subject: What Are Oligosaccharides? [print this page] What Are Oligosaccharides? What Are Oligosaccharides?
When we think of sugar, we typically think of that white, granular substance we sweeten our desserts and drinks with. However, how many of us think of sugar as a carbohydrate? The reality is that sugar is a kind of carbohydrate called oligosaccharide, and that this carb is but one of three main kinds, the others being monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Let's take a closer look at oligosaccharides in today's article, learning how they are different from other kinds of sugars such as glucose and fructose, and see if we can't distinguish the difference between them and whether oligosaccharides are good for you or not.
The term oligosaccharide is basically a term for many' sugars'. Oligo forms from the base root of the same word that gives us oligarchy, and saccharide means sugar. That means that the polypeptide chains that form oligosaccharides range from two sugar molecules to ten, and that they are thus distinguished from monosaccharides which have only one molecule and polysaccharides which have many more.
These combinations of sugar molecules give rise to the different oligosaccharides. For example, sucrose which makes our white table sweetener is basically a combination of glucose and fructose, while lactose, the sugar found in milk, is a combination of glucose and galactose. Maltose are two glucose molecules linked together, and as you can see, by combining different monosaccharides you get your oligosaccharides.
Now, we are all familiar with these different kinds of sugars. Many of us have heard of lactose from the intolerance people have to it. Lactose intolerance usually develops shortly after babies are weaned from their mother's milk, and thereafter they have to consume lactose free products due to an inability of their digestive systems from creating lactase, the enzyme that breaks lactose down.
Another artificial form of oligosaccharide is high fructose corn syrup. This has recently become a bogeyman and has been blamed from everything from obesity to diabetes. High fructose corn syrup is chemically similar to sucrose, being composed of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule, but subtle differences between them have resulted in high fructose corn syrup being much worse for your health.
The differences between these sugar molecules are subtle but powerfully expressed. With just glucose, fructose and galactose you can create everything from lactose to sucrose, and it is in understanding these different combinations that the full range of oligosaccharides becomes clear. If you are going to add a little sugar to your tea, you now know what it is you are pouring into your cup.
