Carbs.

So, before I go back to France, the idea is to take pictures of all the food that I could find in my kitchen. I'm almost done, don't worry.

"Carbs" is a term I learnt when I came to Canada. In common language it imprecisely describes complex polysaccharides, and especially starch-containing ingredients. But biochemistry speaking, carbohydrates are saccharides in general, from mono-saccharides to poly-saccharides: i.e. sugars! Simple and complex sugars. 

And sugars are everywhere, for example the glucose (monosaccharide) in our blood is the convertible energy that makes mammals live: this is the first regulated element in our body: our liver regulates the glucose concentration in our blood to make it uniform so that the brain is constantly supplied with the same amount of glucose (the almost sole nutrient that the brain can use), all day long, whatever your diet, whatever your activity. For that purpose, the liver makes stocks (glycogen) and induces a release of glucose when needed. Glucose is a nearly universal and accessible source of calories. 

Lactose is a disaccharide (Glucose + Galactose), for those of you who wonder what this is, you've certainly heard about lactose intolerance (I'm a sorry victim of that adult syndrome). The use of lactose by our organism to get energy requires the split of lactose into separated glucose and galactose, which is done under the action of an enzyme called lactase. This is the enzyme that mammals tend to produce less when they become adult and stop being exposed to milk. What makes lactose-intolerant people sick is the fact that the unbroken lactose goes to their intestines, which contain nice, friendly bacteria and those bacteria are now able to ferment that lactose, which produces gas, responsible for the abdominal pain. Lactose free milk have been added external lactase that has already pre-processed the lactose into glucose and galactose: it makes the milk sweeter (a complex story about adding the sweetness level or each individual sugar) and drinkable by lactose intolerant people.

The more complex the sugars are, the more tricky they are to break down to monosaccharides and to use as nutrients. They are more resistant to degradation and that's why other organisms use polysaccharides to form their shell (insects for example use a polymer of glucose called chitin or plants make cellulose out of a different arrangement of the same glucose) or to make storage. This is where the food carbs come into play. Starch is the most common storage association that plants use. Starch is also a polymer of multiple glucose molecules arranged in again an other organization than chitin or cellulose. 

We commonly find starch in potato, wheat (pasta, bread) and rice.

Beans, lentils and peas are also starch storage from plants.

Carbs are a big source of energy for athletes and it is usually recommended to eat carbs the night before an intense sport. In the contrary to monosaccharides which assimilation is very quick and can almost immediately load your organism with usable glucose (or if you don't need it, you liver will make you stock it under glycogen or fat), carbs are slow assimilable sugars, that first need to be broken into monosaccharide to be used as energy. If you eat carbs the evening before, on the next morning, your body is filled with usable sugar.

Best thing: they are easy to cook (water, pepper, salt and olive oil would be enough) and you can eat them with any side! They will last forever in your cupboard and they are so light that you can bring them on a long hike!

Bon appetit!