While it is very “trendy” to say the body has no actual need for carbohydrates, this is simply a misinterpretation of the science. Carbohydrates play a vital role in human biochemistry, however, they can be created by the body by itself in most cases. This isn’t the preferred way the body works, but it is possible. Why is it possible? Because carbohydrates are required for multiple bodily functions, they are so essential, the body will break down other things to create them. However, what people are referring to when they say carbohydrates aren’t essential is the fact that you don’t need to eat them, as your body will make what it needs. So if you are reading this and you think, I am a fat burning machine and my body hasn’t used carbohydrates in the last 30 years because I eat a ketogenic diet, well, I am sorry to tell you, your body has been using carbohydrates the whole time. It has just been making them itself.

 

Polysaccharides are how humans store energy, in the form of glycogen (carbohydrate store in your muscles). While we also store energy in the form of body fat, the preferred storage form of energy for athletic performance is glycogen. Polysaccharides also serve as structural components of cells, although it is more so oligosaccharides job. Oligosaccharides have very important roles in cell recognition and cell binding, you may have heard about glycoproteins before and these are made in part by oligosaccharides. The monosaccharide ribose is an important component of coenzymes such as ATP, FAD and NAD and is the backbone of the genetic molecule known as RNA. The related deoxyribose is a major component of DNA. And so on...

 

So yeah carbohydrates do actually have a pretty big role in human biochemistry, and saying they aren’t actually required is a little short-sighted. While technically not incorrect (again your body has processes to synthesise it’s own carbohydrates), this ignores why your body would see fit to preserve the ability to synthesise it’s own carbohydrates if they weren’t vital to humans. Now whether this means you should base your diet around carbohydrates or eat a diet that is lower in carbohydrates is up for debate, but if you are trying to perform better or build more muscle mass, you'd want to have a fairly exceptional reason to decide to eat no carbohydrates.