Is all sugar equally bad? If not, what makes the sugar in fruit different?

Question

Is all sugar equally bad? If not, what makes the sugar in fruit different?

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Answer 1

There is a misconception that sugar is one thing.

Sugar is actually a bit of a catch all term for a range of related chemicals that are forms of stored energy. These are generally falling into two categories: monosaccarides (single molecule sugars) and polysaccharides (complex molecule sugars)

Glucose is the simplest molecule that falls under the sugar umbrella. It is the simplest form of sugar, and it’s the preferred form of energy at the cellular level. In nature, glucose is very abundant as a product of photosynthesis, but is also commonly converted to more complex sugars for storage or other cellular functions.

Other common forms of simple sugars in nature are molecules like fructose or galactose, which are easily digestible.

After the simple sugars there are more complex sugars. Things like sucrose (a combination of 1 glucose and 1 fructose molecule) and lactose (1 glucose and 1 galactose) are simple disaccarides, as they are formed from a combination of two simple sugars. These are denser in energy than simple sugars whe still being easily broken down into their components for a quick energy release during digestion.

White table sugar is generally refined sucrose, and lactose is primarily found in milk.

After these you get into larger more complex sugars known as polysaccharides. These are often combinations of simpler sugars used primarily for storage, which are broken down as part of digestion at a slower rate. These include things like glycogen (a long chain of glucose molecules) and starch which are digestible; or cellulose and chitin which are used for structural purposes.

There are also forms of sugar that may taste sweet but are not easily digestible for humans.

So not all sugars are equal.

In the case of fruit, they are often high in fructose due to selective breeding. This high level of easily digestible sugar means that you get a rush of sugar in your bloodstream that can give you a short burst of energy, but if you don’t need it those sugars are often converted to more complex sugars or fats for later storage.