Fructose & Sugar

Sugar consumption has increased over the decades and has reached an average of 142 lbs. a year, as of 2003, according to "U.S. News & World Report." Most of the sugar in the American diet comes from added sugar, sweet beverages and processed foods such as soft drinks, baked goods, granola bars, breakfast cereals, cookies, ice creams and fruit punches. The term "sugar" includes glucose, fructose, dextrose and any other ingredients containing these sugars.

Table Sugar

Table sugar, whether it is white or brown sugar, can be referred to as sucrose. Sucrose is a dissaccharide, which means that it is made of two molecules bound together. In the case of sucrose, the dissaccharide consists of a molecule of glucose bound to a molecule of fructose. In other words, sugar is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose.

Fruit Sugar

Fructose is perceived as a naturally occurring sugar, since it is predominantly found in fruits. The sweet taste of fruits comes from fructose, but fruits also contain glucose in different proportions. A small piece of fruit contains an average of 15 g of sugar and about a third to half of that sugar is fructose and the rest is a mix of glucose and sucrose, although these proportions vary from fruit to fruit. The fruits with the highest fructose content are apples, mangos, lychees, melons, pears, quince, dried fruits and juices made from high fructose fruits.

Other Sweeteners

In regular sugar, 50 percent of the sugar is fructose, but some sweeteners have higher proportions of fructose. For example, high-fructose corn syrup has about 55 percent fructose. Since this sweetener has been introduced into the American diet, the average fructose intake has reached 61 lbs. per person per year and counts for a big part of the increased fructose consumption. Agave nectar, a newer sweetener marketed as a healthier and more natural sugar alternative, is made of up to 90 percent fructose.

Limiting Your Fructose Intake

Although fructose is often perceived as a healthy sugar because it is associated with fruits, a high fructose intake can have negative consequences. A daily fructose intake above 100 g a day can lead to high triglycerides, which increases your risk of heart disease, as well as overweight and obesity, according to a meta-analysis published in November 2008 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Limiting your fructose intake does not mean restricting your fruit consumption, but rather reducing your overall sugar intake. Try not adding sugar, syrup or any other sweetener to your foods and eliminate sugary beverages and sugar-containing foods from your diet.