Carbohydrates: Fueling Your Body & Health Impacts

Carbohydrates: Fueling Your Body

The primary function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide energy. Fructose, galactose, and glucose are examples of monosaccharides, not polysaccharides.

Understanding Sweetness and Blood Sugar

The sweetness in a banana comes mostly from fructose and sucrose. A blood glucose level of 60 mg/dL is considered to be representative of hypoglycemia. In comparison with table sugar (sucrose), honey tastes sweeter because it contains fructose.

Dietary Choices and Carbohydrate Intake

Someone who follows a strict vegetarian (vegan) diet and eats very few refined foods is likely to have a high intake of complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber. A person would be most likely to produce excessive ketones if his or her food intake that day consisted only of green salad with oil and vinegar dressing.

Sugar Consumption Trends

Since the 1970s, consumption of refined white sugar has decreased, mostly because the use of high-fructose corn syrup has increased.

Dental Health and Carbohydrates

The person who is most likely to develop dental caries is one who snacks on candy bars between meals. The most significant effect of bacteria in the mouth is fermentation of simple carbohydrates, which promotes the formation of plaque and tooth decay. The primary reason for chewing sugar-free gum instead of sugar-sweetened gum is that sugar-free gum contains sugar alcohols that do not promote dental caries.

Special Dietary Considerations

Aspartame should not be consumed by individuals who have phenylketonuria (PKU).

Increasing Fiber Intake

John wants to increase his dietary fiber intake. The best breakfast choice to help him achieve this goal would be oatmeal with raisins. Colon cancer runs in Jane’s family. She may be able to decrease her risk of developing this cancer if she increases her intake of whole grains and vegetables.

Heart Health and Fiber

Eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every day may help prevent heart disease because it contains soluble fiber.

Energy Storage and Metabolism

Athletes use physical training and dietary manipulation to increase their body stores of energy in the form of glycogen. After a high-carbohydrate meal, the dominant process would be glycogenesis. A dietary fiber intake of 18 g daily is considered below the optimal range of intake.

Benefits of Fiber Fermentation

A beneficial effect of bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber in the colon is the production of short-chain fatty acids. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables would be most beneficial to someone with constipation.

Body’s Response to Low Carbohydrate Intake

Peter has been very ill and has not eaten for 3 days. In order to provide carbohydrates for his brain and other cells, his body will break down muscle protein. An example of a food with a low glycemic index is lentil soup.

Carbohydrate Digestion

If someone’s stomach is removed, his or her ability to digest carbohydrates would be largely unaffected. If someone chewed a piece of bread for a long time, its taste would become sweeter.

Hormonal Response to Blood Glucose

If a healthy person’s blood glucose level is 120 mg/dL, his or her body would respond by releasing insulin. The main concern with increasing intake of high-fructose corn syrup is that it provides energy but no nutrients.

Nutrient Intake and Whole Grains

The best way to ensure adequate nutrient intake is to eat plenty of whole grains. For someone with diabetes mellitus, high blood glucose levels may be caused by high intakes of any type of carbohydrate.

Lactose Intolerance

A client experiences bloating, gas, and diarrhea after eating ice cream or drinking milk. These symptoms are probably related to lactose intolerance. The end product of starch digestion in the body is glucose.