The document contains following topics;

1. CARBOHYDRATES
2. AMINO ACIDS
3. PROTEINS
4. ENZYMES
5. VITAMINS
6. LIPIDS

CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are naturally occurring compounds that consist of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, and are produced by green plants in the process of
undergoing photosynthesis.

Sugars, which, along with starches and cellulose, are some of the more well-
known varieties of carbohydrate. Starches are complex carbohydrates without
taste or odor, which are granular or powdery in physical form.

MONOSACCHARIDES
Carbohydrates are made up of building blocks called monosaccharides, the
simplest type of carbohydrate. Found in grapes other fruits and also in honey,
they can be broken down chemically into their constituent elements, but there is
no carbohydrate more chemically simple than a monosaccharide. Hence, they are
also known as simple sugars or simple carbohydrates.

Examples of simple sugars include glucose, which is sweet, colorless, and water-
soluble and appears widely in nature. Glucose, also known as dextrose, grape
sugar, and corn sugar. Other monosaccharides include fructose, or fruit sugar,
and galactose, which is less soluble and sweet than glucose and usually appears in
combination with other simple sugars rather than by itself. Glucose, fructose and
galactose are isomers, meaning that they have the same chemical formula
(C6H12O6), but different chemical structures and therefore different chemical
properties.
DISACCHARIDES

Disaccharides, or double sugars, are composed of two monosaccharides. By far

the most well-known example of a disaccharide is sucrose, or table sugar, which is
formed from the bonding of a glucose molecule with a molecule of fructose.
Sugar beets and cane sugar provide the principal natural sources of sucrose,
which the average American is most likely to encounter in refined form as white,
brown, or powdered sugar.

Another disaccharide is lactose, or milk sugar, the only type of sugar that is
produced from animal (i.e., mammal) rather than vegetable sources. Maltose, a
fermentable sugar typically formed from starch by the action of the enzyme
amylase, is also a disaccharide. Sucrose, lactose, and maltose are all isomers, with
the formula C12H22O11.

OLIGOSACCHARIDES ANDPOLYSACCHARIDES

The definitions of oligosaccharide and polysaccharide are so close as to be

confusing. An oligosaccharide is sometimes defined as a carbohydrate containing
a known, small number of monosaccharide units, while a polysaccharide is a
carbohydrate composed of two or more monosaccharides.

Oligosaccharides are found rarely in nature, though a few plant forms have been
discovered. Polysaccharides may be very large, consisting of as many as 10,000
monosaccharide units strung together.

Cellulose itself is a polysaccharide, the most common variety known, composed of

numerous glucose units joined to one another. Starch and glycogen are also
glucose polysaccharides. The first of these polysaccharides is found primarily in
the stems, roots, and seeds of plants. As for glycogen, this is the most common
form in which carbohydrates are stored in animal tissues, particularly muscle and
liver tissues.
REAL-LIFEAPPLICATIONS

Carbohydrates are found in a wide array of both healthy and unhealthy foods—
bread, beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, cookies, spaghetti, soft drinks, corn, and
cherry pie. They also come in a variety of forms. The most common and abundant
forms are sugars, fibers, and starches.

STARCHES
Starch is white and granular, and, unlike sugars, starches cannot be dissolved in
cold water, alcohol, or other liquids that normally act as solvents. Manufactured
in plants’ leaves, starch is the product of excess glucose produced during
photosynthesis, and it provides the plant with an emergency food supply stored in
the chloroplasts.

Vegetables high in starch content are products of plants whose starchy portions
happen to be the portions we eat. For example, there is the tuber, or
underground bulb, of the potato as well as the seeds of corn, wheat, and rice.

In addition to their role in the human diet, starches from corn, wheat, tapioca,
and potatoes are put to numerous commercial uses.

Cellulose: A polysaccharide, made from units of glucose, that is the principal

material in the cell walls of plants. Cellulose also is found in natural fibers, such as
cotton, and is used as a raw material in manufacturing such products as paper.

GLYCOGEN: A white polysaccharide that is the most common form in which

carbohydrates are stored in animal tissues, particularly muscle and liver tissues.

FRUCTOSE: Fruit sugar, a monosaccharide that is an isomer of glucose.

GALACTOSE: A monosaccharide and isomer of glucose. Less soluble and sweet

than glucose, galactose usually appears in combination with other simple sugars
rather than by itself.
GLUCOSE: A monosaccharide that occurs widely in nature and is the form in
which animals usually receive carbohydrates. Also known as dextrose, grape
sugar, and corn sugar.

LACTOSE: Milk sugar. A disaccharide isomer of sucrose and maltose, lactose is the
only major type of sugar that is produced from animal (i.e., mammal) rather than
vegetable sources.

MALTOSE: A fermentable sugar generally formed from starch by the action of the
enzyme amylase. Maltose is a disaccharide isomer of sucrose and lactose.

