Chapter two: Carbohydrates
Saturday, September 14, 2024
10:09 AM
Photosynthesis
All the food we eat is a product of photosynthesis
-if this process did not occur, the whole food chain would collapse, and life would cease
Carbohydrates
Major source of energy
-break down rapidly
-readily available
-carbohydrates, fats and proteins all meet body’s basic energy needs
-carbohydrates are the major source of energy because they break down rapidly and are readily
available for use
Two groups
-simple carbohydrates; green plants manufacture carbohydrates during a complex process called
photosynthesis
-carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil are transformed into sugars and starches
-sugars are often called simple carbohydrates
-complex carbohydrates; starches are called carbohydrates
Composition of carbohydrates
Molecule
-smallest quantity substance can be dived (-without loss of characteristic)
-made of elements
Element
-A substance that cannot be separated into simpler parts by ordinary means
Atom
-the smallest particle of an element that retains its physical characteristics
Simple carbohydrates
Monosaccharide
-monosaccharide contains one molecule of C6H12O6
-when the body joins two monosaccharide molecules, a molecule of water is released in the
process
-glucose; the monosaccharide glucose in the body, the major form of sugar in the blood, is
commonly called blood sugar; normal fasting blood sugar (FBS) is 70 to 100 milligrams per 100
milliliters of serum or plasma; impaired fasting glucose (IFG) is 100 to 125 milligrams per 100
, milliliters of serum or plasma; regardless of the form of sugar consumed, the body readily converts
it to glucose
-fructose; the sweetest of all the monosaccharides, is found in fruits and honey; used extensively
in soft drinks, canned foods, and various other processed foods; High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is
very sweet because the cornstarch has been treated with an enzyme that converts some of the
naturally present glucose to the sweeter fructose; the human body readily converts fructose to
glucose
-galactose; monosaccharide galactose comes mainly from the breakdown of the milk sugar and
lactose; yogurt and unaged cheese may contain free galactose; the least sweet of all the
monosaccharides; the body converts galactose into glucose after ingestion
Disaccharide
-Disaccharide is composed of two molecules of C6H12O6 joined together minutes one unite of so
-when two monosaccharides are linked, a disaccharide is formed
-sucrose; the most prevalent disaccharide; ordinary white table sugar made commercially from
sugar beets and sugar cane; brown, granulated, and powdered sugars are all forms of sucrose;
sucrose is also found in molasses, maple syrup, fruits, and vegetables; two monosaccharides
joined to form sucrose are glucose and fructose
-lactose; lactose occurs naturally only in milk, it is commonly referred to as milk sugar; lactose is
the sweet of disaccharides; two monosaccharides that make up lactose are glucose and galactose
-maltose; a double sugar that occurs primarily during starch digestion; disaccharide maltose is
produced when the body breaks starches into simpler units; smaller amounts of this disaccharide
are present in malt, malt products, beer, some infant formulas, and sprouting seeds; maltose
consists of two units of glucose
Sugars and sweeteners
Sugars in foods
-food and drug administration (FDA) regulations
-amount of sugar that is is in a food product can be found on its label
-total amount of sugar in grams can be found on the nutrition facts portion of the label
- sugar is present naturally in foods but is also added to foods
Sugar alcohols
-some food products contain sugar alcohols
-have various name, such as sugar replacer, poly oils, nutritive sweeteners, and bulk sweetener
-lactitol, maltitol, isomalt, sorbitol, xylitol, and mannitol are all sugar alcohols
-characteristics; generally do not promote tooth decay; commonly have a cooling effect on the
tongue; are slowly and incompletely absorbed from the intestine into the blood; may have a
laxative effect for some people if consumed in excess
High-intensity sweeteners
-sweeteners are sugar substitutes that provide intense sweetness; unlike sugar replacers, high-
intensity sweeteners do not add bulk or volumes to a food product, they add only sweetness
-They are 150-500 times as sweet as sugar are mostly artificial or synthetic
-Aspartame is the only approved nutritive high-intensity sweetener, contains approximately 2% of
the calories in an equivalent amount of sugar
Basic terminology
Carbohydrates are composed of the elements Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
-the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is the same as that for water; two parts of hydrogen to one part
of oxygen
-simplest carbohydrates have the formula C6H12O6
-carbohydrates frequently abbreviated CHO
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