Introduction of Carbohydrates and Causes of Diabetes

When introducing Carbohydrates, the first thing that should come in mind is that it is an organic compound. They carry an empirical formula of CH2O and molecular formulae of C5H10O5 and C6H12O6. A very important property of carbohydrates is that they are water soluble and hydroxyl group is present in carbohydrates. There is evidence that carbonyl group of Aldehyde and Ketone is present in carbohydrates. In Biochemistry, the carbohydrates are usually known as Saccharides. They can be further divided into four chemical groupings: monosaccharide, disaccharide, oligosaccharide, and polysaccharide.

As mentioned earlier, carbohydrates are divided into four chemical groupings. Here we briefly introduce the four groups. Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates as they cannot be divided into simpler chemicals. They are important fuel molecules and act as building blocks for nucleic acids. Disaccharides are formed by combining two monosaccharide units. Two important disaccharides are sucrose and lactose. Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are more complex carbohydrates with longer chains of monosaccharides. 

 

Simple carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. These carbohydrates have monosaccharides or disaccharides. They taste sweet and because of their simple nature, they easily breakdown in our body to providing us with energy. The three most common simple carbohydrates are Glucose, Fructose, and Table Sugar. Glucose forms an important part of our body and provides us with energy while fructose is found in fruits. Table Sugar is a disaccharide formed by a unit each of fructose and glucose. 

Complex carbohydrates are characterized by long chains of simple sugar units such monosaccharides and disaccharides. These are also known as polysaccharides. An example of complex carbohydrates is the starch which is found in potatoes. Plants store starch to store glucose which will eventually provide energy to plants in future. Starch is made up of a chain of monosaccharide units. Another example of complex carbohydrates is Glycogen which is used by animals for the purpose of obtaining energy.

The process of metabolism starts in our mouth where polysaccharides are broken down into simpler monosaccharides and mixes with an enzyme in our saliva called salivary amylase. After we swallow the food, it goes down into our stomach through esophagus and it breakdown is still in the process. In our stomachs, it is converted into a liquid called chyme. Chyme then enters our intestines and it is here that the chemical breakdown of carbohydrates is completed. Carbohydrates are synthesized into glucose in intestine and glucose is then carried to our blood. In our blood, glucose acts as a source of energy for various cells. In cells, glucose may further be divided into various smaller components. Pancreas release insulin when the level of glucose goes up in our body after meal and it facilitates the metabolism of glucose especially in live and fat tissues.  

As mentioned earlier carbohydrates are a source of energy for the body. In our bodies, they are broken down into glucose which eventually goes down in our bloodstream providing us energy. Secondly, if there are fewer carbohydrates, the body will break muscle tissues to obtain needed energy. Thirdly, dietary fibers which are very complex carbohydrates are of two types: soluble and insoluble. One of their characteristics is that they cannot be converted into glucose unlike normal carbohydrates making them indigestible. Paradoxically, this property of their helps in our digestive system. Insoluble fiber make our muscles move to push food through colon. And, soluble fiber reduces our cholesterol levels. 

We many kinds of foods everyday and almost every food provide our bodies with some quantity of carbohydrates. As mentioned earlier, these carbohydrates are converted into glucose which then enters our bloodstream providing our body with energy. The mixing of glucose with our blood is facilitated by insulin released by pancreas. The malfunctioning of insulin will stop glucose from being absorbed in our bloodstream which will cause diabetes. There are two types of diabetes: one in which insulin required by body is not produced by pancreas and two in which  our body does not respond to insulin produced. 

Diabetes patients’ sugar levels are high which damages our body. Diabetes can possibly cause eye damage, kidney diseases, hear and blood vessel diseases, and nerve diseases. A diabetes patient needs to take care of his health. He/she has to keep a continuous check on his/her blood sugar level. Based on this monitoring, a person may consider changing exercise, diet, and medication on the advice of DOCTOR. He/she also needs to take care that only those carbohydrates are taken which are high on fiber and vitamins. A person should regularly exercise to lose weight if overweight. Finally, he/she needs to make sure that he/she visits doctor regularly so as to avoid any emergency.

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