The Simple Carbohydrates
The following list of the six sugars most important in nutrition symbolizes them as hexagons and pentagons of different colors. Three are single sugars or monosaccharides Glucose. Fructose. Galactose. Three are double sugars or disaccharides Maltose glucose glucose . Sucrose glucose fructose . Lactose glucose galactose . The three monosaccharides important in nutrition all have the same numbers and kinds of atoms, but in different arrangements. These chemical differences account for the...
The Chemists View of Carbohydrates
To understand the structure of carbohydrates, look at the units of which they are made. The sugars most important in nutrition are the 6-carbon monosaccharides known as hexoses. Each contains 6 carbon atoms, 12 hydrogens, and 6 oxygens written in shorthand as C6H12O6 . Each atom can form a certain number of chemical bonds with other atoms Carbon atoms can form four bonds. Chemists represent the bonds as lines between the chemical symbols such as C, N, O, and H that stand for the atoms see...
Sugars Starches and Fibers
DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION OF CARBOHYDRATES The Processes of Digestion and Absorption Lactose Intolerance A Preview of Carbohydrate Metabolism The Constancy of Blood Glucose HEALTH EFFECTS AND RECOMMENDED INTAKES OF SUGARS Health Effects of Sugars Recommended Intakes of Sugars HEALTH EFFECTS AND RECOMMENDED INTAKES OF STARCH AND FIBERS Health Effects of Starch and Fibers Recommended Intakes of Starch and Fibers student, quietly studying a textbook, is seldom aware that within his brain cells,...
Digestion and Absorption of Carbohydrates
The ultimate goal of digestion and absorption of sugars and starches is to dismantle them into small molecules that the body can absorb and use chiefly glucose. The large starch molecules require extensive breakdown the disaccharides need only to be hydrolyzed once. The initial splitting begins in the mouth the final splitting and absorption occur in the small intestine and conversion to a common energy currency glucose takes place in the liver. The details follow. The Processes of Digestion...