Carbohydrates vs Fats
Food and affiliated sciences are riddled with claims of reducing weight, gaining weight and toning the body. And some of these unscrupulous people are using scientific terms, which are used in the everyday life, and assign them values that have not being tested and say that their program works. Terms like carbohydrates, fats, proteins and vitamins are specific terms with scientific value. Because people are not going into depth regarding these terms, there are people who would easily use these terms and create varied mythologies around them. So this can be considered as an exercise to educate the public on the specific values of these terms, how they differ, and where you see them every day.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are organic compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. A synonym for this term is sachcharide. According to the number of carbon atoms and the combinations of joining those, carbohydrates can be divided into monosachcharides, disachcharides, oligosachcharides and polysachcharides. Monosachcharides are the simplest of all, and they are called simple sugars. These include glucose and sucrose. They are used in the human body as an energy source and a base product for synthesis. Glucose is the main form in the body, and it is stored as glycogen; in plants, it is stored as starch, in the form of polysachcharides. Most starchy plant based foods are high in carbs, and give 4 kilocalories per gram of carbohydrate. Oligosachcharides are helpful in maintaining gut bacteria, which helps in the synthesis of various products.
Fats
Fats are also organic compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The term fats include all lipids and oils, as well as, cholesterol esters. These fats are mainly categorized as saturated and unsaturated. That means that unsaturated fats contain molecules with double bonds that can be easily formed into another molecule with insertion of a branching molecule. Fats are important in energy production, storing of energy, preventing heat dissipation, absorption of nutrients like vitamins. Fats produce 9 kilocalories per gram. Fats tend to synthesize other products when transported to the liver. All of them are important, but in some instances, the excess of these metabolites can lead to death.
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What is the difference between Carbohydrates and Fats? • Both of these molecules have the same base elements. Both of them are playing important roles in energy production, energy storage, synthesis of metabolites, and important in maintaining good health. They are integral parts of the diet, and needs to be consumed in proper proportions to maintain a healthy life. • They are also important in disease conditions like diabetes and hyperlipidaemia. • What differs between these two are that, carbs are water soluble and lipids are water insoluble. • The storage of carbs occurs more in the liver and the muscles, but lipids storage occurs from the liver to all the peripheral tissues. • Main function of carbs is energy production. However, for lipids, energy production is secondary, and it is usually in the absence of carbs. The energy release per gram from carbs is 4 Kcal, and for fats, it is 9Kcal.
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