Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are some of the most essential nutrients necessary for the proper functioning of our bodies. Just about everything you hear about these days has to deal with carbohydrates and how they effect the body and the differences between good, bad, simple and complex. It can be confusing and leaving you wondering exactly what it is you should be eating and what you should be avoiding. There has been some confusion and controversy as to what is good, what is bad and how much of each type is good for the body and where it amounts start to becoming harmful to the body. What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are one of the biomolecules and are simply put it is sugar. If you take a handful of sugar, you are looking at a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are used all over the body for a variety of purposes. Providing energy, storage, they work with the immune system, blood clotting, biological development. There are three basic units, which make up the base of the carbohydrates. These are glucose, galactose and fructose. Reading these you may recognize them from the ingredient labels on most foods especially food that had been highly processed with show glucose or fructose in the ingredient label.

The make up of a carbohydrate is aldehydes, ketones and hydroxyl groups. These groupings form monosaccharides, which are commonly known as simple sugars. These monosaccharides are then linked together in a number of ways that produce carbohydrates that are more complex.

Two monosaccharides form a molecule of a disaccharide, which is the smallest and simplest of the polysaccharides. Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose and Cellobiose are all disaccharide combinations. Polysaccharides are simply longer chains of monosaccharides. These are commonly referred to as complex carbohydrates. There are therefore two main types of carbohydrates the simple and the complex. The difference is the chemical structure and ultimately a complex carbohydrate will be broken down into its main chemical form of a simple carbohydrate. That being the case why are simple carbohydrates frowned on while complex carbohydrates are praised.

What is the difference between a complex and a simple carbohydrate?

The main difference actually comes in how it is processed and what is actually required to process it. This is what places simple carbohydrates on the "bad" list and complex carbohydrates on the "good list" The draw is the fact that complex carbohydrates require more energy to burn and are therefore better for you in terms of nutritional values. Of course, since the body actually uses for the most part fat and proteins for energy since these more complex molecules contain the simple carbohydrates needed for energy. In other words, simple carbohydrates go directly to the system and may often get stored while carbohydrates that are more complex require the body to work in order to obtain the simpler form.

Simple carbohydrates or monosaccharides are what fuels the brain so having a few or a certain percentage of your diet consist of monosaccharides however if you are someone who is less active this percentage needs to be lowered since energy which is not used is stored within the body. This is one of the things, which leads to obesity. However, making sure to eat a good percentage of polysaccharides within your diet is one of the ways to make the most out of a low carbohydrate diet. Your body has to work harder for the monosaccharides that form the basis of most energy within the body.

Though people can technically do without carbohydrates, they can get the monosaccharides from breaking down proteins that supply give quick energy for the body. This is especially the case if a person is looking for a "quick me up". Since monosaccharides are what the brain uses for energy, the effects can be quick once the blood sugar is raised and the body is given a quick burst. This should only be used until something more complex can be added to the system in order to prevent the storage of any of the monosaccharides that were not used.

Monosaccharides and Polysaccharides are the basis of energy for the entire body. They can be found in just about anything, which can be ingested, from cereals and breads to proteins and vegetables. It is the polysaccharides that are best for the body because of the effort it takes to break them into their component monosaccharides. This use of energy prevents the storage and creation of excess weight within the body.