Health

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CARBOHYDRATES

What is it made of?
-Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen

What does it look like?
-Long strands of glucose molecules hooked together

What role does it play in our body?
-It’s the major source of calories the body uses to provide energy for work, maintain cells, and generate heat. They also help regulate fat and metabolize protein. (Each gram of carbs. Provides the human body with 4 calories)

Is it a source of energy?
-Yes a major source

When is it used as energy?
-For any type of work vigorous or not

Complex carbohydrates
-They are tens of thousands of monosaccharides molecules united to form single polysaccharides

Food Examples of complex carbs.
-Starches: grains, seeds, corns, nuts, roots, potatoes, legumes
- Dextrins:
- Glycogen: found only in tiny amounts of meat

What role do they play?
-Once eaten starch is converted to glucose for the body’s own energy use.
-dextrins can provide many valuable nutrients and can be an excellent source of fiber
-fiber decreases chances of cardiovascular disease and cancer, also lowers the risk of coronary heart disease.
-glycogen is broken down and is crucial when you need sudden surges of energy

What are Simple carbs.
-Sugars
-Monosaccharides and disaccharides

Food examples
Mono:
-Glucose is a natural sugar found in foods
-Fructose are found in fruits
-Galactose are produced from milk sugar


Disaccharides:
-Sucrose is found in table salt
-Lactose
-Maltose

What role do they play in body?
-They are used for energy they can be stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen

Typical American diet
-Complex 24
-Simple 26

· Yes we can eat too much carbs. The effect of this is excess glucose in the blood and this is then converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue.

· Complex carbs seem to be better for the body, a poorer choice of carbs would be simple these are usually found in candy. Almost as if simple...