Carbohydrates are molecules commonly known as sugars. They are basically composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (hence the name).

The most famous sugar is glucose or ordinary kitchen sugar.


Carbohydrates are called monosaccharides or polysaccharides, depending on whether they are composed of only one sugar or a sugar chain. Polysaccharides are a broad family, ranging from cellulose to starch.


From a nutritional point of view, sugar is our main source of energy, their metabolism is controlled by insulin: high levels of sugar in the blood stimulate insulin production.


Sugar-eating insects


When our brain needs energy, it finds it in glucose. If energy production does not require glucose, it is stored as glycogen (polysaccharide) in liver and muscle cells. Instead, plants store it as starch, which arthropods use to produce chitin. Because an enzyme called alpha-amylase can recover sugar from starch without breaking the chains of cellulose and chitin, these molecules can be considered neutral from an energy point of view.


Glucose food index is a method of measuring the amount of available glucose in the blood given by a food. High levels of glucose in the blood have two functions: it provides satiety and stimulates insulin production.


Compound carbohydrates digest and absorb more slowly than simple carbohydrates, so the concentration of glucose tends to remain constant and low for a period of time, thus helping to prolong satiety.