What are carbohydrates? If you don't know, come and have a look

Some people know about carbohydrates. Of course, carbohydrates have many functions, but many people don’t know what carbohydrates are. I believe some people know about them. So, what are carbohydrates? If you don’t know, come and have a look. Let’s take a look together!

What are carbohydrates? Carbohydrates are composed of three elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Since the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen it contains is two to one, just like water, it is called carbohydrates. It is the cheapest of the three main nutrients that provide heat energy to the human body. Nutrients. Carbohydrates in food are divided into two categories: effective carbohydrates that people can absorb and utilize, such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, and ineffective carbohydrates that people cannot digest, such as cellulose.

The effective carbohydrates are divided into two types, complex carbohydrates (cereals, beans, starch in vegetables) and simple carbohydrates (fruits, milk, processed sugar). Our diet should include these two types of carbohydrates.

The role of carbohydrates

Supply energy: Each gram of glucose produces 16 kilojoules (4 kilocals). The carbohydrates consumed by the human body are digested into glucose or other monosaccharides to participate in the body's metabolism. There is no specific amount of carbohydrates in each person's diet. my country's nutrition experts believe that carbohydrates produce calories 60-65% of the total calories. The carbohydrates consumed in normal times are mainly polysaccharides, and the content is relatively high in staple foods such as rice and noodles. , while ingesting carbohydrates, you can obtain other nutrients such as protein, lipids, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, etc. However, intake of monosaccharides, such as sucrose, cannot supplement other nutrients except for replenishing calories.

Constitute cells and tissues: Each cell has carbohydrates, mainly in the form of glycolipids, glycoprotein and proteopolysaccharides, distributed in fine meninges, organelle membranes, cytoplasm and intercellular stalks.

Save protein: There is insufficient carbohydrates in food, and the body has to use protein to meet the energy required for the body's activities, which will affect the body's use of protein to synthesize new proteins and tissue renewal. Therefore, it is not suitable to not eat staple foods at all and only eat meat, because meat contains very few carbohydrates, so the body's tissues will use protein to generate heat, which is not good for the body.

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