The importance of carbohydrates
Did you think carbohydrates are only there for energy? In fact, they play four main roles in living things.
1. As a source of energy
Most of the energy needed for every activity — walking, thinking, the beating of the heart — comes from carbohydrates. When the glucose obtained from digesting food is oxidised inside cells, energy is released.
2. As stored food
An organism can keep the energy it does not need right now and use it later — much like the way we deposit money in a bank. Plants store this energy as starch, and animals store it as glycogen.
3. As a structural component of living things
Plant cell walls are built from cellulose. A tall tree can stand upright without falling down because of these strong walls.
4. As a component of nucleic acids
The pentose sugar that forms part of DNA and RNA molecules is also a carbohydrate. So even the molecule that carries your genetic information has a carbohydrate part.