The carbohydrates are the major nutrients present in our daily food. These include the glucose, sucrose, starch etc.
They are essential for our body energy and physiology. Hence, major portion of the food comprises of the carbohydrates.
But their presence in our body depends on the type of food we eat.
Glucose, sucrose, fructose are easily digested by mere dissolution in the water in the digestive system.
Where as the complex carbohydrates like the starch are digested only in presence of the enzymes.
Besides, cooking the food makes them susceptible for easy breakdown. On cooking the starch like molecules get hydrated and convert to easily digestible sugars like glucose, sucrose etc.
Hence, cooked food is preferred since olden days for better digestion and assimilation.
Examples of carbohydrates in our foods
Most foods we consume are good sources of carbohydrates
Cereals
Most of the food we eat daily has cereals to a large extent. The bread, sandwich, roti, noodles etc. are made of cereals like wheat, rice, maize, bazra, Jowar etc. These cereals contain large quantities of carbohydrates. They predominant carbohydrate in them is the starch. Since rice, wheat are staple foods for some countries populations, people consume carbohydrates in these forms daily.
Sweets
As you know sweets are the food items which are made of different types of flours, milk, fats and sugar to a large extent.
These items contain abundant carbohydrates and hence, consuming them can shoot up the blood sugar levels to very high levels. They contain easily digestible sugars like Sucrose, glucose, fructose.
Vegetables
Most of the vegetables we eat in daily life are carbohydrates in nature. Ex: Potatoes They have high amount of carbs. Other vegetables have carbohydrates to varying degrees. But carbohydrate is their prime content.
Dairy products
Milk, curd, cheese have carbohydrates besides good amount of proteins and fats. They have sugars as lactose as large portion.
Fruits
Fruits are the natural foods one can have in daily life. Unlike others, they do not need to be cooked.
They have sugars to varying extent based on the type of fruit. For example fruits like mangoes, bananas, grapes, watermelon have more quantity of sugar. But others like orange, papaya have less quantities of sugar. But fruits are good to consume as they are rich in fiber and other nutrients.
Soft drinks
Soft drinks like coke, Pepsi have large amount of sugars. Hence they are called energy drinks. Sugars break down to glucose and fructose in the stomach to provides instant energy.
But, having these soft drinks along with food can be injurious to health as they can shoot up sugar levels in blood.
Beverages
The alcoholic drinks like wine or whiskey we consume also have carbohydrates to certain extent. Besides ethanol, they are mixed with varying type of cereal or other plant extracts to increase the bulk.
The common cereal (grain) material included is barley.
Examples: beer, wine, rum etc
Ice creams
Ice creams are the cold and soft substance liked by everyone. These are also rich in sugars. Hence they are sweet to taste. Besides, they have high amount fat material. Carbohydrates are added in the form of sugar.
Chocolates & cakes
Chocolates of all sorts have high amount of sugars. Hence, they are sweet in taste. Even ready made items like cakes, jams etc from bakery have carbohydrates to varying extent.
Biscuits
Biscuits are mainly made of cereal and corn material which are rich in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are also present in many of the foods like leafy vegetables, pulses, mushrooms etc. Their presence can be ascertained by carbohydrate tests.
Examples of carbohydrates in biology
In a living body, carbohydrates provide energy. These carbohydrates are distributed in all the cells and tissues of the body.
Some of the carbohydrates are readily available for energy supply, like glucose. While, others are present as reserve carbohydrates like glycogen for use in case of starvation.
Glucose is a monomer, while the sucrose is a dimer i.e. when it is broken, it yields two monomers. Besides these there are polymers which are meant for different functions.
These carbohydrates are pentoses, hexoses, heptose sugars. They are also available as oligosachharides, poly sachharides. They also form many cell organelles and tissues. They are also part of DNA, RNA like nucleic acids in and around the nucleus.
To stay healthy one has to have low carb diets. Low carb diets include highly protein rich foods.
Health is wealth..The carbohydrates are very essential as the provide energy to our body…we should include carbohydrates in our daily diet…
No, that’s simply not true at all. Although we can digest carbohydrate foods, we have no specific need for carbohydrates. Proteins and fats are absolutely essential, but the same can not be said of carbohydrates. Most people eat far too many carbs…..refined carbs, in particular, which are the worst. A low-carbs diet or simply a moderately low-carbs diet is a much healthier choice and has been shown to have many proven benefits.
good information
Me: eat before u think
Thanks a lot it seems like every food we take is carbohydrate.
Written simply about the biochemistry for layman use.thank you
We need a significant amount of carbohydrates in our body.