Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are made out of sugars and they include polysaccharides, saccharides, starches, sugars such as fructose and glucose. The word saccharide comes from the sacchararum from sugar’s sweet taste.

The carbohydrates are built up of units which can be classifieds into Monosaccharides, Disaccharides, Polysaccharides.

Monosaccharides are fructose, glucose and galactose which are referred to as single sugars which are derived from milk and agar agar which is an isomer. There are wood sugars known as arabinose, ribose, xylose and also from the celery and parsley known as apiose. Primroses and witch hazel are the sources for hamamelose. There is however not recognized pharmacological action and most are got through the metabolism of the normal processes of carbohydrates.

Disaccharides include fructose and glucose to combine into sucrose, two sugar units. There is maltose (glucose and glucose) and lactose from milk (galactose and glucose). These are generally broken into monosaccharides and some called raffinose which is found in most of the tissues in the plants causing antifreeze effect. These also make up for the roughage which is the undigested residue.

The polysaccharides are often the large-moleculed multi-sugar units. The group includes the amyloses which are made up of the glycogen, starch and carry the storage glucose molecules. The glycogen and starch are present as in animals and the inulin and cellulose which is present in marigolds and dandelions. The group includes components other than the units of sugar that are the galacturonic acids and glucuronic acids. The category includes mucilages, gums, pectin and hemicelluloses.

Immuno-stimulating polysaccharides

There are some significant properties that show immuno-stimulating characteristics in vitro with molecular weights in the range of twenty five thousand to half a million and recent work reveals that the number of acidic, water soluble polysaccharide molecules is on an increase. There is a lot of reference to Echinacea, the North American herb (Echinacea angustifolia), and similar constituents have been found in Eleutherococcus senticosus or the Siberian ginseng, Serenoa serrulata or saw palmetto, Baptisia tinctoria or wild indigo, Calendula officinalis or marigold flowers, Matricaria recutita or chamomile. The point is to that if these are taken orally they would be largely kept confined in the area of the gut. The polysaccharides are absorbed poorly or they are broken down in the digestive process. There is immuno-stimulation occurring in attempting to absorb.

Hemicelluloses

In the plant wall, there is cellulose which are present in the form of polysaccharides and that provides part of the roughage in the diet. These are glucose molecules, the heterogeneous and hemicelluloses mixture of uronic acid and sugar. This heterogenerity and the fact that they are very difficult to characterize and isolate do not yield themselves to the research pharmacologically.

A soft portion of the stool constitutes the plant fibres. Bran is quite a problem for many bowels because of the chemical constituents in the bran. There is the hemicellulose that is present in the cereal’s softness that is beneficial and also in the vegetable fibre. They are insoluble in water and that is the reason why, they play very little role in the herbal prescription on an average.

Pectins

The pectins are carbohydrates that are based on galacturonic-acid which is present in the fruits, roots and in the plant cell wall. These are produced as the protopectin which is insoluble and while in the process of ripening of fruits, these become pectins that are water soluble and also gelatinous. The same process takes place in the jam making process in the boiling water as in the stomach’s acid environment. Pectin can also be used as a healing ointment and antiseptic for deep wounds and indolent ulcers. This is a major constituent of pectin, the dietary fibre has shown that it works well and is beneficial for slowing the absorption of glucose from the gut. This helps in supporting control of the blood sugar in the pancreas. Pectin also lessens the cholesterol level in the blood stream. This is very relevant information for those suffering from cardio vascular disease. Pectin cannot be found in any quantity like the hemicelluloses for the herbal preparation. It is to be featured in tableted and capsulated prescriptions.

Seaweed gums

The seaweed gums which are laxatives to a good extent are found in the intracellular regions or in the cell walls of seaweeds and algae. They can expand when they are mixed with water. The most prominent example is agar agar which is a very good gel with concentration of water. Carrageen is a similar constituent which is derived from Irish moss. The seaweed gum is algin and this has the general properties of strontium the heavy metal in order to stop its absorption to the body. Seaweeds also play a very important part in medicine and diet and they also affect the other conditions and not just the bowels.