Carbohydrates!

So, I figured I'd start by talking about the different nutrients and a little overview and summary of them because that's where all of my nutrition classes and even Biology starts! All of you know what they are and have heard of them, but probably don't know a TON about them individually and what our body does with them exactly. It helps to understand at least a little about them to understand why a balanced nutrition (getting all of the nutrients) is important and how it affects you

Carbohydrates (carbs)
Lipids (fats)
Proteins
Vitamins
Minerals
Water

I'm just going to start with talking about Carbohydrates and then do a different nutrient for each post so you don't get bored and so I can put more information on here.

Carbohydrates!
Our bodies use carbohydrates for energy the most (in the form of glucose - hint, you've heard of blood glucose) which is why they are so important to include in our diets. In fact, Carbs are the majority of the food pyramid! Carbs give us 4 calories per gram. (so for example.. 10 grams of carbohydrates would equal 40 calories)

There are a few different types of carbs. They can be classified as "simple carbs" or "complex carbs." What's the difference?

Simple carbs (usually sweeter to the taste)
The simple carbs are broken into monosaccharides and disaccharides. Don't get lost yet! Mono and di are just prefixes to indicate a number (mono=one di=two), and saccharide just means "sugar".
You will probably be surprised in yourself for actually knowing these.

The three monosaccharides are:
Glucose
Fructose
and Galactose

The three disaccharides (which are made up of the monosaccharides) are:
Maltose = glucose + glucose (found in some vegetables)
Sucrose = glucose + fructose (table sugar)
Lactose = glucose + galactose (sugars in milk and dairy products, lactose is broken down by the enzyme lactase)


Complex carbs (the carbs found in things like vegetables and whole wheat)
These are carbs containing polysaccharides, or many sugars, which is why they are called "complex".. there's more to them!
Several complex carbs you are probably familiar with are:
Fiber (cellulose, which is plant walls)
Starch (the energy storage found in plants)
Glycogen (how animals store their energy, not necessarily consumed in foods)

The important thing in selecting carbs is not eating "only complex carbs" or eating "less simple carbs" but choosing a variety so you get the benefits from all of them.
If you were to only consume dairy products to get your carbs... you would miss out on the fiber, vitamins, and minerals found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables which are also important.


How does our body use carbs??
The simple answer: Our body processes all carbs eventually down to the monosaccharide glucose and transports that energy to the cells in our body. If our cells don't need energy, it is stored in our muscle or liver in the form of glycogen to be used for later. If we are consuming too many calories and not using up the energy, that glycogen would turn into fat to be stored for energy at a later date. Our bodies are built for energy storage! Which is why it is also important to exercise and stay active so that energy output is equal to the input.
Glucose is especially important for our brain to function correctly and for energy to our cells.
It is recommended that 40-60% of our caloires come from Carbohydrates each day. It is not a set number for each person, but rather something you can keep track of on your own if you want to and try different things. If you're an athelete or participating in a LOT of physical activity, that percentage should rise to 60-70% and sometimes more.

What about diets telling you to cut out carbs?
Tip: Any "diet" that instructs you to cut out one group or only eat one food group is clearly NOT healthy. It might make you lose weight, but definitely isn't a healthy weight loss.
There are a few recent dieting crazes which frown on carbohydrates in particular, which would eventually lead to being very very fatigued and a lack of concentration. Since our bodies use glucose as it's main source of energy and energy storage in the form of glycogen, cutting them out would obviously mean less energy that is readily available. Cutting out carbs would lead your body to use up all of the glycogen stored and eventually start taking energy from fat storage. So it DOES help you lost fat, BUT not in a good way. You WANT glycogen stored so you can function properly when you're cells need energy and you aren't eating(jogging, walking around town or your office, doing anything takes energy even just sitting there) It is also not a good thing to deprive your body of glucose in the form of carbs because it also takes glycogen from muscle and deprives you of vitamins and minerals found primarily in carbohydrates. So, it may take out fat, but it also gets rid of and deprives you of some other important things that you don't want to lose.

I may add or edit this post as I think of new things... but I think this is probably a LOT for one post... so... enjoy!
This week in my class was our vegetable lab so I will have to post some of my favorite recipes from that this weekend too so you can eat some tasty carbs.

(note: ATP is more specifically what our cells use for energy, but in order to make ATP, glucose is necessary...)