Macronutrients: Carbohydrates and the Scourge of Chronic Disease

Carbohydrates are the most abundant organic components in most fruits, vegetables, legumes, and cereal grains, and they are added as simple sugars to many processed foods to provide texture and flavor. The fundamental basic carbohydrate currency is glucose. Glucose serves as a precursor for synthesis of all other carbohydrates that are important components of body fluids, structural matrix, membranes, and cell surfaces. Carbohydrates are critical for human life but not in the overabundant destructive form of simple sugars we are awash in when eating the Standard American Diet. Let's take a tour of the science, where we are, and the path away from chronic disease.