Carbohydrates Flashcards
What are some sources of carbohydrates?
Potatoes, rice, grains and starchy foods
Name off two examples of simple carbohydrates
Monosaccharides and Disaccharides
Glucose is a major source of what?
Energy
What’s commonly found in fruits?
Fructose
What’s not normally found in nature alone but found in the disaccharide called lactose?
Galactose
What foods contain monosaccharides?
Honey, cane sugar, dairy products, beans, and fruit
What are disaccharides?
Sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar), and maltose (malt sugar)
What is maltose found in?
Beer, some breads and grains
What is lactose found in?
Dairy products
Monosaccharides and Disaccharides have how many molecules?
Monosaccharides only have 1 molecule
Disaccharides contain 2 molecules
Name 3 examples of complex carbs
Starch, glycogen, and fiber
What makes complex carbs different from monosaccharides or disaccharides?
Complex carbs contain more than 10 sugar molecules
Complex carbs are also called what?
Polysaccharides
What is starch?
The storage form of glucose in plants
What is glucose?
A single sugar used in both plant and animal tissues for energy
What’s the main source of fuel for the cells?
Glucose
What are some starch foods?
Corn, potatoes, rice, beans, pasta, and grains
What is glycogen made up of?
Many glucose units (single sugar)
Glycogen is made and stored by what?
The liver and muscle tissues of humans
Glycogen is NOT considered a complex carb in foods.
True or false?
True
What is fiber?
Indigestible matter that survives digestion in the small intestine and then reaches the large intestine.
What are the 2 categories that fiber is divided into?
Soluble & Insoluble
What does soluble mean?
It can be dissolved in water
What does insoluble mean?
It can’t dissolve in water
Soluble fibers are-
Fermentable fibers
It is believed that soluble fibers do what?
Decrease blood cholesterol and sugar levels, thus lowering the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes
Insoluble fibers are-
Non-fermentable
It’s believed that insoluble fibers do what?
Decrease risk of constipation and colon cancer because it decreases stool bulk and reduces transit time
How can a decreased transit time decrease colon cancer risk?
A reduced transit time means shortened exposure to consumed carcinogens in the intestine which may lower colon cancer risk
You should drink lots of fluids when eating fiber
True or false?
True
What is the goal for a day’s fiber intake?
25-40 grams
What is flatulence?
Bacteria producing gas
What are oligosaccharides?
A component of fiber in plants
How are oligosaccharides digested?
Not digested whenever they reach the colon and are fermented by flatulence
What foods contain oligosaccharides?
Leeks, onions, asparagus, and beans
Name an alternative sweetener
Sugar Alcohol
What’s another name for sugar alcohol?
Nutritive sweetener
Sugar alcohols are almost as sweet as sucrose (table sugar) but only provide have the calories
True or false?
True
What’s the major advantage of sugar alcohols over sucrose?
They aren’t fermented by bacteria on the tooth surface, which causes less tooth decay
Other alternative sweeteners have been developed to provide zero-calorie/low-calorie sweetening for foods and drinks.
Because many of these sweeteners provide little to no calories, these sweeteners are also referred to as-
Non-nutritive sweeteners
