HOW SWEET IT IS
Like all food, fruit is a complex
combination of vitamins, minerals,
phytonutrients, fiber, and many other
compounds that scientists have yet to identify.
Fruit also contains natural sugars (glucose and
fructose) and starches in various proportions
and amounts. As fruit ripens, the starch in the
fleshy part of it is converted to sugar, which
makes it taste sweeter.
Fructose is the sweetest of all naturally
occurring carbohydrates—almost twice as
sweet as sucrose. You consume fructose in a
variety of sources, including table sugar
(sucrose), honey, fruits, some vegetables, and
in processed foods and drinks sweetened with
high-fructose corn syrup.
Fructose is different from other simple
sugars in the way it’s processed in the body.
Virtually every cell in the body can use
glucose for energy, but after being absorbed