Carbohydrate Digestion and Absorption

DIETARY carbohydrate accounts for about half the calories ingested by man and consists of the polysaccharides, starch and glycogen, and the disaccharides, sucrose and lactose. In the Western diet, starch accounts for about 60 per cent, sucrose for 30 per cent, and lactose for 10 per cent of the ingested carbohydrate. Other oligosaccharides such as raffinose and stachyose are ingested in small amounts in legumes (kidney beans, lentils and navy beans) but cannot be hydrolyzed by intraluminal or intestinal enzymes. Although not important nutritionally, saccharides in legumes are acted upon by bacteria in the lower small intestine and colon to . . .