Introduction: Obesity is one of the leading problems in western society today. Obesity describes people who are highly overweight and have excessive fat storage in their bodies. Obesity occurs when the daily intake of energy exceeds the daily output of energy and thus, causes the extra energy to be stored as fat which is built up over a period of time (Wilding J, 2001). Obesity is currently considered a disease by the World Health Organization (WHO) as these individuals runs the risk of developing not only type 2 diabetes but also cardiovascular diseases. It was reported that 2007, 61.2% of Australians were classified as overweight and 18% were obese (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Excess sugar intake has always been recognized as one of the biggest causes of obesity especially in first world countries such as Australia. The article, “Could You Cut Your Sugar Intake to 6 Teaspoons a Day” claims that excess sugar intake is the main cause of obesity. It also suggests that for a healthy diet, sugar intakes needs to be reduced to 5 percent of our daily intake which is around 6 teaspoons. However, it states that the average carbohydrate consumption of an Australian adult could be up to 27 teaspoons which are 4.5 times greater than what is recommended. But, sugar is not the only factor that contributes to …show more content…
Carbohydrates consist a carbon backbone with hydrogen and oxygen bonded to it. The basic unit or monomer of carbohydrates are monosaccharides in cyclic structures (Cognito Tuition, NP). Polysaccharides can be formed when multiple monosaccharide molecules go through condensation reactions to form individual glycosidic links between monosaccharides (Cognito Tuition, NP). However, polysaccharide carbohydrates cannot be absorbed and used as a source of metabolic energy as they have to be reduced to glucose, a monosaccharide, through the catalyzation of