Sugar question

light_shimmer

Hi!
This may be a silly question, but I was looking at my diary today and got to thinking. Is there a difference in the way your body breaks down/uses sugar? For example, the sugar in a piece of chocolate vs the sugar in a slice of watermelon?

BuckeyeLife

From my understanding, sugar is a sugar and it handles it the same way regardless of the source.

That being said, the nutrients that go WITH the sugar can make a difference. Like with fruit, it comes with fiber which has its own value. Also antioxidants. Vitamins, good stuff.

skinnybearlyndsay

According to http://www.smart-energy-drink.com/energy/fruit-sugar-vs-refined-sugar, your body has to work harder to process fruit sugar and absorbs it less quickly that refined sugar. Sugar frome fruit puts less stress on your body and keeps it in balance.

yarwell

This may be a silly question, but I was looking at my diary today and got to thinking. Is there a difference in the way your body breaks down/uses sugar? For example, the sugar in a piece of chocolate vs the sugar in a slice of watermelon?

Watermelon is basically a sugar solution, you drink the juice and wham it's in your bloodstream.

Chocolate might have been a bad example to pick, with the fats getting in the way. http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm has chocolate as low GI and watermelon as high. GI is a measure of how fast sugars are absorbed and appear in the blood stream.

If chocolate is made with white sugar (sucrose) it's the same sucrose as you find in an orange, and it splits into glucose and fructose in the acid of your stomach so ends up the same as HFCS in sodas.

The only thing fruits can claim in their favour is a few vitamins and a bit of fibre, which may be in a sugar bearing manufactured product too.

light_shimmer

Thank you for the responses!