The Importance Of Carbohydrates

When we hear the word “sugar” the first thing that comes to mind for the average person is the sweet flavor of white molecules we use in everyday life to sweeten food and beverages, but sugars are much more than that. Sugars comprise the simplest carbohydrates in the human body, and have a plethora of functions. They include any of the sweet, colorless, water-soluble compounds present in plants and animals (Merriam-Webster). In order to understand what a sugar molecule is, we first must ask ourselves, what is a carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates are one of the essential macromolecules necessary to sustain life (other than proteins and fats), and consist of a backbone made out of carbons, hydrogens, and oxygens (Hudson, 2015). Carbohydrates can then be further divided into smaller categories such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides (Drozdowski, 2006). The primary difference between these four categories are how many different sugar molecules they are comprised of. For example, monosaccharides consist of one sugar, disaccharides; two sugars and so on and so forth. The individual structure of sugar molecules is different based on the type of sugar you are discussing.

Each type of sugar can be taken up in the human body through different pathways, but the main goal is essentially always the same, and that is to provide the body with either immediate or stored energy. Not only do sugars provide the body with energy, but they also are imperative to synthesize vitamins and minerals, construct carbohydrates for use in membrane structures, fuel energy for the brain, and even produce the essential nucleotides needed for DNA synthesis (Jenkins, 2007). Without sugars, the human body would not be able to function on a daily