In infant-feeding the term "carbohydrate" is applied to a number of compounds related to starch and sugar, which contain carbon united chemically with hydrogen and oxygen, these elements being present in the proportions of two parts of hydrogen to one of oxygen, as in water, H2O.
Many carbohydrates are known and their common ultimate chemical composition is shown in Table 1, covering carbohydrates employed in nutrition work.
The carbohydrates are used in nutrition for the energy and water they yield on oxidation. As the hydrogen will be satisfied by the oxygen in the compound, all there remains to be oxidized is the carbon. The number of calories a carbohydrate will yield depends, therefore, on its carbon content.
It will also be noticed that the only difference in composition among the various carbohydrates, as shown in the table, is in the amount of water (H2O) combined with