For example, most fruits have around 10-20g of sugar per cup of fruit. How is this sugar any different than if I were to eat a granola bar with 10g of added sugar? Or have a drink with added sugar? The USDA says to limit added sugar consumption, but says nothing about limiting regular sugar consumption. Is added sugar chemically any different from sugar found in natural foods?
In: Chemistry
“Natural” sugars are also bad for us, and we should limit our sugar consumption regardless of source. However, things with added sugar are more sugar-dense than things that don’t have added sugar, so it’s easier to eat less and yet also overindulge with sugar.
It’s easier to regulate our natural sugar intake because of the bulk of food relative to the natural sugar content.
Sugar isn’t bad for you. Overindulging is. Sugar is just a carbohydrate like rice or pasta. It’s just easy to eat too much of it. Too much of any thing isn’t good for you. Moderation!
fresh fruits have fibers in them that prevent the sugar from being absorbed by the liver. Sugar is harmless in this form, and you can take as much fruit as you want without worrying about your sugar intake
however, sugar without these fibers (example: soda, fruit juice, any product with added sugar really) will be absorbed by the liver and can be harmful if you take too much
When the sugar comes in the form of an unprocessed food (like the fructose in an apple, or the starch in a wheat grain) it is surrounded by fiber that slows your body’s absorption of the sugar…so you don’t get the same spike in blood sugar that you do from foods with added processed sugars (sugar, corn syrup, flour, starches, etc.) When you lose the natural fibrous part, you absorb the sugar more quickly, get a spike in blood sugar, which results in more body fat, and higher risks for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
As someone with IBS sensitive to high amounts of sugar I sadly have to tell you that while there are some differences in general our body doesn’t much care where sugar comes from.
But a cup of coke you can down in one go or the multiple peaches you would need to eat to get the same amount of sugar means usually you just don’t consume as much sugar as fast with fruits 😉
Because it directly increases insulin production and resistance, the amount of fruit you need to consume and process to equal a bottle of coke would have you with a sore jaw.
Think of sugar in fruit as being scattered among other parts of the fruit that your body has to break down to get to it. Think of it like the sugar being insulated by plant fiber.
Robert Lustig would like to have a word with you. [Sugar: The Bitter Truth.](https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM?si=zuybOODIQ8ANuzgO)
I want to comment from a dental point of view.
Added sugars are usually simple sugars that are broken down easily by naturally existing oral bacterial flora. That influx of simple sugars drives more activity of these bacteria and increases the byproducts of this reaction (acidic byproducts). These byproducts cause damage to tooth surfaces and accelerates decay. It can also affect the bacterial balances in the oral cavity shifting it towards less healthy bacteria, making the whole situation worse.
I would assume a similar effect exists for gut flora.
It’s because natural sugars come with far more fibre and general volume, so it’s not possible to overeat the way you can gorge yourself on processed foods.
The sugars themselves aren’t that different (they are relatively simple compounds) it’s the absence of the other things that makes them ’empty calories’ in junk food.
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