Carbohydrates Flashcards
What percentage of the energy in our diet does carb make up?
45-65% total calories
What are carbs made of?
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
How can simple carbs be classified?
Monosaccharide (one sugar)
Disaccharide (two sugars)
Oligosaccharide (more than 3, less than 10)
Polysaccharide (more than 10)
What are the 3 monosaccharides?
Glucose
Fructose
Galactose
What are the 3 disaccharides
Maltose
Sucrose
Lactose
What are the 3 complex carbs?
Starch
Glycogen
Fiber
What is glucose commonly known as?
Blood sugar
Essential energy source for all body’s activity
What is fructose?
Sweetest sugar
Occurs naturally in fruits
In desserts/soft drinks, etc
Does galactose naturally occur in foods?
No, rarely as a single sugar
How do disaccharides form?
Putting together two monosaccharides through condensation (water removed)
Hydrolysis (water added) will cause them to seperate again
What is maltose made of
2 glucose
Produced when starch breaks down (human digestion of carbs, fermenting alcohol)
what is sucrose?
One fructose, one glucose
Table sugar
What is lactose?
Galactose and glucose
Principle carb of milk/milk products
How much should complex carbs form your plate
50%, should be the majority of what you eat
What is glycogen?
Human body stores glucose unit as glycogen in highly branched chains
Arrangement permits rapid hydrolysis
Can only store 24hrs of it
Found in limited meats, not plants
How is glucose released?
When message to release energy arrives as glycogen storage sites (liver, muscles), enzymes respond by attacking branches to make surge of glucose avaliable
What is a starch?
Long chains of thousands of glucose molecules linked, stored in plant cells
Molecules packed side by side, body hydrolyses into glucose for energy
Wheat, grains, rice, tubers, root crops
What is the difference between an alpha and beta bond starch?
Alpha - easily digested (amylose)
Beta - are not broken down (amylopectin)
What is dietary fibre made of?
Non-starch polysaccharides - cannot be broken down by enzymes in body
What is the difference between soluble and insoluble fibre
Soluble - dissolves in water to forms a gel, lowers blood cholesterol, fermentable in colon, balances blood sugar levels, lowers risk of diabetes, satiety
Insoluble - fibres that do not dissolve in water, not very fermentable, adds bulk and soften stools, alleviates constipation and increases transit time
What are resistant starches and where are they found?
Starch that escapes digestion and can be fermented by bacteria to produce short chain fatty acids
- physically enclose (trapped) starch, found on coarse
- un-gelatinised (uncooked) starch (raw potatoes, green bananas)
- retrograded amylose (starch polymers) form after starchy foods have been cooked and left to cool
What is physic acid?
Found accompanying dietry fibre
Close bonds make it impossible to determine whether dietary fibre, physic acid or both that binds with minerals, preventing their absorption
Binding - risk of mineral deficiency, lessened if fibre/mineral intake is reasonable
What is the goal of carb digestion?
Breaking down sugars and starches into small molecules (chiefly glucose) for body to absorb and use
What happens in the mouth in carb digestion?
Salivary enzyme (amylase) hydrolysis starch to shorter polysaccharides