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What Are Carbs and Starches?

other runners. They had to help me to the next station, where I sat for 15 minutes and drank flat soda so I could walk the rest. I learned a lot from that race.” Stephens got the point, and before his next marathon he fueled up on foods containing carbohydrates to make sure he had enough energy to finish. What’s Stephen’s carb of choice? “I’m all over the place,” he said, “so long as they are complex.” T he S cience of C arbs Whether running a marathon, studying for a test, playing soccer, or just sitting on a park bench, carbohydrates provide the body with the fuel it needs. Without carbs, our bodies would find it hard to function if at all. Carbohydrates are made by photosynthetic plants, and there are a few types, including starches, celluloses, and gums. Carbohydrates are one of the most abundant substances on the planet. Carbohydrates are a macronutrient , one of the three ways the body obtains energy, or calories. Proteins and fats are also macronutrients. Since the body cannot produce these substances, it has to get them from the food we eat. Different foods contain different types of carbohydrates. The three different types of carbohydrates are: • Sugars. Sugars are found naturally in many different types of foods, including fruits, vegetables, milk, and dairy products. Other foods have

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Digesting Fiber

Unlike sugars and starches, fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. That’s because the body doesn’t have any enzymes that can

break fiber down into simpler sugar units. Instead of being absorbed by the body, fiber, which you get from eating foods such as fruits, vegetables, and cereals, passes into the large intestine, where it is converted into carbon dioxide, fatty acids, and hydrogen. ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

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