Carbohydrates

energy · chemistry · food science · biology

Your body's fuel. Carbohydrates are one of the main ways your body gets energy to run, play, and think. When you eat carbs like rice or bananas, your body breaks them down into sugar for quick power.

Made of three elements. Carbohydrates are built from just three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Scientists use the formula (CH2O)n to describe them, where the carbon and hydrogen are in a special 1-to-2 ratio.

Simple or complex. Simple carbohydrates are single sugars that taste sweet, like the sugar in fruit. Complex carbohydrates are long chains of sugars stuck together, like the starch in potatoes and bread.

Building blocks of life. Carbohydrates are one of four major families of molecules in living things, along with fats, proteins, and nucleic acids. They're found in almost every plant and animal on Earth.

From plants first. Plants make carbohydrates using sunlight through photosynthesis, storing energy in sugar and starch. Animals eat these plants (or other animals) to get the carbohydrates they need.