Added sugar vs. natural sugar

neil4ad

Are all sugars the same? I regularly surpass my sugar limits, mainly because I eat so much fruit! I do limit my intake of added sugars, however. But as there is a history of diabetes in my family....should I limit my consumption of fruit/naturally occurring sugars as well?

JoanaMHill

The naturally occurring sugars in fruits are, in fact, healthier than the kind you'd find in a lollipop or use in recipes. You don't have to be quite as careful about them, but that doesn't mean you can eat all you want, either. I'd say ask a doctor about it and look through your family history. Even people with the same disease work differently.

thinklivebefree

Everything in your body gets turned into sugar so it doesnt matter....Protein & carbs included!

fruttibiscotti

Are all sugars the same? I regularly surpass my sugar limits, mainly because I eat so much fruit! I do limit my intake of added sugars, however. But as there is a history of diabetes in my family....should I limit my consumption of fruit/naturally occurring sugars as well?

Your first question, "are all sugars the same?" is a tricky one. For example, a glucose molecule is different from a fructose molecule. Also, the way they are metabolized in the body is different, too. However, they are indeed both sugars. Another way to answer this question, from a marketing point of view, is honey versus cane sugar, as an example. One may argue honey is natural while crystallized cane sugar is not - but in reality, they are both sugar (agave, concentrated fruit juice, molasses, beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, sugar-in-the-raw, coconut sugar, etc....doesn't matter if the marketers labeled them as organic, natural, raw, minimally processed....it's all sugar, period.

I can see how history of diabetes in your family would raise concern, but perhaps a question better suited with a discussion with your doctor.

Good luck.

Derf_Smeggle

Are all sugars the same? I regularly surpass my sugar limits, mainly because I eat so much fruit! I do limit my intake of added sugars, however. But as there is a history of diabetes in my family....should I limit my consumption of fruit/naturally occurring sugars as well?

There is a difference in the sources of sugars that you eat. However, it isn't the difference in the sugar, but the difference in what accompanies the sugar, how that impacts the rate at which the sugar is metabolized, and the amount of sugar present per volume. Here is a nice article from Joy Dubost, RD and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, on the differences:

Whether it's in a piece of fruit, your soda or a pastry, sugar is made up of the same two components: fructose and glucose. The molecular structure and composition of sugar molecules is the same no matter where they come from.

The ratios of fructose and glucose are pretty much the same in both fruit and table sugar. Most fruits are 40 to 55 percent fructose (there's some variation: 65 percent in apples and pears; 20 percent in cranberries), and table sugar (aka sucrose) is 50/50. Neither type of sugar is better or worse for you, but your body processes them differently. Fructose breaks down in your liver and doesn’t provoke an insulin response. Glucose starts to break down in the stomach and requires the release of insulin into the bloodstream to be metabolized completely.

Don't get the idea that because the sugar composition is the same in fruit and cake, they're interchangeable. (Seriously, they're not.) For one thing, fruit offers good stuff like vitamins, antioxidants and water, while candy and desserts are nutritionally void. Fruit also tends to have less sugar by volume. Half a cup of strawberries: 3.5 grams of sugar. Half a cup of strawberry ice cream: 15 grams.

Plus, whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body's digestion of glucose, so you don't get the crazy insulin spike (and subsequent crash) that candy causes. That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it -- as fat. Even dried fruit, a notoriously sugary treat, has all the fiber and nutrients of its plump forbear. But do watch out for dried fruits with added sugar(check the nutrition label), and don't eat a ton just because they're smaller. Picture how many pieces are in a handful of raisins compared with a handful of grapes. See what we mean?

On average, Americans don't eat enough fruit, so don't cut it out of your diet in an attempt to limit your sugar intake! Sugar itself isn't toxic. But getting too much of it from cookies and cake is.

ninerbuff

Everything in your body gets turned into sugar so it doesnt matter....Protein & carbs included!

Carbs yes. Protein no. Protein gets broken down to amino acids. You can't build muscle with carbs or sugar.

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