SUCROSE: Common table sugar (C12H22O11), a disaccharide formed from the

bonding of a glucose molecule with a molecule of fructose. Sugar beets and cane
sugar provide the principal natural sources of sucrose, which the average
American is most likely to encounter in refined form as white, brown, or
powdered sugar.

SUGARS: One of the three principal types of carbohydrate, along with starches
and cellulose. Sugars can be defined as any of various water-soluble
carbohydrates of varying sweetness. What we think of as “sugar” (i.e., table
sugar) is actually sucrose.

AMINO ACIDS
Amino acids are organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, and (in some cases) sulfur bonded in characteristic formations. Strings
of amino acids make up proteins, of which there are countless varieties. Of the 20
amino acids required for manufacturing the proteins the human body needs, the
body itself produces only 12, meaning that we have to meet our requirements for
the other eight through nutrition.

The basic structure of an amino-acid molecule consists of a carbon atom bonded

to an amino group (-NH2), a carboxyl group(-COOH), a hydrogen atom, and a
fourth group that differs from one amino acid to another
AMINO ACIDSAND PROTEINS
Very long chains of amino acids can bond together in this way to form proteins,
which are the basic building blocks of all living things. The specific properties of
each kind of protein are largely dependent on the kind and sequence of the
amino acids in it.

NUMBERS AND COMBINATIONS

Amino acids function as monomers, or individual units, that join together to form
large, chainlike molecules called polymers, which may contain as few as two or as
many as 3,000amino-acid units. Groups of only two amino acids are called
dipeptides, whereas three amino acids bonded together are called tripeptides. If
there are more than 10 in a chain, they are termed polypeptides, and if there are
50 or more, these are known as proteins.

REAL-LIFEAPPLICATIONS

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), a molecule in all cells that contains genetic codes for
inheritance, creates encoded instructions for the synthesis of amino acids.

Amino acids are also present in hormones, chemicals that are essential to life.
Among these hormones is insulin, which regulates sugar levels in the blood and
without which a person would die. Another is adrenaline, which controls blood
pressure and gives animals a sudden jolt of energy needed in a high-stress
situation—running room a predator in the grasslands or (to a use a human
example) facing a mugger in an alley or a bully on a playground.

PROTEINS
These are organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and
(in some cases) sulfur bonded in characteristic formations. Vast molecules built
from enormous chains of amino acids, proteins are essential building blocks for
living systems protein in a nutritional context as referring to a class of foods that
includes meats, dairy products, eggs, and other items.
Proteins are integral to the formation of DNA, a molecule that contains genetic
codes for inheritance, and of hormones. Most of the dry weight of the human
body and the bodies of other animals is made of protein.

All the millions of different proteins in living things are formed by the bonding of
only 20amino acids into long polymer chains.

COMPONENTS OTHER THANAMINO ACIDS

The specific properties of each kind of protein are largely dependent on the kind
and sequence of the amino acids in it, yet many proteins include components
other than amino acids. For example, some may have sugar molecules chemically
attached.

Other proteins may have lipid, or fat, molecules chemically bonded to them.
Sugar and lipid molecules always are added when synthesis of the protein’s
amino-acid chain is complete. Many other types of substance, including metals,
also may be associated with proteins; for instance, hemoglobin, a pigment in red
blood cells that is responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues and removing
carbon dioxide from them, is a protein that contains an iron atom.

FIBROUS PROTEINS
The major fibrous proteins, described below, are collagen, keratin, fibrinogen, and muscle
proteins.

1. Collagen: Collagen, which makes up bone, skin, tendons, and cartilage, is

the most abundant protein found in vertebrates. The molecule usually
contains three very long polypeptide chains, each with about 1000 amino
acids.
2. Keratin: Keratin, which makes up the outermost layer of skin and the hair,
scales, hooves, nails, and feathers of animals. Serving to protect the body
against the environment, keratin is completely insoluble in water.
3. Fibrinogen: It is a blood plasma protein responsible for blood clotting.
With the catalytic action of thrombin, fibrinogen is converted into
molecules of the insoluble protein fibrin, which link together to form clots.
 4. Muscle Proteins: Myosin, the protein chiefly responsible for muscle
contraction, combines with actin, another muscle protein, forming
actomyosin, the different filaments of which shorten, causing the
contracting action.

GLOBULAR PROTEINS

Unlike fibrous proteins, globular proteins are spherical and highly soluble. They
play a dynamic role in body metabolism. Examples are albumin, globulin, casein,
hemoglobin, all of the enzymes, and protein hormones. The albumins and
globulins are classes of soluble proteins abundant in animal cells, blood serum,
milk, and eggs. Hemoglobin is a respiratory protein that carries oxygen
throughout the body and is responsible for the bright red color of red blood cells.
More than 100 different human hemoglobin have been discovered, among which
is hemoglobin S, the cause of sickle-cell anemia, a hereditary disease suffered
mainly by blacks.

