Goals !

Goals for this project:

• Score at least a B3 for this project
• Finish before the dateline, 14 April 2011
• To let more people know the importance of CARBOHYDRATES

Hope we can obtain all of the goals set above.
posted by Yai Ying Bei



SMILE !! :)

RICE !



 Ever wonder why do we need to eat rice every single day? Is rice that important? What does rice contains that is so important to our body!

Rice contains CARBOHYDRATES !!!

 A boy talkinng about his father working at a noodles factory.

What is Carbohydrates ? Why is it important to have carbohydrates ? If we don have enough carbohydrates, what will happen ? Other than rice, what other food contains carbohydrates ?

Want to know more about carbohydrates ? Regularly coming to our blog would tell you the answer ! Each day we would upload part of Carbohydrates which will cover this few points:

·         What is carbohydrates

·         Functions of carbohydrates

·         Sources of carbohydrates

·         Diseases of excessive/deficiency carbohydrates

·         How to include carbohydrates in your diet

·         Recipes including carbohydrates

You may think that all this may be boring. BUT we'll make it as interesting as we could...
Here's a video about noodles. Noodles do contain carbohydrates too. Enjoy the video, yes, it's from sesame street.

posted by Yai Ying Bei

What is that ?

Ever asked yourself what you're eating everyday ? For example, the rice or maybe bread, what does it contains ? No, not the ingredients, but the NUTRIENTS inside it. There are alot of different types of nutrients in food, but we're going to introduce you to the world of CARBOHYDRATES.


Cereal Bran ^^

What is carbohydrates ?
Carbohydrates are sugars that provide the body with energy. Our body can break carbohydrates down quickly and efficiently. Carbohydrates are not only good for you but are an essential part of a person's diet. Carbohydrate rich foods in their natural state are low in calories and high in fiber.

Classification of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, also known as saccharides, are classified according to the number of single carbohydrate molecules in each chemical structure. Carbohydrate compounds having just one carbohydrate molecule are called monosaccharides; compounds with two carbohydrate molecules are called dissarcharides; and those compounds containing more than two carbohydrate molecules are named polysaccharides. All carbohydrates either are monosaccharides or can be broken down into two or more monosaccharides. The monosaccharides and disaccharides can be grouped together and compared with the polysaccharides. This can be done because monosaccharides and disaccharides have certain things in common. For one, they are both water soluble. In addition, they have a sweet taste and a crystalline structure. The monosaccharides and disaccharides are called sugars and all share the suffix, -ose, meaning sugar. Polysaccharides, in contrast to mono- and disaccharides, are insoluble in water, do not taste sweet and do not form crystals. Also, they do not share a suffix and have no group name. They are sometimes called starches, but this is technically incorrect because there are many other classifications of polysaccharides besides starches.

Two types of carbohydrates

There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates are also called simple sugars. Simple carbohydrates include: fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (table sugar) and lactose (milk sugar), as well as several other sugars. Simple carbohydrates are great sources of quick energy.
Complex carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates include fiber and starches. They can be found in vegetables, bread, rice, oatmeal, whole grains, peas and beans. Complex carbohydrates take longer to be digested, so your body needs more time to release these carbohydrates into your blood as glucose.

Carbohydrates in our bodies
When the body doesn't need to use the carbohydrates for energy, it stores them into the liver and muscles. When carbohydrates are stored in your liver and muscles, it is called glycogen. When the liver and muscles cells cannot store anymore glycogen, it is turned into fat. When your body needs a quick boost of energy, it converts glycogen into energy. When it needs a prolonged burst of energy, it converts fat to energy.


Big muscles !!

 Functions of carbohydrates
The main function of carbohydrates is to provide your body with energy. Carbohydrates are important components of building muscle too.


SUGARRRRR~~~~~~

   Let's see a video on SUGAR~

Enjoy ^^ although it's a little...naggy...but still gives you lots of knowledge on sugar ^^
posted by Yai Ying Bei

Food containing carbohydrates O.o

There are many delicacies in the world, but which of them contain carbohydrates ? How to achieve the appropriate carbohydrates per day ?

Sources of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide the primary source of energy for humans. There are two big sources of carbohydrates; starches and fruits.


potatoes

 Starch type of food is further split into 4 groups.
Starchy Vegetables
All kinds of potatoes are in this classification. Also included are yams, winter squashes, such as buttercup, Hubbard and banana squashes, pumpkin, caladium root, taro root, cassava root and Jerusalem artichokes. Mildly starchy vegetables
This classification includes carrots, cauliflower, beets, rutabaga and salsify.
Cereal grains
This includes all cereals, whether they're whole or refined, raw or cooked. Examples are wheat, rye, barley, rice, millet, buckwheat and oats.
Legumes
This includes peanuts, lentils, peas and beans.
But a larger amount of the body's limited supply of nerve energy is used up when starches are used for fuel than when fruits are used because starches are, as you know, polysaccharides and must be broken down  into monosaccharides before the body can use them. Fruits contain a preponderance of monosaccharides, which, as you also know, need no digestion at all. Therefore, fruit eating leaves more of the body's energies available for other activities. This explains, in part, why people feel so ''light" when they eat fruits and so heavy when they eat beans or bread.


