Lactose is composed of which two sugars?

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar, specifically known as milk sugar, and it is made up of two monosaccharides: glucose and galactose. Understanding the composition of lactose is important in the context of nutrition, particularly for those who may be lactose intolerant or need to understand dairy products' carbohydrate content. Both glucose and galactose are hexose sugars, meaning they each contain six carbon atoms. When lactose is ingested, the body uses the enzyme lactase to break it down into these two individual sugars for absorption and utilization.

The other sugars mentioned in the other choices do not accurately represent the components of lactose. Glucose and glucose would represent maltose, while fructose and galactose do not combine to form any common disaccharide. Likewise, glucose and fructose form sucrose, not lactose. Understanding these distinctions provides insight into how different carbohydrates are structured and function in our diet.