Page 103 - Miracles Within the Molecule

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from which stem glu cose's most impor tant molec u lar char ac ter is tics.
The six oxy gen atoms it pos sess es also impart other impor tant molec u -
lar fea tures, ena bling glu cose to dis solve eas i ly in water. By means of its
oxy gen atoms, this mol e cule can eas i ly estab lish hydro gen bonds with
water mol e cu les, and imme di ate ly dis solves in water.
This prop er ty of glu cose is most impor tant, because as the most
impor tant source of nour ish ment for cells, glu cose must be sol u ble in
order to be car ried by the blood stream.
Glucose can be com pared with hex ane,
which close ly resem bles its own molec u -
lar struc ture and bears a close resem -
blance to glu cose in many respects, par -
tic u lar ly as a fuel. However, hex ane
does not carry oxy gen atom, so when it
oxi diz es, it gives rise to many new,
pow er ful car bon-oxy gen bonds. This
pre vents hex ane from dis solv ing in
water. That is why blood cannot carry hex -
ane to the cells. Under nor mal con di tions, glu -
cose is less effi cient than hex ane, but being trans -
port a ble in liq uid, it is of vital impor tance to ani mals and plants.
Glucose, spe cial ly cre at ed for life, is the fun da men tal sub stance
found in ripe fruit, flow er nec tar and the sap of plants. Once glu cose
mol e cu les enter solu tion, they imme di ate ly become the essen tial fuel for
liv ing cells. When larg er mol e cu les, such as the more com plex sug ars
and starch es, are digest ed, they are bro ken down into glu cose mol e cu -
les in order to be burned and trans port ed to the cells more eas i ly. In this
way, glu cose names as blood sugar, grape sugar or starch sugar, accord -
ing to the metab o lism it enters. Glucose, spe cial ly cre at ed for life, is the
fun da men tal sub stance found in ripe fruit, flow er nec tar, leaf sap, and
the blood flow ing in the human body. 42
We take in car bo hy drates from 70% of the food we eat.
Carbohydrate diges tion starts in the mouth, where the enzymes in sali -

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