Bell peppers

 Fruit type of food
Because some non-sweet foods such as nuts, bell peppers, squashes, cucumbers and tomatoes are technically fruits, fruits can be divided into two classifications: 1) sweet fruits and 2) non-sweet fruits. In our discussion of carbohydrates, we will limit our discussion primarily to the sweet fruits, even though the nonsweet fruits do contain some sugar.
For purposes of food combining for digestive compatibility, the sweet fruits can be divided into four groups: 1) sweet fruits, 2) sub-acid fruits, 3) acid fruits and 4) melons. The fruits in each category and how to combine them for best digestion will be discussed in a future lesson on correct food combining.
Fruits are the ideal source of carbohydrates because they are the foods humans are physiologically and anatomically adapted to eating. Humans have a natural "sweet tooth" because that's our inherent nature. The sugars in fruits, being mostly monosaccharides, pass through the stomach and are absorbed through the walls of the intestine without undergoing any digestion. This leaves a great surplus of body energy available for living and all the activities that make living a joy.
Posted by Yai Ying Bei

Lack Or Excess In Carbohydrates

What happens if you have an excess of Carbohyrates?

It is not the fat in the foods we eat but, far more, the excess carbohydrates from our starch- and sugar-loaded diet that is making people fat and unhealthy. If you or people in the family or friend circle are experiencing any of the below mentioned symptoms, the possibility is that may be the excess carbohydrates in your body is responsible for symptoms like gaining weight, fatigue and feeling sleepy all the time, depression, fog like feeling in the brain, low blood sugar, and high blood pressure etc.

It’s a fact that we all need a certain amount of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates that we get through grains, potatoes, sweets and other starchy and sugary foods, is far too much than our we need and body’s capacity to store it. This excess carbohydrate simply gets converted, via insulin, into fat and gets stored in the adipose or fatty tissue.

The disadvantages of consumption of excess carbohydrate do not end there. Besides the above it also affects our immune system adversely. This leads to allergies and a host of digestive disorders. It can cause depression also. Excess consumption of carbohydrate can also result in life threatening diseases like cancer and diabetes.

 So do you now understand the DEVASTATING effect when you eat too much of carbs?

Turtle bread~ mmm

What happens when you lack in Carbohydrates?

Our bodies need a constant supply of energy to function properly and a lack of carbohydrates in the diet can cause tiredness or fatigue, poor mental function and lack of endurance and stamina. Carbohydrates are also important for the correct working of our brain, heart and nervous, digestive and immune systems. Fibre, which is also a form of carbohydrate, is essential for the elimination of waste materials and toxins from the body and helps to keep the intestines disease-free and clean.  Not only does a diet lacking in carbohydrates cut off the brain's main energy supply, Greenwood said a scarcity of glucose can impede the synthesis of acetylcholine, one of the brain's key neurotransmitters.

This eating healthy is extremely important~

~JANNA

Ways To Add More Carbohydrates Into our Diets.

How we can add more Carbohydrates into our Diet~

Don't be misled by fad diets that make blanket pronouncements on the dangers of carbohydrates. They provide the body with fuel it needs for physical activity and for proper organ function, and they are an important part of a healthy diet. But some kinds of carbohydrates are far better than others.

So for optimal health, choose good carbs. Make sure to get your grains intact from foods such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta, and other possibly unfamiliar grains like quinoa, whole oats, and bulgur. Not only will these foods help protect you against a range of chronic diseases, they can also please your palate and your eyes.

Until recently, you could only get whole-grain products in organic or non-traditional stores. The good news is that today, whole-grain foods are popping up in more and more mainstream grocery stores. So why don't you and your family and friends go make a trip down to the store and stock up on some CARBOHYDRATES~

~JANNA

Effects of heat on carbohydrates

I make food taste good !

Carbohydrates come in various forms, and each form reacts differently when exposed to heat. The two forms of carbohydrates that are of interest from a basic food science perspective are sugar and starch.

Caramel cupcakes

When exposed to heat, sugar will at first melt into a thick syrup. As the temperature continues to rise, the sugar syrup changes color, from clear to light yellow to a progressively deepening brown. This browning process is called caramelization. It is a complicated chemical reaction, and in addition to color change, it also causes the flavor of the sugar to evolve and take on the rich complexity that we know to be characteristic of caramel. Different types of sugar caramelize at different temperatures.

jelly=gelatin

Starch, a complex carbohydrate, has powerful thickening properties. When starch is combined with water or another liquid and heated, individual starch granules absorb the liquid and swell. This process, known as gelatinization, is what causes the liquid to thicken. Gelatinization occurs at different temperatures for different types of starch.

Choco. heaven

In foods that are not primarily sugar or starch, a different reaction, known as the Maillard reaction, is responsible for browning. This reaction involves sugars and amino acids .When heated, these components react and produce numerous chemical by-products, resulting in a brown color and intense flavor and aroma. It is this reaction that gives coffee, chocolate, baked goods, dark beer, and roasted meats and nuts much of their rich flavor and color. 

~JANNA