Carbohydrates, Energy within the food chain
It doesn’t matter what , or how much exercise you do, how hard you work, your body will need energy. This energy primarily comes in the form of carbohydrates.
This group is divided into two categories, simple sugars and complex carbohydrates.
Monosaccharide molecule
The simple sugars are single molecules called mono-saccharides.These include glucose, fructose, and galactose.
Glucose is a naturally occurring carbohydrate in fruits and honey , and is an end product carb , that can be
used directly with no further breakdown by the body, and in often given intravenously in hospitals. It is the main reason why the athletes and convalescencing take energy drinks that contain a high proportion of this sugar. It is also very quickly absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach.
Disaccharide molecule
The second simple sugar is the disaccharide , this is simply two monosaccharides , with a single bond , or pair of monosaccharides. These are commonly sucrose (white sugar) , lactose (dairy sugar from milk), maltose ( malt sugar).
Complex Carbohydrates (carbs) are commonly called starches. These are a more complex sugar made from the (mono)saccharides bonded together like the disaccharides , but in chains of 10 or more. This is called the polysaccharide .
The polisaccharide
Because these are more complex than the disaccharides , they take longer to break down to disaacharides and then to monosaccharides ( glucose) . This is useful for the slower release on energy that can be used in an ongoing work activity as fuel. This is such that a great many long distance runners would eat large pasta meals before a long race later on. Other sources of complex carbs include wheat , rice, potatoes, cornmeal, flour, green bananas etc.
The majority of the ingested carbohydrates are broken down into glucose by the normal digestive tract, but there is a left over , and this remainder is converted to glucose in the liver.
If the body does not need the fuel immediately , the muscles and liver can store a little as glycogen, which can be retrieved on demand. Excess amounts of glucose , apart from the health disruptions , also allows the body to store fat gleaned from the foods in the digestive tract , which is deposited around the body as a fuel reserve.
Glucose in itself does not make you fat , it just makes it unnecessary for the body to burn any fat in the food you have eaten, and it is that fat that is stored , and accumulates.
Vegetable and animal oils and fats can also be broken down into glucose for fuel , but also contain many properties that are essential for health. Health eating is about a natural balance of all foods and variety of groups.
