Carbohydrate

Arthurline Bowen March 4, 2008 Stream: 4 Blue



Sugar

The white stuff we know as sugar is sucrose, a molecule composed of 12 atoms of carbon, 22 atoms of hydrogen, and 11 atoms of oxygen (C12H22O11). Like all compounds made from these three elements, sugar is a carbohydrate. It’s found naturally in most plants, but especially in sugarcane and sugar beets—hence their names. Sucrose is actually two simpler sugars stuck together: fructose and glucose. In recipes, a little bit of acid (for example, some lemon juice or cream of tartar) will cause sucrose to break down into these two components. If you look closely at dry sugar, you’ll notice it comes in little cube like shapes. These are sugar crystals, orderly arrangements of sucrose molecules. Under a microscope, you can see that sugar crystals aren’t cubes, exactly, but oblong and slanted at both ends. (Image courtesy of Nutrition and Food Management Dept., Oregon State University)

What happens when you heat a sugar solution?

When you add sugar to water, the sugar crystals dissolve and the sugar goes into solution. But you can’t dissolve an infinite amount of sugar into a fixed volume of water. When as much sugar has been dissolved into a solution as possible, the solution is saturated. The saturation point is different at different temperatures. The higher the temperature, more sugar can be held in solution.

This is where I got my information for the Sugar. http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html

Nutritional Information •What type of nutrient/chemical is it? (Protein, carbohydrate, lipid, vitamin, mineral, etc.) The type of nutrient/chemical sugar is, is Carbohydrate.

•What happens if there is too much or too little of this nutrient in your diet? What human body systems are most affected by this?

If a carbohydrate source (such as pasta) has very little fiber content, then virtually all of its listed carbohydrate content will be insulin-stimulating carbohydrate. On the other hand, if a carbohydrate source is rich in fiber (such as broccoli), then its insulin-stimulating carbohydrate content will be significantly reduced. This means that more volume of fiber-rich carbohydrate source must be consumed to have the same impact on insulin secretion as a much smaller volume of low-fiber content carbohydrate (see Table 1).

You can quickly see that you would have to eat a tremendous volume of broccoli (approximately 12 cups) to have the same impact on insulin as eating a relatively small amount of cooked pasta. This is why starches and grains are considered high-density carbohydrates, whereas fruits are medium-density carbohydrates, and vegetables are low-density carbohydrates. The Zone Diet relies heavily on low-density carbohydrates, so large volumes of food must be consumed in order to have an appreciable impact on insulin. This is also why high-density carbohydrates are used in moderation on the Zone Diet because very small volumes can stimulate excess insulin production.

•From what type of foods do we mainly obtain this chemical/nutrient?

The type of food that is mainly obtained by this chemical/nutrient is: pasta, fruits, and vegetables. Many people have trouble recognizing what a carbohydrate is because they think of carbohydrates as only pasta and sweets. In reality, fruits and vegetables are also carbohydrates. An easy way to remember this is that "carbohydrates grow in the ground, and don't move around." Pasta must be a carbohydrate, since it comes from wheat, which grows in the ground. Likewise, vegetables, such as broccoli grow in the ground, so they, too, must be carbohydrates. Finally, fruits, such as apples come from trees that grow in the ground, which makes them carbohydrates also. I got most of my Nutritional Information from this site. http://www.drsears.com/DesktopModules/EngagePublish/printerfriendly.aspx?itemId=45&PortalId=6

Structural Information •What is the chemical/nutrient’s chemical formula? A carbohydrate is an organic compound that is composed of atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in a ratio of 1 carbon atom, 2 hydrogen atoms, and 1 oxygen atom. Some carbohydrates are relatively small molecules; the most important to us is glucose, which has 6 carbon atoms. These simple sugars are called monosaccharide. The primary function of carbohydrates is for short-term energy storage (sugars are for Energy). A secondary function is intermediate-term energy storage (as in starch for plants and glycogen for animals). Other carbohydrates are involved as structural components in cells, such as cellulose, which is found in the cell walls of plants.

•Include a diagram of the molecule. Two common Monosaccharide, (single sugars) Glucose and Fructose Glucose and Fructose are sugars Hooking two monosaccharide together forms a more complex sugar, such as the union of glucose and fructose to give sucrose, or common table sugar. Compounds such as sucrose are called Disaccharides (two sugars). Both monosaccharide and disaccharides are soluble in water. Linking shorter units together to form long or very long sugar chains called Polysaccharides forms larger, more complex carbohydrates. Because of their size, these are often times not soluble in water

•How does this molecule chemically interact with the body?

Since the Zone Diet is about insulin control, you have to realize that not all carbohydrates affect insulin equally. Every complex carbohydrate must be broken down into simple sugars and will eventually enter the bloodstream as glucose, which in turn will have a stimulatory effect on insulin secretion. Fiber (both soluble and insoluble) cannot be broken down into simple sugars, and therefore it will have no impact on insulin. Taking this into account, I developed the concept of insulin-stimulating carbohydrate content for a food. Simply stated, this is the total amount of carbohydrate a food source contains minus its fiber content (which is usually included in determining the total amount of carbohydrates).

I got my Structural Information from this site. http://bioweb.wku.edu/courses/BIOL115/Wyatt/Biochem/Carbos.htm