Importance of Carbohydrates
For the majority of healthy, disease-free people, carbohydrates are simply one of three types of fuel sources: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. But, if you're diabetic, it may help you manage your disease by understanding the role of carbohydrates and what you can can do change the way they affect your health and performance.
Carbohydrates Enter the Body
Carbohydrates are one of the most common forms of foods we eat. You'll find them in everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, drinks, snacks and highly processed fast foods. Eventually, all carbohydrates are broken down in the small intestine and ultimately into blood glucose. How the blood glucose levels rise or fall depends on three hormones: insulin, glucagon and epinephrine. When blood glucose levels get too high (as in the case of the diabetic), insulin is secreted by the pancreas. Insulin helps to transfer the blood glucose into the cells, particularly the liver and muscles where it is changed into glycogen--a form of glucose storage until it is needed.
The Liver and Glucose
To maintain normal blood glucose levels of 70 to 110 mg/dl, high glucose levels leave the bloodstream and are stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen (a process called glycogenesis) or broken down in the liver through a process known as glycogenolysis. If the glucose is needed immediately by the cells, it begins glycolysis and produces pyruvic acid and ATP. In the case of type I diabetes when there is a shortage of insulin, the patient injects themselves with insulin to normalize the carbohydrate metabolism.
Carbohydrate and Metabolism
The storage and use of glucose is constantly shifting from one direction to another. At rest, glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. During heavy exercise when all of blood glucose is used as fast as it enters the body, pyruvic acid gets converted to lactic acid. During recovery, the lactic acid get converted back to pyruvic acid, which in turn gets converted back to glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. If the glucose is needed by the tissues, it gets transported there by the bloodstream. If it is not used, it gets converted back to glycogen through glycogenesis.
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