Eli5: Whats the difference between “processed sugar” and sugar found in fruit, bread and milk etc? arent processed sugar the same sugar molecules as those?

Question

And more specifically, what is it that makes processed sugar worse than consuming sugar from those products, is it blood sugar spike or something?

In: 311

Answer 1

Imagine you have two baskets of apples.

In the first basket, you have whole apples. Along with the sweet part of the apple, you also get fiber, vitamins, and other good stuff. This is like the sugar found in fruit.

In the second basket, you have apple juice squeezed from the apples. All the fiber and some of the good stuff are left behind, and you just get the sweet liquid. This is like processed sugar.

Both baskets have the sweet part from apples, but the whole apples give you extra benefits that the juice doesn’t.

Now, sugar in fruit, bread, and milk is like the whole apples. They come with other nutrients. The sugar in fruit comes with fiber, which slows down how quickly your body absorbs the sugar. This means you don’t get a super-fast sugar spike in your blood.

Processed sugar, like in candies or sodas, is like the apple juice. It’s just the sweet part without the extra benefits. When you eat it, your body absorbs it super fast, causing a quick spike in your blood sugar. Over time, if you have too many of these spikes, it can be bad for your health.

So, while the sugar molecule itself might be the same, what comes with it and how your body handles it can be different!