Chapter 2

Carbohydrates

Man shall not live by bread alone.

Copyright © 2009, by Mosby, Inc. an affiliate of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. 1
 Key Concepts

• Carbohydrate foods provide practical

energy (calorie) sources because of their
availability, relatively low cost, and
storage capability.
• Carbohydrate structures vary from simple
to complex to provide both quick and
extended energy for the body.
Importance of Carbohydrates

• Basic fuel source

• Widely available and easily grown
• Relatively low in cost
• Easily stored
• In the typical American diet, half of total caloric intake is in the form of
carbohydrates.
• Daily intake of sugars by Americans accounts for 20% to 40% of total caloric
intake.
• What are some of the staple carbohydrates in a diet? Wheat, corn, rice
• CHO, 3 classes: mono, di, poly saccharide (means sugar).

Slide 3
 Classes of Carbohydrates

• Monosaccharides
– Simple carbohydrates
– Simple sugars
• Glucose: the basic single sugar in body metabolism. It is the form of
sugar circulating in blood and serves as the primary fuel to cells. Primary
source: from digestion of starch.

• Fructose: found mainly in fruits. Widely used in processed foods, corn

syrup, a sweetener added to many beverages and sweets in the American diet.

• Galactose: comes mainly from digestion of milk sugar.

 Classes of Carbohydrates,

• Disaccharides
– Double sugar
– Simple carbohydrate
• Sucrose (glucose and fructose): Common table sugar

• Lactose (glucose and galactose): found in milk, Aids in

the absorption of calcium and phosphorus

• Maltose (glucose and glucose): can be found naturally in

foods such as beer but most often it is an intermediate disaccharide
that results from the digestion of starch.
 Classes of Carbohydrates,

• Polysaccharides
– Starch
– Found in grains, legumes, potatoes, other vegetables
– Cooking makes digestion of starch easier, ruptures starch cells
– Most important dietary carbohydrate

– Glycogen
– Not dietary CHO but formed within body’s tissues
– Similar in structure to starch
– Found in animal muscle & liver tissues
– Crucial to metabolism and energy balance
– Sustain blood glucose during short-term fasting

– Dietary fiber: indigestible carbohydrates, serves other functions

(as a body regulatory agent)
Summary of Carbohydrate Classes

7
 Starch

• Most significant polysaccharide in

the diet
• Whole grains retain the bran layer,
inner germ, and endosperm,
including the nutrients naturally
found in the plant.
• Whole grain: food products as flour,
breads, cereals.
• Enriched grains are refined grains
that have nutrients added back to
them (Iron, calcium, folate). Refining
process remove some natural
vitamins & minerals.
 Focus on Dietary Fiber

• Cellulose
– Remains undigested in the gastrointestinal
tract and provides bulk to a diet
– Bulk helps move the food mass through the
intestine (prevents constipation). It stimulates
muscle action in the intestine.
– Examples:
• Stems, leaves of vegetables, corn hull,
beans, coverings of seeds and grains
 Focus on Dietary Fiber

• Noncellulose polysaccharides
– Absorb water and swell to a larger bulk
– slow emptying of the food mass from stomach
– bind bile acids in the intestine, and prevent spastic colon
pressure
– Examples: pectins from fruit; gums & mucilages –
secretions from plants like okra; algal substances - seaweed
• Lignin
– Only noncarbohydrate type of dietary fiber
– Woody parts of plants (broccoli stems & seeds)
– Combines with bile acids and cholesterol in the human
intestine to prevent their absorption.
 Focus on Dietary Fiber

• Divided into two groups based on solubility

– Insoluble (Cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses)
– Soluble (Pectins and other polysaccharides)

• Many health organizations recommend

increasing intake of dietary fiber
38 g/day for men
25 g/day for women
 Focus on Dietary Fiber

• Sudden increases in fiber can result in

gas, bloating, and constipation

• Excessive amounts of dietary fiber can

trap (chelate) small amounts of minerals
and prevent their absorption into the
gastrointestinal tract

• Gradually increase fiber intake with water to reduce

gastrointestinal side effects.
 Summary of Dietary Fiber
Classes

Insoluble fibers: cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin

Soluble fibers: pectin , gum, mucilages, algal polysacchrides
 Other Sweeteners

• Nutritive sweeteners
– Sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol)
– Used as sugar replacements (alternative sweeteners).
– Do not have a notable caloric value 2-3 Kcal/g.
– Sorbitol: most common in candies, chew gums, beverages
– Sugar alcohols are absorbed more slowly from the small
intestine than are other carbohydrates, so do not increase
blood glucose levels rapidly.
– Oral bacterial cant use them as fuel source so lower risk of
dental caries.
– Excessive consumption lead to osmotic diarrhea, bcs of their
slow digestion.
 Other Sweeteners

• Non-nutritive sweeteners
– Artificial sweeteners in food
– Most AS do not provide kilocalories.
– Are hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar so
used in small amounts.
– Example: Saccharin

