What are Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are an essential element in our human body. Carbohydrates cannot be excessive or deficient in our body. Carbohydrates can provide the energy we need and also save protein. Although we often hear the word carbohydrates in our daily lives, what are carbohydrates? Do you really understand them? How much do you know about carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are actually what we often call sugar compounds, and they are the most widely distributed in nature. Our food should not contain too much or too little carbohydrates. If we consume too much, we will get fat, leading to symptoms such as high blood pressure and diabetes; if we consume too little, it will cause general weakness and low blood sugar.

Carbohydrates are composed of three elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Since the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in them is two to one, the same as water, they are called carbohydrates. It is the cheapest nutrient among the three main nutrients that provide heat energy for the human body. Carbohydrates in food are divided into two categories: effective carbohydrates that can be absorbed and utilized by humans, such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides, and ineffective carbohydrates that cannot be digested by humans, such as cellulose, which are essential substances for the human body.

Carbohydrate compounds are the main source of energy required for all organisms to maintain life activities. It is not only a nutrient, but some of it also has special physiological activities. For example: heparin in the liver has an anticoagulant effect; sugar in the blood type is related to immune activity. In addition, nucleic acids also contain sugar compounds - ribose and deoxyribose. Therefore, carbohydrate compounds are of greater significance to medicine.

The most abundant organic compound in nature with a broad spectrum of chemical structures and biological functions. It can be represented by the general formula Cx(H2O)y. There are monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, starch, hemicellulose, cellulose, complex polysaccharides, and sugar derivatives. It is mainly formed by green plants through photosynthesis and is the initial product of photosynthesis. In terms of chemical structure characteristics, it is a compound containing polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones or a compound converted into polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones through hydrolysis. For example, glucose contains one aldehyde group and six carbon atoms and is called aldohexose. Fructose contains a ketone group and six carbon atoms, and is called ketohexose. It, along with protein and fat, is one of the three basic substances in the biological world and provides the main energy source for the growth, movement and reproduction of organisms. It is one of the important substances indispensable for human survival and development.

Carbohydrates are the main components of the structure of living cells and the main energy source, and have the important function of regulating cell activities. There are three main forms of carbohydrates in the body: glucose, glycogen and sugar-containing complexes. The physiological functions of carbohydrates are related to the types of carbohydrates in the food they eat and the forms in which they exist in the body. 1. Dietary carbohydrates are the most economical and main source of energy for humans; 2. Carbohydrates are important substances that constitute body tissues and are involved in the composition and various activities of cells; in addition, they also have the functions of saving protein, resisting ketosis, detoxification and enhancing intestinal function.

What are carbohydrates? I believe that with the detailed introduction in the above article, all friends have understood some relevant knowledge about carbohydrates. Everyone needs to master it in daily life. It is an indispensable element in our human body. For the nutrient carbohydrates, everyone must learn more and master it.