Health Foods and Multivitamins

Carbohydrates, also known as sugars, are organic compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

1. What are they?
Potatoes. They are rich in starch, the most abundant carbohydrate. Carbohydrates, also known as carbohydrates or sugars, are organic compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Then we will see his ranking on the basis of chemical structure.

1.1. Monosaccharides
They are the simplest carbohydrates. This group includes glucose, fructose and galactose.

- Glucose
It is found in small amounts in fruits and vegetables, being relatively abundant in grapes. It is the most important monosaccharide in the field of nutrition to be the main fuel cells. Most carbohydrate foods eventually converted into glucose after digestion. Glucose is added to some foods and beverages comes from the breakdown of starch. Glucose increases the energy content of food without increasing their sweetness, contrary to what I would do fructose or sucrose.

- Fructose
It is abundant in some plant foods, especially fruits. Carbohydrate is the sweetest. Glucose and fructose are the two main monosaccharides of honey.

- Galactose
Part of the lactose in milk with glucose.

1.2. Oligosaccharides
They consist of short chains of monosaccharides. In oligosaccharides, the most important are the disaccharides, composed of two monosaccharide molecules, typically using sucrose, lactose and maltose.

Sucrose is the sugar cane and beet. Is table sugar we use at home and used in the preparation of bakery products, pastries and soft drinks as a sweetener. It is composed of one glucose and fructose.

Lactose is found only in milk and dairy products. It is composed of one molecule of glucose and galactose.

Maltose, also called malt sugar, is the hydrolysis of starch and is composed of two glucose molecules.

Monosaccharides and disaccharides are also called simple sugars, for their sweetness and size of the molecule. Among the oligosaccharides are also including limit dextrin or maltodextrin, which produced industrially from starch, are used in infant formulas and enteral.

1.3. Polysaccharides
Also known as complex carbohydrates and complex sugars to be composed of many monosaccharide molecules.

From a nutritional point of view can be divided into two groups:

- Usable energy or digestible polysaccharides.
Among the polysaccharides usable energy, include starch and glycogen. The starch, also known as starch, vegetable and is made up of many glucose molecules linked together to form linear chains (amylose) and branched (amylopectin).

It is the most abundant carbohydrate in the diet, found in cereal grains, legume seeds, roots (cassava), tubers (potatoes) and other plant parts. Glycogen is a polysaccharide of animal reserve which is located in the liver and muscle. The other and mussels are rich in this polysaccharide. However, during storage and culinary management significantly lost part of their nutritional value.

- Polysaccharides unusable or non-digestible energy, known as dietary fiber or dietary fiber.
Among the polysaccharides used or not digestible cellulose stands alongside other hetero. Cellulose is a glucose polymer linear chain present in the cell walls of plant tissues that can not be assimilated by the human body to lack the enzyme needed to be digested.

The heteropolysaccharide consist of different monosaccharides or derivatives thereof. Here are compounds such as hyaluronic acid, which forms part of connective tissue, chondroitin, which is the cartilage of the bones of heparin, which is located in liver and lung and agar-agar, gums, pectins, alginates and hemicellulose.

These non-digestible polysaccharides, but can not be used as an energy source are of great importance to be part of dietary fiber.

2. What food are you?
In foods of animal origin other than milk are relatively scarce. Foods rich in carbohydrates are mainly vegetables in varying amounts. So prevalent in cereals, bread and bakery products, pasta, fruit, milk and dairy products, legumes and tubers.

3. Functions
The main functions of carbohydrates are listed below:

- Energy. They provide immediate energy, ie, 4 kcal / g. Glycogen (animals) and starch (in plants) are energy storage that is quick to generate glucose when needed. Glucose is the only energy source used by the nervous system (normal) and blood cells, so that should eat carbohydrates every day.
- Structural. They are part of important molecules like DNA and ATP among others (ribose and deoxyribose).
- Regulatory. Regulate bowel functions (dietary fiber). Dietary fiber plays an important role in regulating intestinal function with consequent health benefits because:

Favors intestinal transit by absorbing water
· Increases the volume of stool and softens
Reduces the absorption of certain substances (like cholesterol)
· Increases satiety
· Slows stomach emptying (soluble fiber)
· Decrease the peak of blood glucose (blood glucose levels) after meals in diabetics
Reduces the risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular disease.

4. Nutritional needs and recommendations
Although the daily intake of them is not essential, since their nutritional value can be satisfied from other nutrients, are recommended intake of carbohydrates in the diet from 55 to 60% of the total energy consumed in the diet.

The reasons for these recommendations are based on the fact that besides being cheap, they provide immediate energy, thus avoiding the overuse of metabolic adaptation that involves the use of fats or amino acids. Moreover, it is advisable that the majority are complex carbohydrates like starches and also recommends a daily intake of more than 25 grams of fiber per person.

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Tags: Carbohydrates, fructose, functions of carbohydrates, galactose, glucose, Monosaccharides, Oligosaccharides, organic compounds, Polysaccharides