ABSTRACT
With the exception of lactose, which is present as 24 per cent of energy in cow’s milk, carbohydrate foods are of plant origin. The amount of glycogen in liver – its most abundant source is only registered as a trace in tables of food composition. A substantial amount of energy is required to enable the plant to transform the simple molecules of carbon dioxide and water to the more complex carbohydrate molecules and this is obtained from sunlight.When we eat carbohydrates this process is, in effect, put into reverse to release energy for use by our bodies.The way in which this is done has already been discussed in Chapter 8.
