Fruit sugar and refined sugar sweeten foods, yet your body metabolizes them differently.
Fruit sugar, also called fructose, is a nutrient that is a natural part of the human diet. Refined sugar, also called sucrose, is a sweetener manufacturers use in processed foods and people add to coffee, tea, baked goods and other foods. The health risks associated with each of these sugars also differ. Consult your doctor about fruit and refined sugars in your diet.
Fruit Sugar
Fructose is a common ingredient in many foods. Fruits, honey and maple syrup each naturally contain fructose. Fructose is also a key ingredient in high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener manufacturers use to sweeten many processed foods and beverages, including breads, cakes, ice cream, sauces, ketchup, salad dressings and beverages. High fructose corn syrup is a mixture of fructose and glucose. Your body digests fructose and converts it into glucose, the sugar molecule your cells metabolize for energy. Eating fresh fruits is much healthier than eating foods with fructose sweeteners, particularly because fruits contain high concentrations of antioxidants, phytonutrients and fiber.
Refined Sugar
Sucrose, also called table sugar, is a disaccharide that contains two different types of sugar molecules, fructose and glucose. Your body digests disaccharides by breaking up the link between the two sugars. Your liver converts fructose into glucose, metabolizes it for energy or stores it for future use. The first difference between sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup is sucrose contains a 1-to-1 ratio of glucose-to-fructose molecules, whereas high fructose corn syrup has a greater percentage of fructose than glucose. The second difference is a disaccharide takes longer for your body to digest, absorb and process than a mixture of unbound fructose and glucose molecules.
Glycemic Index
Eating fruits enables you to control your blood sugar better than eating refined sugar and sweeteners containing fructose. The glycemic index indicates how quickly glucose enters the blood and increases blood sugar after you eat a particular carbohydrate-containing food. The higher the glycemic index, the more likely the food will spike blood sugar levels and increase your risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. Grapefruit, peaches, pears and apples have a lower glycemic index than pure fructose, which, in turn, has a lower glycemic index than sucrose.
Health Risks
Fructose from fruit and sweeteners and sucrose increase fat production. Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found consuming fructose increases liver production of fat, according to research published in the "Journal of Nutrition" in June 2008. The results demonstrated that increasing concentration of fructose in the diet increases the amount of fat the liver produces. Elizabeth Parks, Ph.D., lead author of the research study, said with regard to fructose, glucose and sucrose: “All three can be made into triglycerides, a form of body fat; however, once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it’s hard to slow it down."
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database
- Readers Digest: 4 Most Harmful Ingredients in Packaged Foods
- Centers For Diseae Control; About the Buzz: The Sugar in Fruit and Table Sugar Are Basically the Same?;
- Medical Biochemistry Page; Carbohydrates; Michael King; August 31 2011
- University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Center for Integrative Medicine; Glycemic Index; 2010
- "Journal of Nutrition"; Dietary Sugars Stimulate Fatty Acid Synthesis in Adults; Elizabeth Parks, et al.; June 2008
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