Chapter 5 Nutrition Vocab

Amylopectin

A branched-liked chain polysaccharide composed of glucose units

Fructose

A common monosaccharide naturally present in honey and many fruits. Also called levulose or fruit sugar.

Galactose

A common monosaccharide that has a structure similar to glucose; usually joined with other monosaccharides.

Glucose

A common monosaccharide that is a component of disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, and maltose) and various complex carbohydrates; present in the blood. Also known as dextrose.

Gestational Diabetes

A condition that results in high blood glucose levels during pregnancy.

Stevioside

A dietary supplement, not approved for use as a sweetener, that is extracted and refined from Stevia rebaudiana leaves.

Lactose

A disaccharide composed of glucose and galactose; also called milk sugar because it is the major sugar in milk and dairy products.

Sucrose

A disaccharide composed of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose joined together. Also known as table salt.

Maltose

A disaccharide composed of two glucose molecules; sometimes called malt sugar. Occurs naturally in foods but is formed whenever long molecules of starch break down.

Trehalose

A disaccharide of two glucose molecules but with a linkage different from maltose. Used as a food additive and sweetener.

Hemicelluloses

A group of large polysaccharides in dietary fiber that are fermented more easily than cellulose.

Epinephrine

A hormone release in response to stress or sudden danger, raises blood glucose levels to ready the body for "fight or flight." Also called adrenaline.

Chitin

A long-chain structural polysaccharide of slightly modified glucose. Found in the hard exterior of skeletons of insects, crustaceans, and other invertebrates; also in the cell walls of fungi.

Resistant starch

A starch that is not digested

Amylose

A straight-chain like polysaccharide composed of glucose units

Cellulose

A straight-chain polysaccharide composed of hundreds of glucose units linked by beta bonds. It is nondigestible by humans and a component of dietary fiber.

Pectins

A type of dietary fiber found in fruits.

Reactive Hypoglycemia

A type of hypoglycemia that occurs about one hour after eating carbohydrate rich food. The body overreacts and produces to much insulin in response to food, rapidly decreasing blood glucose.

Fasting Hypoglycemia

A type of hypoglycemia that occurs because the body produces too much insulin even when no food is eaten.

Glycogen

A very large, highly branched polysaccharide composed of multiple glucose units. Sometimes called animal starch, it is the primary storage from of glucose in animals.

Hyperglycemia

Abnormal high concentration of glucose in the blood.

Ketosis

Abnormally high concentration of ketone bodies in body tissues and fluids.

Hypoglycemia

Abnormally low concentration of glucose in the blood; any blood glucose value below 40 to 50 mg/dl of blood.

Pre-diabetes

Blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to warrant a diagnosis of diabetes.

Dietary fiber

Carbohydrates and lignins that are naturally in plants and are nondigestible; that is, they are not digested and absorbed in the human small intestine.

Disaccharides

Carbohydrates composed of two monosaccharides units chemically linked. They include sucrose (common table salt), lactose (milk sugar), and maltose.

Complex Carbohydrates

Chains of more than two monosaccharides. May be Oligosaccharides or polysaccharides.

Alpha Bonds

Chemical bonds linking monosaccharides, which can be broken by human intestinal enzymes, releasing the individual monosaccharides. Starch, maltose, and sucrose contain them.

Beta Bonds

Chemical bonds linking monosaccharides, which sometime can be broken by human intestinal enzymes. Lactose contains digestible, and cellulose contains nondigestible.

Sugar Alcohols

Compounds formed from monosaccharides; commonly used as nutritive sweeteners. Also called polyols.

Dental Caries

Destruction of the enamel surface of teeth cause by acids resulting from bacterial breakdown of sugars in the mouth.

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes that occurs when target cells (e.g., fat and muscle cells) lose the ability to respond normally to insulin.

Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes that occurs when the body's immune system attacks beta cells in the pancreas, causing them to lose their ability to make insulin.

Gums

Dietary fibers, which contain galactose and other monosaccharides, found between plant cell walls.

Lignins

Insoluble fibers composed of multiring alcohol units that constitute the only noncarbohydrate component of dietary fiber.

Functional fiber

Isolated nondigestible carbohydrates, including some manufactured carbohydrates, that have beneficial effects in humans.

Polysaccharides

Long carbohydrate chains composed of more than 10 sugar molecules. Can be straight or bent.

Ketone Bodies

Molecules formed when insufficient carbohydrate is available to completely metabolize fat. Formation is promoted by a low glucose level and a high acetly CoA level within cells. Acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate is sometimes improperly known as.

Simple Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides and disaccrharides; Sugars composed of single sugar molecule (a monosaccharide) or two joined sugar molecules (a dissaccharide).

Chitosan

Polysaccharide derived from chitin.

Glucagon

Produce by the pancreas, this hormone promotes the breakdown of liver glycogen to glucose and, thus increases blood glucose levels.

Insulin

Produced by the pancreas, this hormone stimulates the uptake of blood glucose into cells, the formation of glycogen in the liver, and various other processes.

Oligosaccharides

Short carbohydrate chains composed of 3 to 10 sugar molecules.

Monosaccharides

Single sugar units. The most common are glucose, fructose, and galactose.

Aspartame

An artificial sweetener composed of two amino acids. It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose and sold by the trade name NutraSweet.

Sucralose

An artificial sweetener made from sucrose. Non-nutritive and about 600 times sweeter than sugar.

Neotame

An artificial sweetener similar to aspartame, but one that is sweeter and does not require a warning label for people with phenylketonuria.

Acesulfame

An artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than common table sugar (sucrose). Because it is not digested and absorbed by the body, contributes no calories to the diet and yields no energy when consumed.

Saccharin

An artificial sweetener that tastes about 300 to 700 times sweeter than sucrose. Neither digested nor absorbed, contributes no calories in the diet.

D-Tagatose

An artificial sweetner derived from lactose that has the same sweetness as sucrose with only half the calories.

Phenlyketonuria (PKU)

An inherited disorder that causes a lack of enzymes that metabolizes phenylalanine.

Beta-glucans

Functional fibers, consisting of branched polysaccharide of glucose, that helps lower blood cholesterol levels. Found in barley and oats.

Mucilages

Gelatinous soluble fibers containing galactose, mannose, and other monosaccharides; found in seaweed.

Pancreatic Amylase

Starch-digesting enzyme secreted by the pancreas.

Insulin Resistance

State in which enough insulin is produce but cells do not respond to the action of insulin.

Refined Sweeteners

Substances composed of monosaccharides and disaccharides that have been extracted and processed from other foods.

Non-nutritive Sweeteners

Substances that impart sweetness to foods but supply little or no energy to the body; also called artificial or alternative sweetners. They include acesulfame, aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose.

Nutritive Sweetners

Substances that make foods sweet and can be absorbed and yield energy in the body.

Psyllium

The dried husk of the psyllium seed.

Husk

The inedible covering grain; also known as the chaff.

Germ

The innermost part of the grain that can grow into a new plant. Rich in protein, oils, vitamins, and minerals.

Bran

The layers of protective coating around the grain kernels that are rich in dietary fiber and nutrients.

Startch

The major source form of carbohydrate in plants; composed of long chains of glucose molecules in a straight (amylose) or branching (amylopectin) arrangement

Endosperm

The middle portion of the grain kernel; high in starch to provide food for the growing plant embryo.

Total Fiber

The sum of dietary fiber and functional fiber.