began to look like a pink fluffy cloud Her hand closed over the money in her pocket She bought a bag of the pink cotton candy The cloud was as big as her head It melted in her mouth when she took a bite It was very sweet Sugar made the cotton candy sweet The sugar tickled the taste buds on the tip of Anya’s tongue DIGESTION The small intestine is an organ It helps break down food into sugars It looks like a long winding tube In adults it is approximately 22 feet 6 7 m long The tube is only a little wider than a thumb Food spends up to four hours here Millions of tiny blood vessels cover parts of the small intestine They are found in part of the intestines called villi Sugars enter the blood through the villi Then the sugars are carried to every cell where they become energy for the body She took another big bite When she swallowed it the cotton candy slid down into her stomach It stopped Cotton candy is almost entirely made of sugar 7
there and in her small intestine where it was mixed and mashed The sugar moved into her blood A wave of energy zipped all around her body but only for a short time She soon wanted more sweet foods SWEET FOODS Sugar is in everyday foods and drinks Sugar is found naturally in many foods such as raisins and cherry tomatoes There is natural sugar in carrot sticks and apple slices But some sweet-tasting foods have sugar added to them Sodas and candy have a lot of sugar People add sugar to muffins and cereals It makes food look and taste good Sugar in treats such as cookies makes them crispy Sugar helps meat stay fresh longer Some foods with sugar do not taste very sweet at all There is sugar in many pasta sauces soups and breads Approximately 68 percent of all packaged food sold in grocery stores has sugar 8
Sugar gives fruits their sweetness If you could look at sugar under a powerful microscope you would see that it is made up of tiny building blocks These blocks are called elements They are carbon hydrogen and oxygen These three elements are the building blocks of carbohydrates Carbohydrates are nutrients or substances the body 9