ENZYMES
Enzymes are biological catalysts, or chemicals that speed up the rate of reaction
between substances without themselves being consumed in the reaction.

REAL-LIFEAPPLICATIONS

The Body, Food, and Digestion

Enzymes enable the many chemical reactions that are taking place at any second
inside the body of a plant or animal. One example of an enzyme is cytochrome,
which aids the respiratory system by catalyzing the combination of oxygen with
hydrogen within the cells. Other enzymes facilitate the conversion of food to
energy and make possible a variety of other necessary biological functions.

Enzymes in the human body fulfill one of three basic functions. The largest of all
enzyme types, sometimes called metabolic enzymes, assist in a wide range of
basic bodily processes, from breathing to thinking. Some such enzymes are
devoted to maintaining the immune system, which protects us against disease,
and others are involved in controlling the effects of toxins, such as tobacco
smoke, converting them to forms that the body can expel more easily.

A second category of enzyme is in the diet and consists of enzymes in

raw foods that aid in the process of digesting those foods. They include
proteases, which implement the digestion of protein; lipases, which
help in digesting lipids or fats; and amylases, which make it possible to
digest carbohydrates. Such enzymes set in motion the digestive process
even when food is still in the mouth. As these enzymes move with the
food into the upper portion of the stomach, they continue to assist with
digestion.

The third group of enzymes also is involved in digestion, but these enzymes are
already in the body. The digestive glands secrete juices containing enzymes that
break down nutrients chemically into smaller molecules that are more easily
absorbed by the body. Amylase in the saliva begins the process of breaking down
complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. While food is still in the mouth, the
stomach begins producing pepsin, which, like protease, helps digest protein.

Later, when food enters the small intestine, the pancreas secretes pancreatic
juice—which contains three enzymes that break down carbohydrates, fats, and
proteins—into the duodenum, which is part of the small intestine. Enzymes from
food wind up among the nutrients circulated to the body through plasma, a
watery liquid in which red blood cells are suspended. These enzymes in the blood
assist the body in everything from growth to protection against infection.

One digestive enzyme that should be in the body, but is not always present, is
lactase. As we noted earlier, lactase works on lactose, the principal carbohydrate
in milk, to implement its digestion. If a person lacks this enzyme, consuming dairy
products may cause diarrhea, bloating, and cramping. Such a person is said to be
“lactose intolerant,” and if he or she is to consume dairy products at all, they
must be in forms that contain lactase. For this reason, Lactaid milk is sold in the
specialty dairy section of major supermarkets, while many health-food
stores sell lactaid tablets.

Fermentation
Fermentation, in its broadest sense, is a process involving enzymes in which a
compound rich in energy is broken down into simpler substances. It also is
sometimes identified as a process in which large organic molecules (those
containing hydrogen and carbon) are broken down into simpler molecules as the
result of the action of microorganisms working anaerobically, or in the absence of
oxygen. The most familiar type of fermentation is the conversion of sugars and
starches to alcohol by enzymes in yeast. To distinguish this reaction from other
kinds of fermentation, the process is sometimes termed alcoholic or ethanolic
fermentation.

VITAMINS
Vitamins are organic substances, essential for maintaining life functions and
preventing disease among humans and animals and even in some plants. Some
vitamins, such as vitamin C and the B complex, are water-soluble, which means
that they are excreted easily and must be ingested every day. Others, such as
vitamins A, D, E, and K, are fat soluble and therefore are retained in the body’s
fatty tissues Thus, they can be stored in the body; for this reason, it is not
necessary to include them in the diet every day. In fact, it could be dangerous to
do so, since it is possible that they would build up to toxic levels in the tissues.

VITAMIN A: It is necessary for proper growth of bones and teeth, for the
maintenance and functioning of skin and mucous membranes, and for the ability
to see in dim light. One of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency is “night
blindness,” in which the rods of the eye (necessary for night vision) fail to
function normally. Extreme cases of vitamin A deficiency can lead to total
blindness. Other symptoms include dry and scaly skin.
Vitamin A is present in meats (mainly liver), fish oil, egg yolks, butter, and cheese.
Although plants do not have vitamin A, dark green leafy vegetables and yellow
fruits and vegetables (e.g. carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, corn, and
peaches).

B VITAMINS: Among them are vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B2

(riboflavin),vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin B12 (cobalamin).Few others—
for example, niacin (vitaminB7) and pantothenic acid (vitamin B3), are known
better by names other than their “Bnames,” while biotin and folate, or folic acid,
are not known by “B names” at all.

Vitamin B1: present in whole grains, nuts, legumes (e.g., peas), pork, and liver,
helps the body release energy from carbohydrates.

