Fructose is one type of sugar added to food. Fructose, which naturally occurs in fruits and vegetables, typically has healthier connotations when stacked up against regular table sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. However, according to MayoClinic.Com and the American Heart Association, or AHA, an added sugar by any other name is still just as sweet -- and fructose is just another added sugar that provides you nothing but empty calories.
About Added Sugar
Sugar naturally occurs in foods such as milk, fruits and vegetables. Then there's the sugar that's added to foods during preparation or processing, says the AHA. Added sugar goes by various names on the list of ingredients of the foods you purchase. Fructose is one type of commonly added sugar, as are brown sugar, cane syrup, corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, honey, fruit juice concentrate and malt syrup, among others. Added sugars are simple carbohydrates that your body uses for quick fuel, says MayoClinic.Com. However, fructose and other added sugars don't give you any nutritional benefits.
Fructose Basics
Fructose is a monosaccharide, derived from fruits, vegetables and honey. Dietary sources of fructose include sucrose, or table sugar; pure crystalline fructose; and high-fructose corn syrup, an added sugar derived from corn through a wet-milling process. The Fructose Information Center indicates that fructose is the sweetest of all added sugars. When used as an ingredient, it not only enhances flavor, but it also prolongs the shelf life of certain beverages and foods, such as yeast-raised baked goods.
Fructose Nutrition
One tsp. of dry fructose has 15 calories and 4.2 g of carbohydrates, 3.89 g of which are made up of total sugars and .31 g of starch, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Comparatively, 1 tsp. of granulated table sugar has 16 calories and 4.2 g of carbohydrates, 4.19 g of which are made up of total sugars -- in this case, sucrose.
Essential Nutrients
Fructose has no fat or dietary cholesterol. One tsp. of fructose contains extremely minute amounts of sodium and copper. Otherwise, fructose has no essential vitamins, minerals or protein to add to your diet.
Limit Added Sugars
Most Americans consume far more sugar than they need, says the AHA. Your body doesn't need added fructose or any other added sugar to function optimally. Added sugars are dense in calories per gram and can cause weight gain and obesity, as well as health problems associated with excess weight. The AHA advises limiting all types of added sugar in your diet, no matter what name they may go by. Women should get no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar. Men are advised to get no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar. This is about 6 and 9 tsp., respectively.
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