ABSTRACT
Dietary carbohydrates or “hydrates of carbon” are the chemical compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, in the ratio of Cn(H2O)n, the basic unit of which is monosaccharide (a single sugar unit) (Bender 1997). Carbohydrates are the main energy-providing macronutrient in the diet. They are diverse in their characteristics and have a range of chemical, physical, and physiological properties (Cummings and Stephen 2007). Apart from their principal role in energy metabolism, they also affect satiety, blood glucose, and insulin, as well as lipid metabolism. Additionally, they have a central role in colonic function through fermentation and subsequently affect transit time, bowel habit, intestinal ora, and epithelial cell health of the large bowel. Less-known inuences of carbohydrates are those on immune function and calcium absorption (Mann et al. 2007). It is thus commonly acknowledged that carbohydrates play many diverse roles, ranging from overall well-being to contributing to the regulation of body weight, cognition, dental health, exercise endurance, gut health and resistance to gut infection, bone mineral density, as well as in the prevention and management of diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer of the large bowel (Mann et al. 2007).
