What are carbohydrates?
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Carbohydrate serves as the most basic fuel source for life forms on this planet including people. While we have the ability to use fat, protein and alcohol as fuel, all human cells can use carbohydrate and some can only use carbohydrate. Carbohydrate as a source of calories has been a controversial topic over the past couple of decades; however it is becoming clear that needs to be part of the diet with special attention to whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lower fat dairy foods. What’s more, how much of the healthier carbohydrates depend on how well it is processed in the body, which in turn is impacted by body weight and composition and physical activity. |
The term carbohydrate was coined long ago as scientists observed a consistent pattern in the chemical formula of most carbohydrates. Not only were they composed of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen but also the ratio of carbon to the chemical formula of water (H2O) is typically one to one (C:H2O). Carbohydrate means “carbon with water.” For example, carbohydrates glucose and galactose have the following chemical formula:
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C6H12O6 or (CH2O)6 |
Where do carbohydrates come from?
To create energy-providing carbohydrates from the non-energy-providing molecules water and carbon dioxide is a talent limited to plants and a handful of bacteria. In a process called photosynthesis, these life forms are able to couple water and carbon dioxided by harnessing solar energy. Along with carbohydrates, oxygen is also a product of photosynthesis (see the reaction below).
Humans are unable to perform photosynthesis and thus we eat plants and plant products such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and grain products to obtain a rich supply of carbohydrates. Beyond plants and their products, milk and dairy are also good sources of carbohydrates. In fact, milk and some dairy products is the only considerable source of carbohydrate from animal foods. It should be mentioned that while humans cannot perform photosynthesis, we do possess the ability to make some carbohydrate in our body. However, in order to do so, we must start with molecules that already possess energy.
6 CO2 + 6 H2O ——► C6H12O6 + 6 O2 |
Are there different types and classes of carbohydrates?
As you might guess, numerous different kinds of carbohydrates are found in nature. However r discussion will be limited touo those carbohydrates found in greater amounts in our diet and those important to our body. The simplest carbohydrates are the monosaccharide, which include glucose (dextrose), fructose, and galactose. Other examples of monosaccharides include xylose, mannose, and ribose, but these may not be as familiar to you. There are over 100 different monosaccharides found in nature and these serve as the building blocks for larger carbohydrates such as disaccharides, oligosaccharides, starches and fibers (most).
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