1. Carbohydrate Digestion
What happens when you take in sugar metabolically?

2. Carbohydrate Digestion
When a person eats food containing starch, enzymes(scissors in the body), cut the long chains to shorter chains ↓
The short chains to dissaccharides and finally the disaccharides to monosaccharides
IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS PROCESS BEGINS IN THE MOUTH!

3. The small intestine…
Model of small intestine!
The small intestine performs most of the work of carb digestion. ↓
A major carb-digestion, pancreatic amylase, enters the intestine and breaks down the polysaccharides to shorter glucose chains and dissaccharides
The final step takes place on the outer membranes of the intestinal cells.

4. The Enzymes! ANYTHING THAT ENDS IN ‘ASE’ IS AN ENZYME!
1. Maltase breaks maltose into two glucose molecules.
2. Sucrase breaks sucrose into one glucose and one fructose molecule.
3. Lactase breaks lactose into one glucose and one galactose molecule

5. What happens after you eat?
Within one to four hours after a meal, all the sugars and most of the starches have been digested.
Only the fibres remain in the digestive tract.
Fibre in the large intestine attracts water, which softens stools for passage without straining.

6. Carbohydrate Absorption
Takes place in the small intestine (for the most part). Glucose is absorbed here to provide energy for the cells work.
Fibre is most important in the diet because it tends to slow absorption of glucose so that we don’t get large peaks in our blood sugars.

7.         Carb Digestion Overview
Polysaccharide – complex carbohydrate     
Enzyme - Pancreatic amylase
**All this occurs in the small intestine
Disaccharide – simple carbohydrates
maltose
lactose
fructose 
maltase 
lactase 
fructase

8.    Disaccharide – simple carbohydrates maltose lactose sucrose
maltase 
lactase 
sucrase
2 glucose molecules
galactose and a glucose
glucose and a fructose
These molecules are now small enough to be absorbed through the wall
of the small intestine

9. Carb loading
Carbohydrate loading is a strategy involving changes to training and nutrition that can maximise muscle glycogen stores prior to endurance competition.
This extra supply of carbohydrates has been demonstrated to improve endurance by allowing athletes to exercise at their optimal pace for a longer time.

10. Carb loading
This benefits any athlete exercising for longer than 90 minutes (marathon runners, cyclists, triathlon).
Shorter term exercise is unlikely to benefit as the body’s usual carbohydrate stores are adequate.