Is all sugar equally bad? If not, what makes the sugar in fruit different?
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Primarily that there’s much less of it. A single can of coke has like 3 times the sugar content of a banana.
“Sugar” is, in biological terms, actually fairly broad. Different sugars are processed by the body differently, which leads to differences in perception about “bad” and “good” sugar.
In reality, sugars are all carbohydrates. There’s two main kinds: monosaccharides and disasaccherides. The latter are actually two bonded molecules of the simpler form. These are the “bad” sugars- like sucrose, while the “simple” sugars found in fruit is a monosaccheride like fructose. That said, many fruits contain disaccherides like sucrose and maltose, so one major reason they’re considered “good” is that there’s simply less sugar overall in a piece of fruit than in a can of soda.
Sugar is sugar, your body doesn’t see the difference between the sugar in an apple and the sugar cube you liked as a kid. Your body converts sugars to glucose and you body uses this as fuel. To much and it gets stored as fat.
The difference is the package. In an apple you’ll also find fibers and other nutrition your body can use. So it’s healthier. Doesn’t mean you won’t get fat on apples. Two pieces is a good guideline to follow to keep the sugar intake normal.
Same reason why juices aren’t the best choice too. You won’t throw down 6 or 7 oranges. Yet a pack of orange juice is easily disposed of. To much sugar.
The dose makes the poison. For sugar it’s about the quantity and how fast the sugar gets absorbed.
The flesh of the fruit takes up space in your stomach, making you feel full and stop eating. You can easily drink a glass of orange juice or soda containing the sugar of 3 oranges and still eat a whole breakfast. If you ate 3 whole oranges in one sitting, you are probably too full to eat anything else.
The indigestible fibers in the flesh of the fruit act as a barrier to help slow down fruit sugar absorption. Fruit juice does not have that so the liquid sugar gets quickly absorbed into your blood stream. High blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes.
EDIT: By orange, I’m referring to medium to large-sized navel or Valencia orange, not smaller clementines or mandarins. Also some of y’all can eat a lot more oranges in one sitting than I can…
The sugar in fruit is primarily fructose which does, in fact, appear to be worse for you than other sugars. The difference is the quantity and the presence of substantial undigestible fiber in a piece of fruit. A medium orange might have 12 grams of sugar and about 60 total calories, while a 12 oz can of Coke will have 39 grams of sugar and 140 calories.
As far as the fiber and digestibility, diabetics consider something called the glycemic index, which measures the increase in blood sugar from eating each food: Pure sugar is 91, Coca Cola is 77, and an orange is 45.
So while the sugar chemical in a can of Coke and an orange may be similar, based on the quantity and speed of absorption, you can see why one is so much worse for you than the other.
Fructose (in excess) can be particularly harmful on your liver. Sucrose (table sugar) is %50 fructose. Don’t consume too much of either. Also, you’ll love Sue Reardon’s explanation of all this. Great vid: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3bTBWnvT4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3bTBWnvT4)
you know how you go to a restaurant and order a taco and it comes to you ready to eat?
but when you have tacos at home you need to put it together yourself?
well thats the way sugar can be.
you can drink sugar in soda or fruit juice. its right there ready for your body to use. if you dont use it right away your body has little backpacks to store it for later.
but when you eat a fruit your body has to take it apart (like a reverse taco). that takes time. so you have longer to use that sugar before your body puts it in the backpacks.
(wish more people would actually get what “like im 5” meant and not write colleges papers)
ELI5.. they are not different. If you took the sugar from a fruit and refined it the same as… refined sugar and ate both, they would both be the same bad for you.
The sugar in a fruit, is just a not so bad side effect of eating all the rest of the fruit. As opposed to say eating a chocolate bar, where there is no rest of the fruit good side.
But do not be fooled, eating a thousand grapes or squeezing dozens of oranges and only drinking that, is still not great for you. It is still sugar.
sugar is not ‘bad’
its literally essential to your health and survival
its the amount/quantity/concentration that’s the issue
everything else is just noise
fruit is ‘high’ in sugar yes, but eating fruit is not just eating sugar, there is a lot of fiber and fats and vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables [which are also plants, ie mostly carbohydrates in the forms of starches/sugars] ; basically eating whole/natural food is ideal becuz of the package deal effects vs the downsides and negatives of highly processed and refined sugars being absorbed into your body too fast and thus causing your biology to get all wonky and unhealthy over time
Different sugars are processed and used by different parts of the body. Fructose for instance, which makes up part of what table sugar is, or corn syrup, is processed by the liver into simpler sugars, and excess is turned into Triglycerides(fat) as well as Cholesterol. So eating lots of Fructose contributes greatly to increased body fat and high cholesterol.
But Fructose is also the main sugar in fruit, hence the name “Fruct”. So why isn’t fruit super unhealthy? Well that comes down to the nutrients and fiber that fruit contain. There are certain nutrients and fiber that help regulate how quickly your body absorbs and processes the sugar, making it more manageable for the liver, and causing less overflow into the production of fats/cholesterol.
Also a piece of fruit will have way less sugar than a candy bar or soda, so it is not even comparable in that regard.
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