Carbohydrates and Minerals Flashcards
What is the Glycemic Index and what can influence it?
The Glycemic Index is a ranking system that quantifies the effect that food carbohydrates have on the blood glucose level.
- Lower GI when carbs are eaten with protein and fats
- Smaller the particle size, the higher the GI
- Fibres slow the absorption of food
- Highly processed food have a high GI
To what extent are Carbohydrates a major food source?
9 out of 10 most important staple foods in the world are carbs
- Carbs, Rice, Wheat alone account for 41% of Global Caloric Intake,
Where can you find complex carbs? And why are they good?
Whole-grain bread, bran cereals, green vegetables, fresh fruit.
Their chemical structure and fibres require our bodies to work harder to digest and energy are released over a longer time.
- High in fibre & Nutrients
- Low Glycemic Index
- Help you feel full
- Naturally stimulates metabolism
Where can you find simple carbs? And why are they bad?
Processed foods, refined bread, sugared cereal.
They are digested quickly into our body, and if not used immediately, gets converted to fat.
- Low in fibre & Nutrients
- High Glycemic Index
- Calories converted to Fat
- High glycemia = feel tired
Monosaccharide: Characteristics of Glucose/Dextrose
Found in: Fruits, vegetables corn syrup, and honey.
Most abundant simple sugar
Usually joined to another sugar
Provides energy to body cells
Monosaccharide: Characteristics of Fructose/Levulose
Found in: Fruits, honey, and corn syrup.
The sweetest of the carbohydrates, twice as sweet as sucrose
Monosaccharide: Characteristics of Galactose
Binds to glucose to form lactose
Rarely occurs as a monosaccharide in food
Disaccharide:
Characteristics of Sucrose
Listed as Ordinary table sugar
Glucose-fructose disaccharide
Most abundant disaccharide
Purified from beets or sugar cane
RDI: 7 sugar cubes or 30g for adults
What is High-Fructose Corn Syrup?
Sweetener is made from corn starch. Starch is broken down into glucose by enzymes, some of the glucose is converted into fructose.
Easy to handle, cost-effective.
There is debate over health risk.
The number refers to the amount of Fructose
HFCS 42 → processed foods as sweet as sucrose
HFCS 55 → soft drinks, as sweet as honey
Disaccharide:
Characteristics of Lactose
Glucose-galactose disaccharide found in milk
Lactase is added to break down milk to form lactose-free milk. It becomes sweeter because it is broken into smaller molecules that have higher relative sweetness.
Characteristics of Oligosaccharide (3-10): Raffinose and Stachyose
Raffinose = Galactose-glucose-fructose Stachyose = galactose-galactose-glucose-fructose
Found in legumes and vegetables,
indigestible carbohydrate → gastrointestinal problems
Cannot be broken down because of the lack of a-galactosidase, which passes undigested in GI, bacteria thrive and ferment raffinose into large volumes of hydrogen, methane and other gases.
Polysaccharide: Characteristics of Starch
Plants store energy as starch
Long-chain of glucose, digestible
Not sweet,
Not soluble
Amylose - straight-chain 20% of plant starch→ wheat/flour
Amylopectin - branched chains 80% of plant starch → cornstarch
Polysaccharide: Characteristics of Glycogen
Living animals store energy as glycogen, mostly in skeletal muscle and liver
Provides body glucose when blood glucose levels get low.
Highly branched
Polysaccharide: Characteristics of Fibers
Non digestible carbohydrate
Dietary Fiber: Found in plants
Functional Fiber: Isolated and added to foods
Total Fiber: Sum of dietary fiber and functional fiber
Cellulose
- Homo-polysaccharide of glucose
- Indigestible by human body
What are minerals? What is the difference between a Major and Minor mineral?
Inorganic elemental atoms or ions, not destroyed by heat, light, pH.
Quantity Needed
>100mg per day = major mineral
<100mg per day = minor mineral
