Carbohydrates form the significant nutrients in our daily diet.
These include mainly glucose, sucrose, lactose, and starch.
They are primary sources of our body’s energy, and hence, we need them in large quantities.
Our food generally contains both simple and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbs like glucose, sucrose, and fructose are easily digested by mere dissolution in the water in the digestive system.
Whereas complex carbohydrates like starch require enzymes for digestion in the gut.
When cooked, the starch molecules in food get hydrated and convert to easily digestible sugars like glucose, sucrose, etc.
Hence, cooked food is preferred for easy digestion and assimilation.
Carbohydrates Examples in our foods
Most foods we consume are good sources of carbohydrates
Cereals
| Cereal name | % of carbs (100gm dry weight) | Food item |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 82% | White Bread, flatbread |
| Corn (maize) | 82% | Popcorn, porridge, sweet corn |
| Rice | 91% | Porridge, soups, desserts |
| Sorghum | 82% | Flatbread, beverages. |
| Pearl millet (Bajra) | 75% | Flatbread, Biscuits |
| Oats | 66% | Oatmeal, porridge, |
| Barley | 73% | Barley meal |
| Spelt (dinkel wheat) | 70% | Spelt loaves, |
| Chia seeds | 42% | Pudding. |
- Most of the food we eat daily has cereals to a large extent.
- The bread, sandwich, roti, noodles, etc., are made of cereals like wheat, rice, maize, Sorghum, etc.
- These cereals contain large quantities of carbohydrates.
- The predominant carbohydrate in them is starch.
- Since white rice and wheat are regular foods in some countries, people consume them daily as the primary carbohydrate sources.
Sweets
- As you know, sweets are food items that are made of different types of flour, milk, fats, and sugar to a large extent.
- These items contain abundant carbohydrates; hence, consuming them can shoot up blood sugar levels to very high levels.
- They contain easily digestible sugars like Sucrose, glucose, and fructose.
Vegetables
- Some of the vegetables we eat in daily life are rich in carbohydrates.
- But still, they are within a safe range and help supply microelements like potassium, sodium, iron, calcium, and vitamins.
| Vegetable name | % carbs |
|---|---|
| Potato | 18.5 |
| Sweet potato | 16.42 |
| Onion | 7.8 |
Milk products
- Milk, curd, and cheese have carbohydrates, besides a good amount of proteins and fats.
- They have sugars like lactose (milk sugar) in large amounts.
Fruits
| Fruit Name | Carbohydrate percentage |
|---|---|
| Apple | 14 |
| Banana | 23.8 |
| Orange | 12.3 |
| Grapes | 18.3 |
| Watermelon | 7.5 |
| Pineapple | 11.6 |
| Avocado | 10 |
| kiwi fruit | 13.5 |
- Fruits are the natural foods one can have in daily life. Unlike others, they do not need to be cooked.
- They have vitamins and minerals besides sugars to varying extents based on the type of fruit.
- For example, fruits like mangoes, bananas, grapes, and watermelon have more quantity of sugar.
- While other fruits like oranges and papaya have fewer quantities of sugar.
- But as a whole, fruits are good to consume as they are rich in fiber and other nutrients.
- Further, doctors advise adopting diets with complete fruit or fruit juice for sick people as they are easy to digest.
- But in those with medical conditions like diabetes, consuming fruit juices can cause a spike in blood sugar levels.
Soft drinks
- Soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi have a large amount of sugar.
- Hence, they are called energy drinks. Sugars break down to glucose and fructose in the stomach to provide instant energy.
- But, having these soft drinks along with food can be harmful to health as they can shoot up sugar levels in the blood.
Beverages
- The alcoholic drinks like wine or whiskey we consume also have carbohydrates to a certain extent.
- Besides ethanol, they are mixed with varying types of cereal or other plant extracts to increase the bulk.
- The common cereal (grain) material included is barley.
Examples: beer, wine, rum, etc.
Ice creams
- Ice creams are cold and soft substances liked by everyone.
- These are also rich in sugars. Hence, they are sweet to taste.
- Besides, they have a high amount of fat material. Carbohydrates are added in the form of sugar.
Chocolates & cakes
- Chocolates of all sorts have a high amount of sugar. Hence, they are sweet in taste.
- Even ready-made items like cakes, jams, etc., from the bakery, have carbohydrates to varying extents.
Biscuits
- Biscuits are mainly made of cereal and corn, rich in carbohydrates.
Besides above, carbohydrates are also present in many foods like leafy vegetables, pulses, mushrooms, etc.
Others
Honey
Examples of carbohydrates in biology
- In a living body, carbohydrates provide energy.
- These carbohydrates are distributed in all the cells and tissues of the body.
- Some of the carbohydrates are readily available for energy supply, like glucose.
- While others are present as reserve carbohydrates like glycogen for use in case of starvation.
- Glucose is a monomer, while sucrose is a dimer, i.e., when it is broken, it yields two monomers.
- Besides these, there are other polymers meant for different functions.
These carbohydrates are
- pentoses,
- hexoses, and
- heptose sugars.
They are also available as complex forms as
- oligosaccharides and
- polysaccharides.
They also form many cell organelles and tissues and are also part of nucleic acids like the DNA and RNA and also in and around the nucleus.
To stay healthy, one has to have a low-carb diet that includes proteins.
Health is wealth..The carbohydrates are very essential as the provide energy to our body…we should include carbohydrates in our daily diet…
good information
Me: eat before u think
Thanks a lot it seems like every food we take is carbohydrate.
Written simply about the biochemistry for layman use.thank you
We need a significant amount of carbohydrates in our body.
No, that’s simply not true at all. Although we can digest carbohydrate foods, we have no specific need for carbohydrates. Proteins and fats are absolutely essential, but the same can not be said of carbohydrates. Most people eat far too many carbs…..refined carbs, in particular, which are the worst. A low-carbs diet or simply a moderately low-carbs diet is a much healthier choice and has been shown to have many proven benefits.