Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are a major component of the food pyramid, sugary substances that provide the body with the energy and activity required to carry out the vital processes. The excess is stored in the liver. There are two kinds of carbohydrates: simple carbohydrates found in sugar, sweets and honey. Complex carbohydrates are found in rice, bread, and potatoes. In the consumption of simple carbohydrates, the blood sugar increases significantly and the body needs to produce more insulin. Therefore, the cells of the pancreas are exhausted and the person is exposed to diabetes, unlike the complex sugars that take longer to digest and not significantly increase blood sugar levels , And is recommended for use in diets. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth and is completed in the small intestine.
Carbohydrate digestion
Carbohydrate digestion in the human body takes place in the mouth and intestines. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth with the enzyme amylase found in the saliva, which digests carbohydrates such as starch and dissolves them into maltose sugar and glucose. The amylase enzyme acts in a basal medium, Food arrives in the stomach, because the environment of the stomach is acidic. When the sugars reach the small intestine, digestion is completed by the enzymes produced by the pancreas, the amylase pancreatic enzyme and the amylobacter enzyme. These enzymes convert starch to maltose. The most important enzymes that secrete in the small intestine are sucrose, maltase, and lactase. These enzymes digest bipolar sugars and convert them into single sugars to facilitate their absorption into the small intestine.
Carbohydrate components
Carbohydrates consist mainly of starches and sugars, and contain the following sugars:
- Single sugars include:
- Glucose is the sugar found in the blood, which is one of the simplest types of carbohydrates, and can be found in the form of natural sugar in food, or be the result of digesting the complex carbohydrates found in rice and pasta.
- Fructose Sugar: It is called fruit sugar which is present in honey and fruits, and the degree of sweetening of this sugar is great and is the sweetest among sugars.
- SugarLactose: A sugar found in milk, not found in foods naturally, and produced from the glands producing milk in the body.
- Bicarbonate sugars: sugars produced from the simple sugars such as:
- Sucrose is the sugar produced by the sugar glucose union and sugar fructose.
- Lactose is the milk sugar and its sweetness is low compared to other types of sugar and consists of sugar glucose and sugar galactose.
- Maltose is a barley sugar consisting of the union of two molecules of glucose sugar.