Complex carbohydrates are polysaccharides made of long chains of monosaccharides that take longer to digest. Humans need to get most of their energy from complex carbs like glycogen, fiber, and starch. Simple carbs are sugars made of single or double monosaccharides and include natural sugars from fruits as well as refined sugars. Carbs are digested through enzymes in saliva and the small intestine that break them down into monosaccharides, which are then absorbed and used for energy or storage.

2. Complex Carbohydrates: Polysaccharides (a chain of monosaccharides). Takes longer to digest and break
down. Humans need to get most of their total energy from Complex Carbohydrates
1. Glycogen: The human storage form of glucose. Stored in the liver and muscles.
2. Fiber: Threadlike, structural part of plants that cannot be broken down by human enzymes. Sources:
veggies, dry peas, lentils, seeds, nuts, whole grain products, fruits and beans. 25-35 grams of fiber per day
needed. Benefits: reduces risk of colon cancer, slows digestion and lowers cholesterol
3. Starch: A form of glucose that is stored in plants. Sources: potatoes, bread and pasta, rice, corn, wheat.
Simple Carbohydrates: Called sugars (although all carbs are sugars). Made of Monosaccharaides or disaccharides
(pairs of monosaccharides.). All monosaccharides are made of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. Monosaccharides
have SIX carbon molecules (Hexoses)
NATURAL SUGARS: These sugars come with foods. In comparison with REFINED sugar, which is processed, it is
healthier. Natural sugar is found in such foods as fruits, while refined sugar is what you find in a tootsie roll.
1.Monosaccharides: All sugar combinations are based on monosaccharides
a.Glucose: One of the bodies main source of energy, and basically the brain’s only source of energy.
Known as “blood sugar”; all disaccharides have one glucose part.
b. Fructose: the sweetest of the three main monosaccharides.
c. Galactose: the least sweet of the three main monosaccharides
2. Disaccharides: Combinations of monosaccharides.
a. Maltose= glucose + glucose. Malt sugar
b. lactose= glucose + galactose. Milk sugar found in diary prodcuts.
c. Sucrose=glucose+ fructose- Table sugar
3. Enzymes: Chemical substances that can change other substances without being changed themselves. Most
enzymes en in the suffix –ASE. E.g. lactase, maltase, sucrose, amylase-

3. Carb Digestion:
1. Starts at the mouth when we chew our food.
2. Our gland release an enzyme found in saliva called amylase, that helps break down carbohydrates into
shorter polysaccharides and maltose.
3. Food goes down our GI (gastrointestinal tract), a flexible, muscular tube that runs down from the
mouth, through the stomach, intestines and into the rectum.
4. Nothing important happens in the stomach.
5. Most of the digestion occurs in the small intestine, where the remaining carbs are further broken down by
more enzymes the pancreas produces, such as lactase, maltase and sucrose.
6. Hydrolysis occurs, this being when water comes in and breaks down molecules into smaller
molecules, specifically maltose.
7. When the compounds have been reduced to monosaccharides, these are transported to the liver, where
they are converted into glucose, glycogen, or any other compound the body may need. The new
compounds enter the boldstream and are transported to their proper body parts to produce energy for
the cells.
8. Peristalsis:, rhythmic muscular contractions that the GI produces.