Carbohydrate Digestion

Question 1

What are simple carbohydrates with one sugar called?

Answer 1

Monosaccharides

Question 2

What are the three important monosaccharides?

Answer 2

Glucose, Fructose, Galactose

Question 3

Define glucose in terms of monosaccharides

Answer 3

Known as blood sugar, it is one of two sugars in every disaccharide

Question 4

Define fructose in terms of monosaccharides

Answer 4

The sweetest sugar

Question 5

Define galactose in terms of monosaccharides

Answer 5

Occurs naturally in a few foods

Question 6

Why do the three monosaccharides have different sweetness levels?

Answer 6

The same number of atoms, but their different arrangements is what causes the different levels of sweetness

Question 7

What are the three important disaccharides?

Answer 7

Maltose, lactose, sucrose

Question 8

What is a disaccharide made up of?

Answer 8

One sugar molecule (glucose) plus one other

Question 9

What is the disaccharide maltose made up of and what is it the product of?

Answer 9

Made up of two glucose units, and is the product of the starch breakdown

Question 10

What is the disaccharide lactose made up of and where is it mostly found?

Answer 10

Made up of one glucose unit and one galactose unit. Mostly found in milk

Question 11

What is the disaccharide sucrose made up of and what food is it found in?

Answer 11

Made up of one glucose unit and one fructose unit. It is the sweetest sugar and found in fruit, refined table sugar.

Question 12

Many glucose units in a medium-chain are called:

Answer 12

Oligosaccharide

Question 13

Long-chain of many glucose units:

Answer 13

Polysaccharide

Question 14

What are the two components of starch?

Answer 14

Amylose and amylopectin

Question 15

Glycogen is:

Answer 15

Branch chain glucose

Question 16

Why is glycogen in a branch formation?

Answer 16

Makes it easy for enzymes to work quickly and break it down in the liver so it can then be released as glucose into the bloodstream

Question 17

When food is in the mouth, what enzyme in the mouth is involved and what occurs?

Answer 17

Salivary amylase, which breaks down the bonds between monomeric sugar units of disaccharides, oligosaccharides and starches.

Question 18

What is the other function of salivary amylase?

Answer 18

Breaks down amylose and amylopectin into smaller chains of glucose (dextrins and maltose)

Question 19

What enhances the sweetness of food in the mouth?

Answer 19

Maltose concentration

Question 20

Why does no further chemical breakdown occur in the stomach once the food is ingested?

Answer 20

The acidic environment of the stomach means that amylase is inactivated

Question 21

What are the carbohydrates turned into a mixture of in the stomach?

Answer 21

A mixture of chyme (acidic juices and food)

Question 22

What does the pancreas do once the food has reached the small intestine?

Answer 22

Releases pancreatic juice that contains pancreatic amylase, which breaks down dextrins into shorter carb chains

Question 23

What enzymes are secreted by the intestinal cells?

Answer 23

Sucrase, maltase and lactase

Question 24

What bond does sucrase break?

Answer 24

Breaks sucrose into glucose and fructose molecules

Question 25

What bond does maltase break?

Answer 25

The two bonds beyweem glucose units of maltose

Question 26

What bond does lactase break?

Answer 26

The bond between galactose and glucose

Question 27

Once the carbohydrates have all been broken down into single sugar units, what occurs?

Answer 27

They are transported into the inside of the intestinal walls

Question 28

What causes lactose intolerance? And what are the effects of lactose intolerance?

Answer 28

When people don’t have enough of the enzyme lactase, lactose is not broken down efficiently and the lactose moves to the large intestine where bacteria can digest it, but this produces gas which can cause stomach pain, etc

Question 29

Fructose is absorbed by what kind of diffusion?

Answer 29

Facilitated diffusion

Question 30

Glucose and galactose are…

Answer 30

Actively transported

Question 31

What is the first organ to receive glucose, fructose and galactose?

Answer 31

The liver

Question 32

What does the liver do in regards to carb digestion?

Answer 32

It converts galactose to glucose =, breaks fructose down further and either stores glucose in the form of glycogen or exports it back into the bloodstream (depending on the body’s blood glucose levels)

Question 33

Which carbohydrates are not efficiently absorbed?

Answer 33

Dietary fibres and resistant fibres

Question 34

How are dietary fibres and resistant fibres are broken down?

Answer 34

By bacteria in the large intestine, which creates short-chain fatty acids and gases

Question 35

What happens to short-chain fatty acids?

Answer 35

Either used by the bacteria to make energy or to grow or are eliminated as waste