Carbohydrates, classification fiber

Lipids comprise one of the three broad classifications into which nourishing substances can be broken. Lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates are the three very general classifications. Fiber may be filling but is not called nourishment. Lipids are rich in energy, supplying twice the caloric value per unit weight than carbohy-... 

In view of the small amount of firmly bound carbohydrate in purified elastin it is doubtful if there could be any useful purpose in regarding the fiber substance as a mucoprotein many albumins and globulins contain similar small residues of carbohydrate and to describe them all as muco-proteins would only serve to negate the value of an accepted and useful system of classification. 

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in those carbohydrates that escape absorption in the small intestine and enter the colon, where they may have specific health benefits due to their fermentation by the colonic microflora and their effect on gut physiology. This entry considers the definition, classification, dietary sources, methods of analysis, colonic fermentation, and health benefits of both resistant starch and oligosaccharides, and compares them with those of dietary fiber. 

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