staying healthy in the fast laneHigh fructose corn syrup has given fruit a bad rap because
“fructose” is fruit sugar, so many people are paranoid about eating
fruit. As you can see, though, HFCS has varying amounts of fruc-
tose and glucose to create the desired sweetness for a product. The
fructose in a piece of fruit is held in the complex of water, fiber,
and phytochemicals, so with fruit your body is getting less of a
sugar load as well as a slower release of the sugar and more pro-
tective compounds with it. My point? Don’t be paranoid of whole
fruit. Have at it! It’s so good for you. Try not to consume processed
foods in general with any kind of added sugars. Period. The de-
bate of whether added HFCS is better or worse for you than added
table sugar (sucrose) is a moot point. We shouldn’t be eating a lot of
foods that have either one of these totally unnecessary added calorie
sweeteners in the first place.
Sugar in Natural Food: Is it Better?
Natural sugars come in fruit, grains, legumes, and vegetables.
Since natural sugars are a calorie source when consumed in excess,
they can increase weight and inflammation like other calories. But
it is harder to eat excess calories when eating whole, unprocessed
foods with no added sugars of any type.
In general, natural sugars are better than “added” manufac-
tured sugars because they come in a complex of fiber and other
phytonutrients that slow the release of these sugars into our bod-
ies, making the metabolism of the sugar less stressful to our en-
docrine (adrenal glands, liver, pancreas, brain) organs over time.
Nutrients that come with these natural sugars in complex whole
foods assist in the metabolism of that sugar instead of taking those
nutrients from body stores needed for this and other important
bodily processes.
The truth is sucrose, or table sugar (fructose and glucose), and
high fructose corn syrup (fructose and glucose) are metabolized
similarly and, in small amounts don’t cause disease any more than
natural sugars found in whole foods. But—and this is a big but—
there is no need for these two types of sugars to be added to our food