Carbohydrate


Carbohydrate: One of the three nutrient compounds, along with fat and protein, used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Carbohydrates take the form of simple sugars or of more complex forms, such as starches and fiber. Complex carbohydrates come naturally from plants. Intake of complex carbohydrates, when they are substituted for saturated fat, can lower blood cholesterol. Carbohydrates produce 4 calories of energy per gram. When eaten, all carbohydrates are broken down into the sugar glucose.

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    Carbohydrate intake, infant: Carbohydrates (glucose, lactose, sucrose, galactose, etc.) are sugars or several sugars linked together. Carbohydrates provide energy (calories) for the brain tissues, muscles, and other organs. Lactose is a carbohydrate consisting of glucose linked to galactose. Lactose is the major carbohydrate in human breast milk, cow milk, and in most milk-based infant formulas. […]

  • Carbohydrates

    Carbohydrates: Mainly sugars and starches, together constituting one of the three principal types of nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Carbohydrates can also be defined chemically as neutral compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Carbohydrates come in simple forms such as sugars and in complex forms such as starches and fiber. The […]

  • Carbolic acid

    Carbolic acid: A synonym of phenol. In dilute solution, an antimicrobial agent. First used to clean wounds and dress them by the surgeon Joseph Lister who reported in 1867 that his wards at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary had remained free of sepsis, then a great scourge, for 9 months.

  • Carbon dioxide

    Carbon dioxide: A gas which is the byproduct of cellular metabolism and which collects in the tissues, is cleared from the tissues by the blood within the veins, is carried by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells, and removed from the body via the lungs in the exhaled air. Abbreviated CO2.

  • Carbon dioxide content

    Carbon dioxide content: A measure of the bicarbonate level in the blood. The normal carbon dioxide content may vary somewhat from one laboratory to another. For example, it may be 20 to 29 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) of blood, 22 to 34 mEq/L, etc. Higher than normal carbon dioxide levels may reflect excessive loss of […]


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