What are Carbohydrates in foods?
Carbohydrates are one of the three major nutrients, along with lipids and proteins, as a calorie food that accounts for the largest amount in our diet.
Carbohydrates, like fats and proteins, make up living things and are important substances in our food.
Rice and wheat, which are our staple foods, are also the main components of carbohydrates, and lack of this is the main cause of insufficient calorie intake. Carbohydrates in foods are important nutrients as a source and storage of energy and are also a building block of cells.
Substances that are relatively small molecules among carbohydrates and taste sweet when dissolved in water are called saccharides. Sugars are divided into monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides according to the number of molecules.
What are carbs foods?
Here is a list of some foods which contain carbohydrates:
- Bananas
- Apples
- Mangoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Beetroot
- Corn
- Quinoa
- Brown Rice
- Wheat
- Oats
- Raisin
- Dates
- Goji Berries
- Kidney Beans
- Garbanzo Beans
- Lentils
Functions of the carbohydrates:
Energy Supply
Carbohydrates provide 4 kcal per gram. Physical activity requires constant energy. Since the central nervous system uses only glucose as an energy source, carbohydrates in foods are essential for the smooth functioning of the central nervous system.
Protein Sparing Action
One of the other important functions of carbohydrates is their protein-sparing action. Proteins can also produce energy, but in addition to providing energy for proteins, their essential functions are inherent in proteins. However, if there is not enough carbohydrate or fat during a meal, protein cannot do this function and is used for energy. Therefore, it can be seen that carbohydrates and fats save protein so that it performs its function rather than protein becoming an energy source.
Intestinal Motility
Dietary fiber includes cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, and gum. They absorb water from the intestines to form a soft mass, which stimulates the contraction of the muscles of the digestive tract, helping peristalsis to move food through the intestines.
Body Composition
One of the main functions of carbohydrates is that they form several important compounds in the body and are mainly used as lubricating substances or as important components of nails, bones, cartilage, and skin. In addition, ribose, a simple pentose sugar, is an important component of DNA and RNA, and lactose, a disaccharide, helps the absorption of calcium.
Carbohydrate Deficiency:
What if the intake of carbohydrates is insufficient?
The body must maintain a certain amount of glucose (blood sugar) in the blood, but when carbohydrate intake is insufficient, the level of glucose in the blood decreases, resulting in hypoglycemia.
Eating a carbohydrate-deficient diet can lead to kidney disease, dehydration, bone loss, or fatigue among other problems.
Common Symptoms
There is dizziness, headache, muscle weakness, etc., and in most cases, the symptoms disappear with proper food intake. In particular, if you go to work or exercise vigorously without eating in the morning when the body’s carbohydrate storage is depleted due to long meal intervals, hypoglycemia symptoms may appear, so it is desirable to consume adequate food before activities.
Excessive Carbohydrate intake:
Fat stores a lot of fat in the adipose tissue when consumed in excess, resulting in hypertrophy. In general, foods containing a lot of carbohydrates do not contain large amounts of other important nutrients, which can lead to a shortage of other key nutrients.
Want to know more about Carbohydrates then Visit:
What foods are High in carb? Refined vs Complex Carbs
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