Vitamin B2: helps the body release energy from fats, proteins, and
carbohydrates. It can be obtained from whole grains, organ meats (e.g. liver), and
green leafy vegetables. Lack of this vitamin causes severe skin problems.

Vitamin B6: is important in the building of body tissue as well as in protein

metabolism and the synthesis of hemoglobin (an iron-containing pigment in red
blood cells that is responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues and removing
carbon dioxide). A deficiency can cause depression, nausea, and vomiting.

Vitamin B12: is necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system and
in the formation of red blood cells. It can be obtained from meat, fish, and dairy
products. Anemia (a lack of red blood cells, which produces a lethargic condition),
nervousness, fatigue, and even brain degeneration, can result from vitamin B12
deficiency.

VITAMIN C: Citrus fruits, berries, and some vegetables (e.g., tomatoes and
peppers) are good sources of vitamin C.
In developed countries, vitamin C deficiency can occur as part of general
undernutrition, but severe deficiency (causing scurvy) is uncommon. Symptoms
include fatigue, depression, and connective tissue defects (eg, gingivitis,
petechiae, rash, internal bleeding, impaired wound healing).

VITAMIN D: are activated, or made effective, by sunlight, and for this reason
vitamin D often is called the sunshine vitamin. It is hard to suffer a vitamin D
deficiency if one gets enough sun shine in combination with consuming such
foods as eggs (specifically, the yolk), such fatty fish as salmon, and enriched milk.
(Milk does not naturally contain vitamin D, but the vitamin is sometimes included
as an additive.) Vitamin D lets the body utilize calcium and phosphorus in bone
and tooth formation, and a deficiency causes a bone disease called rickets.

VITAMIN E: is found in green leafy vegetables, wheat germ and other plant oils,
egg yolks, and meat. The main function of this vitamin is to act as an antioxidant,
to counteract the harmful effects oxygen can have on tissues.
The effects of vitamin E deficiency, all of which are apparently linked to the loss of
its antioxidant protection, include cramping in the legs, fibrocystic breast disease
(a condition that involves the formation of lumps and cysts in the breasts), and
even muscular dystrophy.

VITAMIN K: You can find vitamin K in many plants, especially green leafy ones
such as spinach, and in liver. Vitamin K is also made by the bacteria that live in the
intestine—the “good” bacteria that help make possible the processing of food
through the body. Vitamin K appears to be critical to blood
clotting, thanks to its role in assisting the formation of a chemical called
prothrombin in the liver. The deficiency manifests in unusual bleeding or large
bruises under the skin or in the muscles.

LIPIDS
Derived from living systems of plants, animals, or humans, lipids are essential to
good health, not only for humans but also for other animal sand even plants.
Seeds, for example, contain lipids for the storage of energy. Because fat is a poor
conductor of heat, lipids also can function as effective insulators, and for this
reason, people living in Arctic zones seek fatty foods such as blubber. Some lipids
function as chemical messengers in the body, while others serve as storage areas
for chemical energy. There is a good reason why babies are born with “baby fat”
and why children entering puberty often tend to become chubby: in both cases,
they are building up energy reserves for the great metabolic hurdles that lie
ahead, and within a few years, they will have used up those excessive fat stores.

FATS AND OILS

Fats and oils are both energy-rich compounds that are basic components of the normal diet.
Both have essentially the same chemical structure—a mixture of fatty acids
combined with glycerol—and are insoluble (do not dissolve) in water. While fats
remain solid or at least semisolid at room temperature, however, most oils very
quickly become liquid at increased temperatures. Animal fats and oils include
butter, lard, tallow, and fish oil. Numerous other oils, such as cottonseed, peanut,
and corn oils, are derived from plants. Fats have two main functions: they provide
some of the raw material for synthesizing (creating) and repairing tissues, and
they serve as a concentrated source of fuel energy. Fats, in fact, provide humans
with roughly twice as much energy, per unit weight, as carbohydrates and
proteins. Fats are not only an important source of day-to-day energy, but they
also can be stored indefinitely as adipose (fat) tissue in case of future need. Fats
also help by transporting fat soluble vitamins, such as A and D (see Vitamins),
throughout the system.

NOT ALL FAT IS CREATEDEQUAL

Although normal amounts of certain kinds of fat in the diet are essential to good
health, unnecessarily high amounts (especially of un healthy fats) can lead to
various problems. Healthy fats include those from fatty fish, such as salmon,
mackerel, or tuna, or from fat-containing vegetables, such as the avocado. In
addition, many vegetable oils, particularly olive oil, can be beneficial.
Cholesterol is a variety of lipid, and, like other lipids, some of it is essential—but
only some and only of the right kind. Most cholesterol is transported through the
blood in low-density lipo proteins, or LDLs, which have been nick named bad
cholesterol.