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NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 3 –41Section 3.2 What are the Components of Food? — In-text Questions

Book page 39 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Have you ever missed a meal? How do you feel when you miss a meal?
Answer

Yes — and one feels tired and less energetic. When we do not eat for some time, the usual signs are:

  • Weakness and tiredness, as if the legs and arms are heavy.
  • Difficulty in concentrating in class; the mind wanders.
  • Sometimes a headache, giddiness or a growling stomach.
  • Irritability — small things start annoying us.
Why it happens: food is our fuel. The body constantly uses energy — even while sitting still, the heart beats and the brain works. This energy comes mainly from carbohydrates in our food. When a meal is missed, the supply of energy falls and every activity becomes harder. Eating restores it, which is why we feel better within minutes of eating.
Tip: This is exactly why breakfast should never be skipped before school. After a night's sleep the body has gone about 10–12 hours without food, and the first class of the day needs the most attention.
Q2.
Why do you think a marathon runner drinks glucose water during and after a race?
Answer

Because glucose provides instant energy.

Marathon (about 42 km) → huge use of energy → energy store falls
Glucose is the simplest carbohydrate → the body absorbs it at once → energy is restored immediately
Glucose water also puts back the water and salts lost in sweat

Compare it with an ordinary meal: rice or roti must first be digested — broken down step by step into simple forms — and that takes time. Glucose needs no such breaking down, so it reaches the blood almost directly.

Why not a laddoo or a plate of rice during the race? Solid food would sit heavy in the stomach and take a long time to digest, and the runner cannot stop for that. A sip of glucose water gives energy in seconds without loading the stomach.
Did you know? This is the same reason a doctor gives glucose water or ORS to a patient who is very weak or has lost water because of loose motions or vomiting.
Q3.
Do you know that common sugar is also a type of carbohydrate?
Answer

Yes. The white sugar (cheeni) in your kitchen, the gud (jaggery) in a laddoo and the glucose given to a patient are all carbohydrates.

Kind of carbohydrateExamplesTasteHow fast it gives energy
Simple sugarsGlucose, common sugar, jaggery, honey, sugar in fruitSweetVery fast — instant energy
StarchRice, wheat, bajra, potato, sweet potatoNot sweetSlower — energy released steadily over hours
Why this is worth remembering: starch and sugar are both carbohydrates, but they behave differently in the body — and they also behave differently in the laboratory. Iodine solution turns blue-black with starch only; it does not do so with sugar. You will use this fact in Activity 3.5 and again in question 9 of the exercises.
Tip: Sweet is not the test of a carbohydrate. A chapati has no sweet taste at all, yet it is almost entirely carbohydrate.
Q4.
Why do you think we prefer to have laddoos as a part of our traditional diet in winters?
Answer

Because a winter laddoo is packed with fat and carbohydrate — the two energy-giving components — and the body needs extra energy to keep itself warm in the cold.

What goes into such a laddoo: besan or wheat flour (aata), ghee, gud or sugar, goond (edible gum), and nuts and seeds such as almonds, cashew, til and pumpkin seeds.

IngredientWhat it mainly supplies
Besan / aataCarbohydrate, and some protein from the gram flour
GheeFat — a source of stored energy
Gud (jaggery)Carbohydrate, and some iron
Nuts and seeds (til, badam, kaju)Fat and protein; also minerals like calcium and iron
Why fat especially: fat is a store of energy, and it gives more energy than the same weight of carbohydrate. In winter, the body loses heat faster to the cold air and has to make more heat to stay warm — so a food rich in fat is genuinely useful. As Mishti's grandmother said, laddoos rich in ghee and nuts provide energy to keep us warm.
Did you know? The same idea appears all over India in winter — til-gud laddoo at Makar Sankranti, gond ke laddoo in the north, pinni in Punjab and chikki in Maharashtra. And the polar bear does it too: a thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it alive through months of hibernation without food.
Q5.
Identify more food items that are rich sources of carbohydrates and fats.
Answer

Look around your own kitchen — most of the items will fall into one of these two lists.

Rich in carbohydratesRich in fats
Cereals and millets: rice, wheat, maize, jowar, bajra, ragi, sanwaOils and ghee: mustard oil, groundnut oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, ghee
Roots and tubers: potato, sweet potato, arbi, tapioca, beetrootNuts: groundnut, almond, cashew, walnut, pistachio, coconut
Fruits: banana, mango, pineapple, chikoo, grapes, datesSeeds: til (sesame), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds
Sweet things: sugar, jaggery, honey, glucoseAnimal sources: butter, cream, cheese, curd made from full-cream milk, egg yolk, fish
Products: bread, chapati, poha, sewai, sabudanaOthers: soya bean, mustard seed, malai, khoya
Both are called energy-giving foods: carbohydrates and fats provide us the energy for performing various activities. Carbohydrates supply the everyday, quickly-used energy; fat is the body's long-term energy store.
Check it yourself: peanuts and coconut will come up again in Activity 3.6 — press them on paper and the oily patch proves the fat is really there.
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