What are Carbohydrates?

White Bread - A Carbohydrate

As explained in Nutrition Basics, carbohydrates are one of the six types of nutrients used to fuel the human body.  They are plentiful in fruits, vegetables, and grains. They are also found in low amounts in dairy products. There are practically no carbohydrates found in meat; thus, the strategy of the Atkins Diet.¹

When we consume carbohydrates, they are eventually broken down into glucose, which is burned for energy.

If you break down the word, carbohydrate means hydrated carbon or water with carbon. A water molecule (H₂O) looks like this:

H2O Molecule

The subscript “2″ after the “H” means there are two hydrogen atoms. So, we have two hydrogen atoms joined with one oxygen atom to make H₂0 or water.

A carbohydrate would be a combination of carbon and H₂0.

Let’s now take a look at the most basic carbohydrate, glucose:

Glucose Molecule

Glucose (C₆H₁₂0₆) has six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms, and six oxygen atoms. Note that if you divided C₆H₁₂0₆ by six, you would get CH₂0, which is carbon plus water.

The simple and complex carbohydrates we eat get broken down by the body’s digestive system into glucose. Through a process called cellular respiration, glucose is converted into energy. The formula for this process is:

C₆H₁₂0₆ + 6O₂ = 6CO₂ + 6H₂0 + Energy.

In other words, Glucose + Oxygen = Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy. The “energy” is the cool part because now we have energy to move around and do the things we want to do. We now know how we get energy from carbohydrates. Also, this shows the importance of breathing oxygen.²

What’s even more crazy is that cellular respiration is the exact opposite of photosynthesis, which equation is:

6CO₂ + 6H₂0 + Light Energy = C₆H₁₂0₆ + 6O₂

Plants take the carbon dioxide from the air, water from the ground and air, and sun light to make glucose and oxygen.³ We, in turn, use glucose and oxygen to produce our own energy. It’s a wonderfully designed world we live in.

1. Insel, Paul, & Turner, R. Elaine, & Ross, Don (2004). Nutrition –2nd ed, pg. 14. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

2. Ross, Frederic C. (2000). Cell Biology And Chemistry for Allied Health Science, pg. 54. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

3. Pack, Phillip E. (2007). CliffsAP Biology –3rd ed., pg. 57. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Tags: Carbohydrates