MACRONUTRIENTS: CARBOHYDRATES Flashcards
(49 cards)
are the most abundant organic substances on
Earth, comprising approximately 70% of plant structure.
Carbohydrates
The main or chief source of the body’s energy.
Carbohydrates
What are the two forms of digestible carbs occur naturally in plant foods
sugars and starch
Earth comes ultimately from the
sun and its action on plants. Using their internal
process of
photosynthesis
Carbohydrates contain
the elements
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the hydrogen/oxygen ratio
usually that of water (CH2O).
are classified according to the number of basic sugar or
saccharide units that make up their structure.
Carbohydrates
The monosaccharides and disaccharides are referred to as __________
because of their relatively small size and structure.
simple carbohydrates
including starch and certain fibers, are called complex
carbohydrates based on their larger size and more complicated structure.
polysaccharides,
The simplest form of carbohydrate is the
monosaccharide or single sugar
The three monosaccharides important
in human nutrition are
glucose, fructose, and galactose
is a moderately sweet sugar found naturally in only a few foods
syrup.
common body fuel oxidized by cells.
Glucose
The sweetest of the simple sugars, is found naturally in fruits and honey.
* Fructose intake has escalated dramatically since high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
was introduced for use in processed food.
* HFCS is the sweetener in many soft drinks, fruit drinks, commercial baked products,
and dessert mixes.
- In humans, fructose is converted to glucose and burned for energy. Fructose is
absorbed less efficiently than glucose, and amounts of 25 g to 50 g or more can
cause gastrointestinal distress.
Fructose
The simple sugar galactose is never found free in foods but is released in the digestion of lactose
(milk sugar) and then converted to glucose in the liver.
* This reaction is reversible; in lactation, glucose is reconverted to galactose for use in milk
production.
Galactose
are double sugars made up of two monosaccharides linked together.
* The three disaccharides of physiologic importance are sucrose, lactose, and maltose.
* Their monosaccharide components are as follows:
disaccharides
= one glucose + one fructose
= one glucose + one galactose
= one glucose + one glucose
Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose
is common “table sugar” and is made commercially from sugar cane and
sugar beets.
* It is found naturally in molasses and certain fruits and vegetables (e.g., peaches and
carrots) and is added to many processed foods.
Sucrose
is the sugar found in milk and is the least sweet of the disaccharides, only about
one sixth as sweet as sucrose.
- Although milk is relatively high in lactose, cheese, one of milk’s products, may contain little
or no lactose depending on how the cheese is made. - When milk sours in the initial stage of cheese making, the liquid whey separates from the
solid curd. - The lactose from the milk dissolves into the whey, which is drained away and discarded.
The remaining curd is processed into cheese, making it possible for many lactose intolerant
individuals to digest cheese, although particular cheeses vary in lactose content.
Lactose
occurs naturally in relatively
few foods but is formed in the body
as an intermediate product in
starch digestion.
* It is found in commercial malt
products and germinating cereal
grains.
Maltose
(sometimes referred to as polyols)
are other forms of carbohydrate with sweetening
power. Sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, mannitol,
and xylitol, are found in nature but are also used in
food processing.
* Under current labeling laws, processed foods in
which sugar alcohols replace sugar can be
labeled as sugar free. Sugar alcohols are poorly
absorbed in the small intestine and, if absorbed,
are poorly metabolized.
* Sugar alcohols commonly used as sugar replacers
add only 0.2 to 3.0 kcal/g when compared with
other sugars, which add 4 kcal/g.1
Sugar Alcohols
Complex carbohydrates are called polysaccharides because they are made up of many (poly)
single glucose (saccharide) units.
* Starch is the most important digestible polysaccharide; others are glycogen and dextrin.
Nondigestible polysaccharides, such as cellulose, add important bulk to the diet and are
categorized as dietary fiber.
Polysaccharides
consists of many coiled and
branching chains of single glucose units and
yields only glucose on complete digestion.
* Cooking not only improves the flavor of
starch but also softens and ruptures the
starch cells, making digestion easier.
* Starch mixtures thicken when cooked
because the substance encasing the starch
granules has a gel-like quality that thickens
mixtures in the same way as pectin causes
jelly to set.
Starch
At one time it was thought that starch was
completely digested and absorbed in the small
intestine. Now we know that some starch in
particular foods, such as whole grains, potatoes,
bananas, and legumes, escapes digestion and
enters the colon generally intact.
* This starch, called ________, can make up as
much as 8% by weight of a food high in starch.
Resistant Starch
is the storage form of carbohydrate in
animals, whereas starch is the storage form of
carbohydrate in plants.
* Glycogen is synthesized in liver cells and stored in
small amounts in liver and muscle.
- Liver glycogen helps sustain normal blood glucose
levels during fasting periods such as sleep hours,
and muscle glycogen provides immediate fuel for
muscle action. - Athletes sometimes practice pregame “glycogen
loading” to add fuel stores for athletic competition
Glycogen
are polysaccharide
compounds formed as intermediate
products in the breakdown of starch
Dextrin