Monosaccharides and disaccharides are simple sugars, while polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates. Monosaccharides include glucose, fructose, and galactose, while disaccharides include sucrose, lactose, and maltose. Monosaccharides are used immediately for energy, while disaccharides must be converted to their monosaccharide components before being used. Commercially, fructose is often used as a sweetener, while disaccharides are obtained from plant and animal sources.
Monosaccharides and disaccharides are the two types of simple sugars, a form of carbohydrate. Unlike polysaccharides, which contain three or more sugars and are also known as complex carbohydrates, monosaccharides and disaccharides contain one and two sugars, respectively. Monosaccharides include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Disaccharides, by contrast, include sucrose, lactose, and maltose, and are made up of two linked monosaccharides, such as glucose and fructose or even glucose with glucose. Monosaccharides require the least effort from the body to break down and are therefore digested and subsequently available for energy more quickly than disaccharides.
Carbohydrates are the body’s most immediately available source of energy, the source it relies on for everything from getting in a workout to fueling the brain. The more complex the carbohydrate, that is, the more sugars it contains, the longer it takes to break down in the intestines into its simplest components, monosaccharides and disaccharides. Glucose, a form of monosaccharide, is the body’s preferred source of energy, and is also known as blood sugar. Most carbohydrates, whether they are disaccharides or polysaccharides, end up as glucose once they are broken down in the digestive tract. In other words, one important difference between monosaccharides and disaccharides is that monosaccharides are used immediately for energy whereas disaccharides must be converted to their monosaccharide components before they are used by the body.
The foods from which monosaccharides and disaccharides like fructose and sucrose are derived for commercial purposes are another difference between the two. Glucose is found in a large number of living organisms, from plants to insects to humans. However, in commercial food production, fructose tends to be the sweetener of choice, since it is sweeter than table sugar and can be obtained cheaply from corn. High fructose corn syrup, for example, is a corn-derived fructose sweetener found in many sweet foods and beverages like baked goods and soft drinks.
Disaccharides are obtained from a variety of plant and animal sources, sources that naturally contain a combination of monosaccharides. Sucrose, the scientific name for table sugar, is a disaccharide that contains glucose and fructose. It is usually derived from sugar cane or sugar beet plants, which are vegetables. Lactose, another disaccharide, does not come from plants but from animals, since it is the type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. It is made up of glucose combined with galactose.
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