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Name: Nelly
Status: Student
Age: 16
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Yesterday, I just learnt about Nutrition at school. In text book, it is said that CArbohydrates are needed because :

1. As a source of energy
2. To form supporting structure, e.g. Cellulose cell walls in plants
3. To be converted to other organic compounds such as amino acids
4. For the formation of nucleic acids, e.g. DNA

As I know, our body has an enyzme called amylases which break down carbohydrates into glucose. From the function of carbohydrates given above, my question is how does our body convert carbohydrates into amino acids and why must the body convert it?


Replies:
Your body has safety systems that allow conversion of carbohydrate, protein and fats into each other to keep the balance proper. If you have plenty of carbos and need amino acids for protein production, your body has hormones and enzymes which can cause these chemical reactions to take place.

vanhoeck


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