Avoiding excessive sugar intake is likely one of the most common advices on maintaining a healthy diet. However, there are many fruits that are loaded with natural sugar, whose consumption is equally encouraged.
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This can look paradoxical to the average person, so to help clear the confusion, Dr Jeremy London, a board-certified heart surgeon with more than 25 years of experience, took to Instagram on July 7 and explained the difference.
Is fruit sugar the same as added sugar?
Dr London revealed that, chemically speaking, the sugar molecules in fruits and the ones used in desserts are the same. So if extracted and consumed on their own, they will be processed by the body the same way and have the same effects.
However, what makes the difference in practice is the packaging of the sugar molecules. It is the nutrients that come along with it that result in fruit sugar being processed very differently from sugar present in soft drinks and processed snacks.
In his words, “Well, you know, chemically the sugar is identical, but an apple has sugar (and) a glazed donut has sugar. But the way we metabolise those two things is completely different… In the end, sugar is sugar, but what it comes with makes a tremendous difference.”
How is sugar in fruits processed differently by the body?
As Dr London pointed out, “The difference isn’t the sugar. It’s the packaging.”
When a person consumes whole fruits, they are ingesting a significant amount of natural sugar. However, along with that, they are also taking in fibre and water, which slow down the process of digestion and blunt out the blood sugar spike that would have happened from consuming the same amount of sugar on its own.
Fruits are also loaded with polyphenols and micronutrients. These provide the added nutritional value to the body that only sugar does not.
In the words of Dr London, “An apple has fibre. It has water, polyphenols, and antioxidants. These things slow the digestive process. It affects how your body processes the sugar. So, it impacts your glycemic index as well as your overall metabolism of the sugar itself.”
The importance of eating whole fruits
“Now, when I say whole fruits, I do mean whole fruits because fruit juices and dried fruits, you lose these components as well,” noted Dr London.
Juice strips out nearly all the fibre, so it behaves a lot more like a sugary drink, he pointed out. Dried fruit keeps its fibre, but loses the water, which concentrates the sugar and makes it easy to eat way more, way faster, than you would with the fruit fresh.
Whole fruit is also more filling calorie for calorie than sugary drinks or processed snacks, so it’s naturally harder to overeat. Therefore, they are the best sources of natural sugar that we can get.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
Dr Jeremy London is a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with more than 25 years of experience. He has an MD from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, and his focus is on the intersection of lifestyle, preventive medicine, and evidence-based longevity.
