Does sugar found in fruits such as strawberries differentiate from sugar found in soft drinks? Do they have the same effect on the body healthwise?
In: Biology
The end product is the same, all the sugars get converted to glucose eventually. But getting sugar from whole foods like fruits and veggies (yes veggies have some sugar too) is better because all the extra fiber and nutrients will slow down the digestion. You’ll still get all the sugar out eventually, but it will take longer and your blood sugar wont spike up and down.
In contrast, if you drink soda, that’s basically sugar water. It gets digested in minutes and you body immediately needs to shoot up insulin levels to control it. On the other side, because it digests so quickly you will feel a “crash” afterwards and now your body needs to shoot up other hormones to balance it out.
Too much up and down isn’t good in the long term. So eat your fruits and veggies and get some fiber. It’ll keep you full while digestion takes its normal timecourse.
PS: whole fruits are better than fruit juice. There’s a reason why diabetic people DRINK orange juice when they have low blood sugar rather than eat a whole orange. The juice spikes up blood sugar fast enough so diabetic people don’t pass out.
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