carbohydrates

Maintaining normal blood sugar values is very important to overall health. Normal blood sugars are between eighty and one hundred twenty milligrams per deciliter. A blood sugar of seventy milligrams per deciliter will make a person feel extremely hungry. Under seventy is considered hypoglycemia, meaning low blood sugar. Blood sugar over one hundred twenty for an extended time is referred to as hyperglycemia or high blood sugar.

Let us start with sugar. The word for sugar is saccharide. “Mono” means one. The monosaccharides are glucose, fructose, and galactose. Glucose will bind with other sugars to form a disaccharide. Glucose binds with fructose to form sucrose or table sugar. Fructose is the sugar found in fruit. Glucose binds with galactose to form lactose which is milk sugar. Glucose can bind other glucose to form maltose. Maltose gets together and before you know it we have dextrin. This progresses to polysaccharides and complex carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide energy for all body processes.