All you need to know about carbohydrates!!!

What are Carbohydrates?

Our nutrition is primarily made up of 2 different type of nutrients namely MACRO-NUTRIENTS and MICRO-NUTRIENTS. As the name suggests, Macro-nutrients are those which are required in large quantities and Micro-nutrients are required in minute quantities but are very important for normal functioning of our body processes. 

The macro-nutrients are - CARBOHYDRATES, FATS & PROTEIN. 

I shall cover all these nutrients in subsequent articles. Let's get to know about one of the most important macro-nutrient - 

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for our body and can be broken down to its simplest form of Glucose to provide energy for various biological activities as well as physical activities.

Carbohydrates are present in wheat, rice, pulses, potatoes, banana, cookies, biscuits, breads, bakery products etc.

Once consumed our body utilize the carbohydrates in three different ways which are :-

1. BURN - First of all, the body converts the carbohydrates in to glucose which is then used to generate energy for numerous body processes and physical activity.
2. STORE - The body can store the excess glucose in the form of glycogen in various glycogen stores like Liver, muscle tissues etc. The process of converting glucose in to glycogen is called glycogenesis.
3. FURTHER STORAGE - Once the energy needs are met and glycogen stores are full, the body can convert the excess carbohydrates in to glucose and store in the adipose tissues as FATS. Adipose tissues are the tissues made of cells filled with stored fat.

Energy output - Each gram of carbohydrate produces 4 calories.

Types of carbohydrates -

Carbohydrates which are also called as saccharides in technical terms are divided in to two main types. 

• Simple carbohydrates - Simple carbohydrates are made up up of one or two sugar molecules and gets converted to glucose very fast. E.g - Glucose, fructose etc.
• Complex carbohydrates - Complex carbohydrates are made up large chains of sugar molecules and takes a little longer to get converted to glucose as compared to simple carbohydrates. E.g - Starch and fibers.

Metabolism of carbohydrates - 

The digestion of carbohydrates starts from our mouth. The saliva contains an enzyme(enzymes are the catalysts which helps in a chemical reaction) called salivary amylase which starts breaking down of carbohydrates in the mouth.Further, majority of the digestion of carbohydrates takes place in small intestine in the presence of another enzyme called pancreatic amylase. 

carbohydrates are hydrolyzed(break-down) in to glucose which is used in various functions and providing energy to the body.

Some complex carbohydrates like starch are not digested in small intestine, they rather get digested in large intestine. 

SCIENCE - The process doesn't ends at breaking down to glucose. The glucose further breaks down in a process called GLYCOLYSIS to form ATP(Adinosine TriPhosphate) molecules. ATP is the fuel that is used by our cells to generate energy for all cellular processes. Glycolysis takes place in two ways - Aerobic(in presence of oxygen) and Anaerobic(in absence of oxygen). Anaerobic glycolysis is faster but less efficient(produces lesser ATP molecules).

Optimum timing for carbohydrate consumption -  

Before we discuss the optimum timing for consumption of carbohydrates, let's discuss what is Insulin.

Insulin is a hormone produced by beta cells of Pancreas(Pancreas is a very important gland in our body which produces a lot hormones and enzymes to facilitate various processes) in response to increased glucose levels in blood. Insulin helps the movement of glucose from blood to liver, muscle tissues and fat cells for storage etc.

The relation of carbohydrates and insulin spike is two ways - directly proportional and Inversely proportional.

1. Directly proportional - The spike is high in case of consumption of simple carbs, high quantity of carbs and without other macro-nutrients like fats and proteins.
2. Inversely proportional - The spike is relatively low in case of consumption of complex carbohydrates, small quantities and in combination of fats and proteins.

As per myths doing rounds for ages, there is no impact of skipping carbohydrates from dinner on your weight or body fat percentage. However, total calories consumed have an effect on your weight and body fat percentage.

Conclusion - It is advised to consume more complex carbohydrates and in combination of fats and proteins in order to avoid higher spike in insulin product which leads to storage of glucose in the form of glycogen and fats.