Fruit has sugar. Candy and soda have sugar. Why is eating a whole mango healthier than eating a candy bar?
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I’ve looked through the answers and didn’t see the correct one.
Simply – the sugar in a mango is BOUND to the fiber in the mango and the sugar in the candy bar is NOT BOUND to fiber.
That changes HOW the sugar is absorbed by the body and makes it safer for the body to absorb that sugar.
That’s the end of the ELI5 answer. HOW the sugar is absorbed makes all the difference. Read on for more details.
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Your body is made up of different organs and bacteria which work in concert to digest foods. The bacteria is also called the “gut microbiome” because it isn’t just a simple mass of bacteria but a [vast community of microscopic organisms with their own nervous system, producing neurotransmitters and hormones](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22392290).
If the sugar is unbound from fiber like in a candy bar then it is rapidly broken down (how exactly depends on the type of sugar) and many sugars by the [liver in a method that’s similar to alcohol](https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart). It’s why people who were into weightlifting and eating supplements with pure fructose got what was called [“fructose belly” just like a “beer belly”](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649103/) and a “fatty liver” like those who consume too much alcohol.
However if the sugar is BOUND to the fiber like in the mango then [it’s sugars remain intact as the mango moves through the digestive tract, and they are released more slowly. The fructose in the mango will not be completely absorbed even after it has passed through the small intestine, so a certain amount will even reach the large intestine](https://www.baliza.de/en/blog/files/does-glucose-improve-absorption-fructose-intolerance.html).
If you want to hear a technical discussion about that fiber mesh that collects and impacts sugar absorption which stops it from getting through your intestinal lumen, listen [to this part of this talk at 1:23:06](https://youtu.be/-s5szfPYKY4?t=4948)
There’s a highly technical talk aimed at doctors by an endocrinologist that talks about this in more detail here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpNU72dny2s
Look up stuff by Dr. Robert H. Lustig who has been studying calories/sugars for decades for more details for good explanations on this at different levels of explanation.
Edit: Added part about soluble vs insoluble fiber.
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