carbohydrates – BioQuakes

With temperatures rising each year, the future of our environment is in danger. As the scientific issue of climate change has turned political and economic, limited action has occurred in a time where an immediate change is needed to reverse the effects of global warming. However, researchers from the Natural History Museum in Denmark and the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences are looking toward aloe vera as plants that may help fight this battle.

Such household succulents are renowned for their ability to go long durations of time without water; in other words, they survive periods of drought. Thus, scientists recognize aloe vera as a teacher to ways plants may survive in a warming world. In aloe vera’s structure, hydrenchyma tissues in the aloe’s leaves, in conjunction with the plant’s overwhelming composition from carbohydrates, help aloe manage water in their system. Carbohydrates – comprised of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen – are organic compounds found in sugars and starches. In their complex (or polymer) form, polysaccharides may perform a structural function. Specifically, cellulose is a carbohydrate that comprises a plant’s cell walls.

The study relays how aloe vera plants adjust their cell walls when there is a lack of water (a drought) to help them survive. In extremely hot temperatures, the plants respond by folding their cell walls closer together. Here, the plant maximizes its resources for survival. Thus, the aloe may shrivel, ceasing its growth, and reallocate its energy/resources to root growth (from water in the soil). Conversely, when there is plentiful water and they become rehydrated, normal activity resumes as the aloe vera reverts to its original state.

Within the context of employing the aloe vera’s techniques in a real-world situation, the scientists’ experiment further aims to find a link between the composition of carbohydrates in these succulents and the folding of their cell walls. If a connection is discovered, they hope to utilize similar strategies in crops so they can survive periods where their environment may be hot and dry. I am hopeful that other plants can mimic the aloe’s techniques because crops and succulents share many similar qualities to aloe in their composition. Nonetheless, I also recognize this may take time and generations of crops to find a concrete solution. Though the implications of this study are not yet comprehensible, they hint that we may soon be a step closer to combatting climate change.

What do you think? Are the teachings of aloe vera a hopeless grasp at a solution to climate change or the pathway to our future?

Should We Be Carbo-loading? The Effects of Resistant Starches on the Gut Microbiome.

By ethansol

On November 13, 2019

In Student Post

What is Starch?

By definition starch is a polysaccharide composed of a chain of glucose molecules held together by glycosidic bonds. Starch is common in nearly all green plants and is used for short term energy storage.

Different Types of Starches

Starch can come in two distinct forms: amylopectin a compound with a complex system of branching glucoses, and amylose a simple straight chain of glucose molecules. Because of amylopectin’s larger and more complicated nature it has a much larger surface area than amylose making it significantly easier to digest. The amylose cannot effectively be broken down by the enzymes of the digestive system. Instead it is left to be dealt with by the human gut microbiome. For this reason it is commonly referred to as a resistant starch.

A 3D Projection of the Chemical Structure of Amylose

How are Resistant Starches Beneficial?

An international research article including authors from Harvard Medical School suggests that resistant starches have a myriad of benefits. Some resistant starches which thwart digestion in the stomach and small intestine, make their way all the way down to the large intestine where they are subject to fermentation by the microscopic bacteria of the human gut. The fermentation process can metabolize a multitude of different useful products. For example some significant and common place output of gut fermentation are simple fatty acids. One key short chain fatty acid created during this process is Butyrate, the preferred fuel oof the cells lining the colon. In addition to Butyrate there exist many other short chain fatty acids that help maintain and fuel the body. These fatty acids can be used for many different purposes, all beneficial to both the gut microbiome and the host. The benefits may range from weight loss to curbing the progression of chronic kidney disease.

In addition to their ability to be changed into more useful forms, resistant starches also serve to enhance the effectiveness of the gut microbiome. Constant ingestion of resistant starches can stimulate an increase in the size and health of gut microbiomes in addition to raising host metabolism.

Common Uses For Resistant Starches

Resistant starches are often used in weight reducing diets in order to encourage an increase in metabolic rates. Although results of these diets are often compelling, a diet must consist of all types of food groups and should contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. Eating only amylose and other resistant polysaccharides will not on its own help you achieve weight loss. It should be paired with exercise and an otherwise healthy diet.

Should resistant starches be used in dieting or do they promote malnutrition? There are many benefits to a diet high in resistant starches, including building up a healthy gut microbiome. However you cannot survive solely on carbohydrates. This is a complex question, and I would be interested in hearing your opinions in the comments.

Vegan diet found to have the best health benefits

By sgagocytosis

On November 17, 2014

In Student Post

Many people have recently been trying a gluten-free diet in an attempt to be healthier, or for other personal reasons. Gluten is the basic protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale so those on that diet must avoid foods like bread, pasta, cereal, cake, essentially any carb. Carbohydrates seem to have a bad rep in our society and people often try very hard to keep them out of their diet. Some researchers even say that: “We’ve gotten somewhat carb-phobic here in the U.S. when it comes to weight loss”.

A recent study led by researchers at the University of Southern California have found that a vegan diet even while consuming carbohydrates is best for “weight loss, decreased levels of saturated and unsaturated fat, lower BMI’s and improved macro nutrients.” This study showed that maybe people should be avoiding meat instead of carbs to improve their diet. While a vegan diet is not healthy for everyone, the study still introduced a new look on dieting and healthy eating.

The study randomly assigned one of five diets to several participants that were then followed for six months throughout the study. The five diets included vegan which bans all animal products, vegetarian which bans meat and seafood but allows animal products such as cheese and eggs, pesco-vegetarian which excludes all meat except seafood, semi-vegetarian with some meat intake, and omnivorous which excludes no foods. The participants were invited to weekly support groups throughout the study to make sure they followed their diet and also remained healthy. At the end of the six months, the participants on the vegan diet lost more weight than the other groups by an average of 4.3%, or 16.5 lb.

The leader of the study, Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, was surprised by the outcome of the research. She thought the outcome of the pesco-diet would have been significantly higher than that of the meat-diet but it was not. The vegan diet was also high in carbohydrates. Turner-McGrievy was proud to say that “This study might help alleviate the fears of people who enjoy pasta, rice, and other grains but want to lose weight.”

I found this article to be very interesting because I have been following a pescetarian diet for about 11 months. I exclude meat in my diet but I still eat seafood and other animal products. My diet is also very high in carbohydrates because carbs are easy snacks. I am surprised yet pleased to see how little the effect of carb consumption had on the vegan diet.

Original Article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141106101732.htm

Related Articles & Additional Information

http://www.thestate.com/2014/11/09/3802103/usc-study-finds-vegan-diet-most.html

http://www.medicaldaily.com/vegans-eat-carbs-and-still-lose-weight-why-you-should-give-diet-shot-310106

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

http://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/glutenfreediet/what-is-gluten/

http://www.veganhealth.org/

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: carbohydrates

Is the Solution to Climate Change in your House? Ask Aloe Vera!