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What is a carbohydrate?
Carbohydrates are saccharides (i.e., sugars) and are one of the basic biomolecules found in most of the living organisms. They are composed of either aldehydes or ketones with one or more Hydroxyl (-OH) groups linked to them.
Their two primary roles are to provide energy or act as energy stores as in the case of glucose or to be structural units as in the case of cellulose in plants.
Carbohydrates are molecules that link together in chains. If there is only one carbohydrate then we call this a monosaccharide (One Sugar) with the most known monosaccharide to be; glucose.
If there are two carbs connected then we call it a disaccharide, if more are connected we call it an oligosaccharide (a few sugars), and if there are many making up a chain, we call it a polysaccharide (many sugars).
The most common polysaccharide that most of us are familiar with is Amylose (Starch). In essence starch is a polymer of glucose and it can be up to thousands of glucose molecules linked together.
As we start to visualize this, we come to understand why starch is a no-no in Atkins. Because it is composed of many many sugars together, i.e., it contains too much energy in a little molecule.
Too much energy that if not spent, will be broken down to glucose (our body breaks down this long chain in the small links it is composed of), and our body will do what it knows best to do when it has to handle an excess of sugar(glucose); it transforms it to fat!
Some of the carbohydrates, especially the ones that provide structural support in plants, are not broken down in our bodies, because we cannot break down the bonds that hold the links of these particular chains together.. This is something that cows can do but we don’t. This kind of carbs are known as fibres; the ones which are actually passing unprocessed from our bodies and are excluded when we calculate our net carbs.
Remember! As a general rule of thumb if you see anything ending up on –ose in the ingredients list in the food you want to buy then this is a hidden carbohydrate.
That is for now fellow Atkineers! Take care
Carbohydrates are saccharides (i.e., sugars) and are one of the basic biomolecules found in most of the living organisms. They are composed of either aldehydes or ketones with one or more Hydroxyl (-OH) groups linked to them.
Their two primary roles are to provide energy or act as energy stores as in the case of glucose or to be structural units as in the case of cellulose in plants.
Carbohydrates are molecules that link together in chains. If there is only one carbohydrate then we call this a monosaccharide (One Sugar) with the most known monosaccharide to be; glucose.
If there are two carbs connected then we call it a disaccharide, if more are connected we call it an oligosaccharide (a few sugars), and if there are many making up a chain, we call it a polysaccharide (many sugars).
The most common polysaccharide that most of us are familiar with is Amylose (Starch). In essence starch is a polymer of glucose and it can be up to thousands of glucose molecules linked together.
As we start to visualize this, we come to understand why starch is a no-no in Atkins. Because it is composed of many many sugars together, i.e., it contains too much energy in a little molecule.
Too much energy that if not spent, will be broken down to glucose (our body breaks down this long chain in the small links it is composed of), and our body will do what it knows best to do when it has to handle an excess of sugar(glucose); it transforms it to fat!
Some of the carbohydrates, especially the ones that provide structural support in plants, are not broken down in our bodies, because we cannot break down the bonds that hold the links of these particular chains together.. This is something that cows can do but we don’t. This kind of carbs are known as fibres; the ones which are actually passing unprocessed from our bodies and are excluded when we calculate our net carbs.
Remember! As a general rule of thumb if you see anything ending up on –ose in the ingredients list in the food you want to buy then this is a hidden carbohydrate.
That is for now fellow Atkineers! Take care
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