(Other examples in next slide)

Sweetness of Sugars and
Artificial Sweeteners

Sweetness values
relative to sucrose
 Energy Function of
Carbohydrates

• Basic fuel supply

– Energy for physical activities and all work of body cells
– Carbohydrates burn in the body at rate of 4 kcal/g

• Reserve fuel supply

– Provided by stored glycogen
– Available to maintain a normal blood glucose level
– Stored (100g in liver, 300-400g in muscles)

Copyright © 2009, by Mosby, Inc. an affiliate of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. 17
Special Tissue Functions of
Carbohydrates
• Liver
– Stored glycogen to ensure whole body’s energy needs to
protect cells from depressed metabolic function

• Protein and fat

– Carbohydrates regulate proteins and fat used for energy
– The protein-sparing function of carbohydrates protect
proteins, allowing proteins to be used for tissue growth
and maintenance.
– Carbohydrates prevent the rapid breakdown of fats that
would produce excess amounts of ketones. Blood
acidosis

Copyright © 2009, by Mosby, Inc. an affiliate of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
Special Tissue Functions of
Carbohydrates

• Heart
– Glycogen is vital emergency back up fuel for heart
muscle

• Central nervous system

– Brain dependent on minute-to-minute supply of
glucose.
– Low blood sugar may cause brain damage and
death.

Copyright © 2009, by Mosby, Inc. an affiliate of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
Digestible Food Sources of
Carbohydrates

• Starches
– Provide fundamental complex carbohydrates
– Central type of food in a balanced diet
– Unrefined forms are also source of fiber

• Sugars
– Readily absorbed
– High-sugar diets carry health risks
Teaspoons of High-Fructose
Corn Syrup Consumed

We eat too
much
sugar!
Carbohydrate Content of Foods

Slide 22
Digestion of Carbohydrates

• Mouth
– Mechanical or muscle functions break food mass
into smaller particles (mastication: food chewing)
– Chemical digestion begins with salivary amylase

• Stomach
– Wavelike contractions of the stomach muscles
(Peristalsis) continues mechanical digestive
process & mixes food with gastric secretions
(mainly HCL, proteases as pepsin).
–
Digestion of Carbohydrates,

• Small intestine
– Peristalsis continues mechanical digestion
– Pancreatic secretions - Pancreatic amylase
breaks starches down into disaccharides
and monosaccharides
– Intestinal secretions - Sucrase, lactase, and
maltase break disaccharides to
monosaccharides ready for absorption
– Most of the absorption of macronutrients occur in the
Duodenum
TABLE 2 - 6 Summary of Carbohydrate Digestion
Organ Enzyme Action

Mouth Salivary amyalse Starch →

Dextrins →
Disaccharides (maltose)
Stomach None (Above action continued to minor degree)
Small intestine Pancreatic amylase Starch →
Dextrins →
Disaccharides (maltase)
Intestinal:
Sucrase Sucrose →
Glucose +Fructose
Lactase Lactose →
Glucose +Galactose
Maltase Glucose + Glucose
Maltose →
Mouth
Mechanical digestion breaks food into smaller
pieces. Amylase begins chemical digestion:

amaze casotne
Starch -

_ Mouth
Salivary glands - Tongue

- Pharynx

Stomach
Smash aid nad enzymes hat Esophagus
Small intestine
Intestinal enzymes and pancreatic
amylase continue breakdown of
simple carbohydrates. Brush border Gallbladder Liver
cells secrete specific enzymes for
disacchande hydrolysis: Liver
Stomach
maltase The liver regulates
Maltose - glucose + glucose the a m o u n t of
sucrase Common glucose entering the
Sucrose → fructose + glucose bile d u c t Pancreas blood ni response to
la d a s e
pancreatic hormones.
Lactose → g a l a c t o s e + glucose Pylorus
The monosaccharides are then
absorbed and travel to the liver
through portal blood circulation.
Large Small
intestine intestine/
Large intestine
Most fiber continues through the
digestive tract to the large intestine.
Here bacteria digest some; the rest
passes out of the body.

lleocecal Rectum
valve
Anus
 Body Needs for
Carbohydrates

• Dietary Reference Intakes

– 45% to 65% of adult’s total caloric
intake should come from carbohydrate
foods
– Limit sugar to no more than 25% of
calories consumed
 Summary

• Carbohydrates are the primary source of

energy for most of the world’s population.
• Carbohydrates are distributed as the
plant sources: grains, legumes,
vegetables, and fruits.
• The two basic types of carbohydrates are
simple and complex.
• Simple carbohydrates are composed of
single- and double-sugar units
(monosaccharides and disaccharides)
 Summary, cont’d

• Complex carbohydrates are composed of

many sugar units.
• Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate
that is not digestible and is found mainly in
the structural parts of plants.
• Carbohydrate digestion begins in the
mouth, continues in the stomach, moves to
the small intestine, and finally arrives in the
large intestine and exits through the anus.