Simple Carbohydrates

You may have heard that Carbohydrates are bad for you from friends, families, and even the media. Celebrities in the media and magazines have long advertised low-carb and high-protein or keto diets, but carbohydrates are found all around us. They are located in the foods we commonly eat, including noodles, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. They can come in many forms, and our bodies process them, so how can they be harmful? The answer is that carbohydrates aren't exactly bad, but some might be better for our bodies than others. In the following, we will explore this idea and address misconceptions commonly associated with simple Carbohydrates.

Figure 1: Examples of carbohydrates. Pixabay.

Simple carbohydrates definition

One carbon atom (\(C\)), two hydrogen atoms (\(H\)), and one oxygen atom (\(O\)) are what make up the foundation of carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates function

Carbohydrates are used to store energy. Every ounce of this energy is used by the human body when ingested, as carbohydrates are essential to our nutrition. Besides fueling your body, carbohydrates also assist in making lipids and building essential macromolecules, and their byproducts aid the immune system, reproduction, and energy production.

Carbohydrates provide our bodies with glucose, a simple sugar that can be converted into energy or ATP to power our Cells.

Types of simple carbohydrates

Monosaccharides are simple sugars, like glucose and fructose, and are considered Monomers or the building blocks of carbohydrates. Many of the foods that are eaten all over the world contain glucose or fructose. These foods include honey, grape juice, jackfruit, soft drinks, dried cranberries, apples, grapes, pears, and raisins.

• Fructose is a simple sugar easily found in the external environment via fruit. Glucose, on the other hand, is usually derived from the digestion of other carbohydrates. Both glucose and fructose have the same chemical formula, but with closer examination, we see that the atoms of glucose and fructose are arranged differently, making them isomers.
• Glucose is one of the most abundantly available simple carbohydrates and is utilized by almost everything on the planet. This simple sugar is created during the Photosynthesis process, after which it is used during the cellular respiration process to give energy.
• Glucose and fructose are isomers. Isomers are compounds that possess the same formula but have a different arrangement of atoms or structures. This difference in form gives glucose and fructose individual properties.

When specifically only two monosaccharides link together, it’s called a disaccharide. The most common disaccharide that many of us use today would be in the form of table sugar or sucrose.

Figure 3: Sucrose illustrated. Wikimedia.

Simple carbohydrates vs. complex carbohydrates

Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides are considered complex carbohydrates. The molecules are formed when many groups of simple sugars are chained together.

Polysaccharides consist of multiple monosaccharides or more complicated structures, making them complex carbohydrates.

Oligosaccharides are carbohydrates usually consisting of three to ten monosaccharides, while polysaccharides are, on average, longer.

On the other hand, simple carbohydrates consist of one sugar or monosaccharide and two sugars or disaccharides. Simple carbohydrates are used for energy faster by the body than complex carbohydrates because they are shorter and less complex. This means that simple carbohydrates usually lead to a quicker rise in Blood sugar and pancreatic insulin secretion, sometimes resulting in harmful health effects.

Consuming lots of foods with high glycemic index results in a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and colon cancer; in contrast, foods with low glycemic indexes have demonstrated can help regulate type 2 diabetes, lead to weight loss, and lead to some anti-inflammatory benefits.

Remember that any carbohydrate's glycemic index can be affected by processing, fiber amount, ripeness, acid and fat content, and physical form.

• Processed foods tend to have higher glycemic indexes because you can digest them more easily.

• High-fiber foods have a lower glycemic index than low-fiber foods.
• Un-ripened fruit and vegetables have a lower glycemic index than riper fruits and vegetables.
• The physical form of whole grains has a lower glycemic index when compared to processed grains such as whole-grain bread.
• Consuming carbohydrates with fat, acids, and proteins makes digestion slower and lowers the glycemic index.

Overall, simple carbohydrates are broken down or digested rapidly compared to complex carbohydrates causing changes in blood sugar and resulting in us getting hungry sooner. This can result in diabetes and high blood pressure.

Examples of some of the essential complex carbohydrates are:

• Cellulose: The most abundant biopolymer in the world, comprising glucose bonds that can form into dense fibers and compose the cell walls of plants and vegetables. It can be found in wood and cotton. Biopolymers are substances produced by living organisms' cells.
• Starch: The main form of energy storage for plants such as potatoes that are made of numerous glucose units combined. Starch exists in two structural forms: amylose is straight, and amylopectin is branched.
• Glycogen: Glycogen is the primary energy reserve of animals, lodged in bodily tissues and, to a lesser extent, in the liver. It can be broken down to glucose by hydrolysis in situations of energetic necessity and serves as a way to store energy for animals, fungi, and bacteria.

• Chitin: Chitin is a structural polysaccharide that's rich in nitrogen and present in the structure of fungi and exoskeletons of arthropods.

  It is the most abundant natural polymer in the world after cellulose.

• Peptidoglycan: Also known as murein, it is a resistant copolymer that makes up the cell structure in numerous bacteria. Copolymers consist of more than one type of monomer in their chains.

Figure 5: Amylopectin illustrated. Wikimedia.