Carbohydrates Essay

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Carbohydrates Mahmoud Khalifa June 13, 2014 Course BSC 1025C Nutrition and Drugs Term – Summer 2014 Prof. Debarati Ghosh Carbohydrates are one of the main dietary components that are considered as macro nutrient. This category of foods includes sugar, starches, and fiber. Carbohydrates supply the body with the energy for its needs to function. They are found in plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, peas, and beans. Milk and milk products are good source of carbohydrate derived from animals’ source. Carbohydrates are technically hydrates of carbon; structurally it is more accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones. The carbohydrates (saccharides) are divided into four chemical groups: monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. In general, the monosaccharides and disaccharides, which are smaller (lower molecular weight) carbohydrates, are commonly referred to as sugars. For example, grape sugar is the monosaccharide glucose, cane sugar is the disaccharide sucrose, and milk sugar is the disaccharide lactose. Carbohydrates are divided into two groups, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates have two types: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides consist of only one sugar, and examples include fructose, galactose and glucose. Disaccharides consist of two chemically-linked monosaccharides, and they come in the form of lactose, maltose and sucrose. Simple carbohydrates sometimes called simple sugars include fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (table sugar), and lactose (milk sugar), as well as several other sugars. Fruits are one of the richest natural sources of simple carbohydrate. Simple sugars are also found in more nutritious foods, such as fruit and milk. It's better to get simple sugars from food like fruit and milk as. They also contain vitamins, fiber, and important

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