Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of a group of organic compounds that includes sugars, starches, celluloses, and gums and serves as a major energy source in the diet of animals. These compounds are produced by photosynthetic plants and contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, usually in the ratio 1:2:1.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A general name for a group of organic bodies containing 6 carbon atoms or some multiple of 6, and hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion in which they form water (H2O), that is, twice as many hydrogen as oxygen atoms, as starch, sugar, and cellulose. Also
carbhydrate .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physiol. Chem.) One of a group of compounds including the sugars, starches, and gums, which contain six (or some multiple of six) carbon atoms, united with a variable number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, but with the two latter always in proportion as to form water; as dextrose, C6H12O6.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun organic chemistry, nutrition A
sugar ,starch , orcellulose that is afood source ofenergy for ananimal orplant ; asaccharide .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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While the facts just brought out have much to do with food economy, they are of interest here chiefly because they help to make clear the term carbohydrate, which, as will be admitted, is the only correct name for the food substance it represents.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 1: Essentials of Cookery; Cereals; Bread; Hot Breads
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The other three elements, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, go to make up the carbohydrates; in fact, it is from the names of these three elements that the term carbohydrate is derived.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 1: Essentials of Cookery; Cereals; Bread; Hot Breads
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And this is where the name carbohydrate comes from - "carbo" represents the carbon atoms, while the oxygen and hydrogen atoms represent water, or "hydrates".
The Seattle Times 2011
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Haworth did outstanding work in carbohydrate chemistry, establishing the ring structure of glucose.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Development of Modern Chemistry 2010
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Eating a great deal of carbohydrate is not good for the subset of the population with inherited insulin resistance, because it tends to make the condition worse.
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MAF controls the production of insulin, glucagon and glucagon-like peptides, which play a role both in carbohydrate metabolism as well as food intake.
Dr. Sharma’s Obesity Notes » Blog Archive » Three New Genetic Loci for Severe Obesity 2009
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There are also individual alterations in carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism.
Cancer Patients and Lactose Intolerance Steve Carper 2007
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Cutting carbs from your diet may have short-term weight loss benefits due to water loss from a decrease in carbohydrate stores, but eating carbs in moderation does not directly lead to weight gain.
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There are also individual alterations in carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism.
Archive 2007-04-01 Steve Carper 2007
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What is commonly called carbohydrate addiction should probably be relabeled as calorie addiction,” she added.
Give in to Your Food Cravings in Moderation | Impact Lab 2007
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