranched depending on their source such as potatoes, rice, wheat, etc.. Starches also form when amylase enzymes digest carbohydrates into smaller molecules such as maltose (two glucose units) and maltotriose (three).
Fiber:
Carbohydrates can also include fiber which is a type of complex carbohydrate made up of many glucose units joined together through dehydration reactions, but it does not break down into monosaccharides by enzymes due to its structural nature.
Fiber provides insulation from heat and cold as well as reduces blood cholesterol levels because it slows the absorption of sugars easier into the bloodstream. There are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble, both have many benefits for our health such as preventing constipation and regulating cholesterol levels.
what do carbohydrates do?
It is important to know what carbohydrates are and their role in our bodies, hence the reason for this article. Carbohydrates play a vital role as an energy source to cells that depend on glucose and other simpler molecules derived from carbohydrates.
However, it is not advised that we eat too much of them especially refined ones such as those found in soft drinks and fast foods because they supply us with extra calories without many benefits.
Instead, we should increase our intake of complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and starches that contain fiber because they take longer to break down than simple sugars do result in a lower glycemic index score (a number representing how quickly blood sugar increases after eating).
Additionally, these foods can help prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
In today’s world, carbohydrates have become a very controversial topic because of their role as an energy source to cells that depend on glucose and other simpler molecules derived from carbohydrates. Many scientists disagree over whether or not eating these foods is necessary for us or if we should be limiting our carbohydrate intake instead.
Carbohydrates are called simple (monosaccharides) or complex (polysaccharides). Each time monosaccharides react with each other through dehydration reactions they form disaccharide chains which basically means two monosaccharides combined together like what happens when fructose reacts with another molecule of itself (fructose). To make the process go faster it requires a catalyst which in this case is a molecule called an enzyme.
The process of converting monosaccharides to disaccharides (two molecules) or polysaccharides (several molecules bonded together) requires energy. This energy comes from the sun and has green chlorophyll pigments in plants that help capture sunlight during the process of photosynthesis.
types of carbohydrates:
There are many types of carbohydrates that come in different forms.
Simple Carbohydrates (sugars)
These include monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides: Glucose, fructose, and galactose.
Disaccharides: Sucrose, lactose, maltose.
Polysaccharides: Starch and cellulose.
Complex Carbohydrates (starches)
These consist of long chains of glucose units each bonded together to form a bulky structure which makes it difficult for enzymes to break down hence why starches have a low glycemic index score compared to simple sugars do because they take longer to break down.
Dietary Fiber: By definition dietary fiber is a carbohydrate and/or lignin that the body can’t digest which means we need to look at it in two different categories: soluble and insoluble.
Soluble fibers: form a gel-like material when mixed with water like pectin (found in fruit) and psyllium (used as a laxative). They also help lower blood cholesterol levels because they attach themselves to bile acids in the intestines slowing their absorption back into the bloodstream during elimination from the body. These types of fibers are found in carrots, apples, oranges, strawberries, cucumbers in addition to oat bran, nuts, and seeds
Insoluble fibers: provide bulk in the diet and help speed food through the intestinal tract. They also add to stool weight and stimulate peristalsis (muscle contractions that move food through the gastrointestinal tract) which means they’re healthy for people with bowel problems.
These types of fibers are found in whole grains such as wheat bran, barley, rye, brown rice, oatmeal in addition to vegetables such as celery and green beans.
Carbohydrates consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms which can be classified into simple sugars or complex carbohydrates depending on their structure. A carbohydrate is made up of a monosaccharide sugar molecule or more than one unit bonded together (disaccharide or polysaccharide). There are three primary monosaccharides that can be bonded together to form six types of disaccharides and hundreds of different types of polysaccharides.
Carbohydrates, in their simplest form, contain only one sugar unit but a large number exist which contain two or more units. Monosaccharides commonly found in food include glucose (a product of photosynthesis), fructose (found chiefly in fruits), galactose (from milk products), and ribose.