Meaning and Definition of Carbohydrates

Definition of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a type of nutrient most commonly known sugars or carbohydrates. Constitute the main and the most abundant source of energy for living things, they are drawn by the tissues of plant type during the process of photosynthesis and are composed of three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Simpler carbohydrate molecules are known as Monosaccharides, insofar as they are grouped are giving rise to more complex oligosaccharides and polysaccharides chains. Once eaten, carbohydrates are degraded and absorbed once metabolized provide 4 kcal/g, not all carbohydrates are absorbed in the intestine, in fact the whole carbohydrate or cellulose-rich are not absorbed fully which constitutes the reason these carbohydrates better known as "fiber" are able to increase the fecal bolus helping the treatment and prevention of conditions such as constipation.
Digestion of carbohydrates is effected by the action of enzymes called amylases, these are found in saliva and secretions from the pancreas, its function is to fragment molecules into smaller portions to facilitate their absorption, which takes place at the level of the small intestine. Once they become circulation carbohydrates raise the level of glucose in the blood which stimulates the production of a hormone called insulin that is intended to enable the necessary mechanisms to decrease this value. To achieve this the glucose should be employed to produce power mainly at the level of the muscle or brain, the remainder is stored in the liver in the form of glycogen, if there is still a surplus of sugar these are converted into fat and become part of the adipose tissue, which explains why the excess intake of calories in the diet is capable of producing overweight and obesity.
Today there is a trend to healthier life and an important role is given to proteins as a food satanizandose a little carbohydrate, this phenomenon should be noted with lupa since carbohydrates in its fair measure not only are necessary but rather indispensable to life, a diet with carbohydrates balanced at the expense of those from fruits vegetables, legumes and integral type instead of the refined cereals, allows to maintain adequate levels of power they do not lead to obesity, and in fact nutrition specialists recommend that at least 55% of the power source comes from the intake of carbohydrates, leaving the remaining 54% distributed between proteins and fats.