Carbohydrates

Origin: CARBON + HYDRATE In the mid-1800s, German chemist Justus von Liebig was one of the first to recognize that the body derived energy, from the oxidation of foods recently eaten. He also declared that it was carbohydrates and fats served to fuel the oxidation-not carbon and hydrogen as Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier had thought.

What are Carbohydrates?

Any of a large group of organic compounds occurring in foods and living tissues including sugars, starch, and cellulose. Carbohydrates play numerous roles in living things. They provide storage and transport of energy and assist in proper functioning of the immune system Compounds that are polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones or substances that yield such compounds on hydrolysis.

General Formula: Commonly classified as:

1. MONOSACCHARIDES or Simple Sugars Ex. Glucose, fructose, ribose, erythrose, manose, galactose 2. DISACCHARIDES 2 monosaccharides Ex. glucose + glucose = maltose glucose + fructose= sucrose

glucose + galactose=lactose

3. OLIGOSACCHARIDES-3 to 10 or so sugar units Ex. glucose + galactose + fructose = raffinose Galactose + galactose + glucose + fructose = stachyose 4. POLYSACCHARIDES- composed of more than 10 sugar units Ex. starch, glycogen, cellulose

Functions:
Carbohydrates spare protein so that protein can concentrate on building, repairing, and maintaining body tissues instead of being used up as an energy source. For fat to be metabolized properly, carbohydrates must be present. If there are not enough carbohydrates, then large amounts of fat are used for energy. The body is not able to handle this large amount so quickly, so it accumulates ketone bodies, which make the body acidic. This causes a condition called ketosis. Carbohydrate is necessary for the regulation of nerve tissue and is the ONLY source of energy for the brain. Certain types of carbohydrates encourage the growth of healthy bacteria in the intestines for digestion. Some carbohydrates are high in fibre, which helps prevent constipation and lowers the risk for certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Carbohydrate Deficiency, Ketones and Ketoacidosis

When your body does not have enough carbohydrates to produce energy from glucose it begins to burn fat for energy instead. Ketones are acids in the blood that form when fat is used as an energy source. Over time, the accumulation of acidic ketones causes you to lose minerals vital to normal health functions like fluid balance, nerve transmission and

muscle contraction. Dangerously high levels of ketones in your bloodstream increases the risk of electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, fatigue and digestive disturbance. In diabetics, this deficiency can lead to ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition.

Carbohydrate Deficiency Risk

Low-carbohydrate diets are based on restricting your daily carbohydrate intake to induce your body to burn fat for weight loss. You can lose a significant amount of weight on a low-carbohydrate diet when followed faithfully, but you cannot stay on this type of diet for extended periods because you risk carbohydrate deficiency. Symptoms of low carbohydrate intake can include irritable or depressed mood -- because glucose is imperative for the production of mood-sustaining brain chemicals -- lethargy and lack of energy, headache, and constipation from lack of fiber. Diabetics are at risk for deficiency when insulin levels are not properly managed or if the diet doesn't include enough carbohydrate-containing foods.

Deficiency Prevention
A diet rich in an array of fruits, vegetables and whole grains can prevent you from becoming carbohydrate deficient. Toxicity Carbohydrates in the right amount are beneficial. Too much of anything is bad for the body, and low-fat starchy foods are no exception. When sugars or starches become a larger percentage of our diet than best suits our individual biochemistry, carbohydrate toxicity occurs. Excess carbohydrate also causes generalized vascular disease. The high-carbohydrate diet which is now so popular causes the pancreas to produce large amounts of insulin. Because insulin's action is to drive glucose into the cells, this results in chronic hyperglycemia, also called "high blood sugar." Excess insulin also causes hypertension and helps initiate the sequence of events in the arterial wall which leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease. Adult onset diabetes is known to be greatly benefited by the adoption of a low carbohydrate diet, moderate in fat, which stresses the importance of a regular intake of sufficient protein. Excess carbohydrates upset the hormonal system and results in an imbalance favoring the type of "Eicosanoid" also known as "prostaglandins E-2" or "PGE-2".

Food sources:
1. Sugar or Simple Carbohydrates Simple carbohydrates are also known as sugars. They also exist in either a natural or refined form. Natural sugars are found in fruit and vegetables. Carbohydrates that contain only one sugar unit (Monosaccharides) or two sugar units (disaccharides) are referred to as simple sugars. Two of the most common Monosaccharides are glucose and fructose. Glucose is the primary form of sugar stored in the human body for energy and Fructose is the main sugar found in most fruits. Disaccharides have two sugar units bonded together. For example, common table sugar is sucrose. Refined sugars are found in: Biscuits, Cakes and Pastries, Chocolate, Honey and Jams, Jellies, Brown and White cane sugar, Pizzas prepared foods and Sauces, Soft drinks, Sweets and Snack bars. Simple carbohydrates (sugar) cause tooth decay. 2. Starch or Complex Carbohydrates Starches are complex carbohydrates without taste or odor, which are granular or powdery in physical form. Complex

carbohydrates are long chains of simple sugar units bonded together and for this reason the complex carbohydrates are often referred to as polysaccharides. Starch is the principal polysaccharide used by plants to store glucose for later use as energy. They are found naturally in foods and also refined in processed foods. Complex carbohydrates as natural starches are found in: bananas, barley, beans, brown rice, chickpeas, lentils, nuts, oats, parsnips, potatoes, root vegetables, sweet corn, whole grain cereals, and whole meal breads, whole meal cereals, whole meal flour, whole meal pasta, yams. Complex carbohydrates as refined starches are found in: biscuits, pastries and cakes, pizzas, sugary processed breakfast cereals, white bread, white flour, white pasta, white rice.

3. Fiber Fiber comes from plant foods so there is no fiber in animal products such as milk and other dairy products, eggs, meat, poultry, and fish. Fiber is the indigestible part of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. When you consume dietary fiber, most of it passes through the intestines and is not digested.

Good sources of dietary fiber include:

Beans and legumes: black beans, kidney beans, pintos, chick peas (garbanzos), white beans, and lentils. Fruits and vegetables including apples, corn, beans and those with edible seeds for example, berries Nuts including Peanuts, walnuts and almonds are a good source of fiber and healthy fat, but watch portion sizes, because they also contain a lot of calories in a small amount. Whole grains include whole wheat pasta, whole grain cereals, and whole grain breads

Digestion and Absorption:

The digestion of carbohydrates begins in the mouth, for the teeth and tongue to perform mechanical digestion, while amylase, a salivary enzyme, begins the chemical digestion. Both the mechanical and chemical processes of digestion are necessary to initiate the breakdown of the food. As the food reaches the stomach, the digestive processes temporarily stop due to the acidic conditions of the stomach which inhibit the activity of salivary enzymes. When the food reaches the small intestine, pancreatic amylase and oligosaccharides from the small intestine continue the digestion process until the carbohydrates are reduced to monosaccharides and are absorbed. After being absorbed in the small intestine, the monosaccharides enter the bloodstream where they are: transported to cells that require them for energy, stored in the liver or muscles for later uses of energy, or remain circulating in the blood awaiting future transportation to a cell. When excess amounts of carbohydrates are circulating in the blood, they may be transported to adipose tissue to be stored as fat.