What Are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates (carbs) are startchy food, the kind of food used by the body for fuel. Protein is used to build up muscles etc but carbs are used for energy.
Carbohydrates can either be simple or complex. Simple carbs are basically sugars. Complex carbohydrates are usually better for you and may often contain fibre.
'Good carbs' include bananas, potatoes (not chips) and oats, granary bread, bad carbs are cakes, sugars and white bread.
If we eat too many carbohydrates then the body converts the excess into sugars and then into fat: especially around the stomach and hips.
The best type of carbohydrates to eat are those with a low Glycaemic Index (GI) because these are not as quickly converted into sugars by the body. They release sugars slowly into the bloodstream, so we don't have that big 'sugar rush'. When sugars are released slowly we feel fuller for longer and so may avoid over indulging. Sweets and cakes release sugars very quickly into the bloodstream, which gives us a sugar high, but when this dips, we can often feel quite tired and hungry all over again !

These are the fuels of the body because they provide the most direct source of energy. Starches and sugars are carbohydrates. When we chew starchy bread, it soon tastes sweet. We know that it has turned into sugar. Sugar thrown on fire burns rapidly, showing that it is releasing energy. Similarly, the body uses simple sugars as its source of energy.

There are many carbohydrates in food. These are organic compounds which mostly contains elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. As the name indicates carbohydrates are hydrated carbons, that is, each molecule contains hydrogen and oxygen in a ratio 2:1. The most common simple sugar is grape sugar called glucose. It is most ready source of energy in cells. We would remember that the formula of glucose C6H12O6. Another example of a simple sugar from fruits is fructose. When molecules of simple sugars combine they form complicated carbohydrates.

For example, molecules of sugar combine they form complicated carbohydrates. For example, molecules of sugar such as glucose and fructose combine to form a complex 2- sugar molecule called sucrose. Sucrose from sugar cane is table sugar which we used daily. Similarly, lactose found in milk is a 2-sugar molecule. When many simple sugar molecules join in a long chain we get the most complex carbohydrates such as cellulose, glycogen and starch.