ce22414b

They keep people alive.

The simplest carbohydrate is glucose. Glucose, also called "blood sugar" and "dextrose," flows in the bloodstream so that it is available to every cell in your body. Your cells absorb glucose and convert it into energy to drive the cell. Specifically, a set of chemical reactions on glucose creates ATP (adenosine triphosphate), and a phosphate bond in ATP powers most of the machinery in any human cell. If you drink a solution of water and glucose, the glucose passes directly from your digestive system into the bloodstream.

The word "carbohydrate" comes from the fact that glucose is made up of carbon and water.

Monosaccharides and disaccharides are called simple carbohydrates.

There are also complex carbohydrates, commonly known as "starches." A complex carbohydrate is made up of chains of glucose molecules. Starches are the way plants store energy
Most grains (wheat, corn, oats, rice) and things like potatoes and plantains are high in starch. Your digestive system breaks a complex carbohydrate (starch) back down into its component glucose molecules so that the glucose can enter your bloodstream. A complex carbohydrate is digested slowly, so glucose enters the bloodstream at a rate of only 2 calories per minute (reference).

I would think that commercial advantage of complex carbohydrate is its ability to store well over a long period of time.

Cellulose, the major component in wood, is also a carbohydrate. The difference between cellulose and starches is a single bond orientation linking the monoshaccride glucose units.

As for the economic value of wood, you could use it to build storage facilities for storing complex carbohydrates over long periods of time.

Rap

Simple carbohydrates such as glucose would be required to supply the energy required by men build such a structure.