Chemistry of carbohydrates

1. CARBOHYDRATE

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What are Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates, pronounced (car-bo-hi-drayts) are sugars that
provide the body with energy.
Composed of organic compounds like carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen.
These are the main sources of energy, hence called “energy
giving food”.
Example-Sugars, candy, sweets, ice cream, sodas, milk, rice,
grains, breads, cereals, chips, cakes, cookies, biscuits, pizza,
pasta, fruit, and vegetables
The oxidation of carbohydrates during respiration yields
energy which is stored in ATP and utilized whenever needed.
One gram of carbohydrate yields about 4.1 kcal of energy
when oxidized in the body tissues, this is called Calorific
value of carbohydrate.

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Sources of carbohydrates
Carbohydrate we take are in the form of
Sugars, and
starches .
Except (milk ,sugar) all other sugars are derived from the plants.
Their major sources are gum, sugar honey fig, grapes, sugarcane
resins, sweets, and fruits etc.
Starches are mainly stored in stem, roots and seeds of green
plants. These are found in the cereals –wheat, maize, barley,
rice, etc. potato (stem),sweet potato and beets(roots).
Glycogen is the animal starch present in muscles and liver.

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Classification of Carbohydrates
Depending on the chemical structure of the food, and how
quickly the sugar is digested and absorbed, carbohydrates
are classified as
sugars ,and
starches.
Sugars are simple carbohydrates that can be easily digested
by our body and include foods like cake, soda, candy, jellies
and fruits.
Starches are complex carbohydrates that take longer to be
digested and include foods such as breads, grains, pasta,
tortillas, noodles, fruits and vegetables.

5. Functions of Carbohydrates
1. Source of energy
The main function of carbohydrates is to provide our body with
energy in the form of glucose. Carbohydrates usually provide
about half of our body's energy when we are resting or performing
a low-level activity. Carbohydrate are most suitable for energy
because these have relatively more oxygen and consequently
requires less oxygen during oxidation.
2. Reserve food materials
Carbohydrate are stored as glycogen in animals and starch in
plants. Excess of glucose are converted to fat (lipogenesis) for
storage.
3. Formation of cell organelles and cell compounds
Pentose sugar are the components of RNA, DNA,ATP and NAD,
etc

6. 4. Complex Carbohydrates (Fiber) Benefits Digestion
The indigestibility of fiber makes it a very healthy addition to
our daily diet. Insoluble fiber (eg. cellulose, a few hemicelluloses
and lignin in plants and whole grains) benefits digestion by
stimulating peristalsis - the muscle movements that propel food
along the colon.
5. Helps Muscle Tissue
The availability of carbohydrate energy prevents the body from
breaking down muscle tissue for fuel. When our body needs
energy it first looks for glucose from carbohydrates. If
insufficient carb glucose is available from food (eg. because your
diet is very low carb, or because you have metabolic disorders
preventing normal use of available glucose), the body helps itself
to glucose stored as glycogen in fatty tissue. If more energy is
needed, the body then burns protein tissue in the muscles.

7. 6. Formation of amino acids
Some amino acids can be synthesized in the body from
intermediate products of carbohydrate metabolism.
7. Complex Carbohydrate Benefits Blood Sugar Levels
Sometimes, eating too many high carbs (the ones that are very
quickly broken down into glucose in the stomach) can trigger a
very rapid rise in blood sugar. This "sugar-spike" can cause
food cravings, appetite swings and, over time, impaired glucose
tolerance or insulin insensitivity. However, the presence of
dietary fiber in the digestive tract can help to slow down this
conversion of carbs to glucose. As a result Blood sugar levels
rise at a more normal speed thus avoiding the above health
problems.

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Side Effects of carbohydrate in diet
Average 55.75% of total food calories are obtained from the
carbohydrate.
A normal person needs about 500gm of carbohydrate daily.
Shortage of carbohydrate in the daily food leads to
reduction of weight- malnutrition, and
loss of working efficiency- lack of calories
Getting too many carbohydrates can lead to an increase in
total calories, causing
Obesity- When a person consumes more calories than
the body is using, a portion of the carbohydrates
consumed may also be stored in the body as fat.
In absence of carbohydrate, proteins are used for liberating
excess of carbohydrate in food causing obesity which may
lead to high blood pressure.

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