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I've been confused by the recent emphasis on added sugars. Why does it make a difference where the sugar comes from? Two bananas also have 25g of sugar but some

by guelo 10y ago

I've been confused by the recent emphasis on added sugars. Why does it make a difference where the sugar comes from? Two bananas also have 25g of sugar but somehow it's different according to this guideline. Maybe it comes from a reluctance to telling people not to eat fruits and vegetables.

kyriakos 10y ago
It has to do with the way the sugar gets metabolized. Actually the rate it gets absorbed and released in the bloodstream. A banana has a lower glycemic index than refined sugar. A gram of refined sugar will cause a blood sugar spike requiring a large amount of insulin to remove it from the blood. A banana, takes longer to digest and release the sugar meaning the sugar spike is smaller hence less insulin. Type 2 diabetes is thought to be caused by sugar spikes in the blood stream - the more insulin gets released at once the body builds tolerance to insulin and requires more and more to do the same work leading to diabetes. check the following for a list of glucemic index in different foods: http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycem...
- timr 10y ago
  No. It has to do with the desire for a single, simple guideline that stands in for a bunch of different factors. It's right there in the article: “Children who eat foods loaded with added sugars tend to eat fewer healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that are good for their heart health,” Dr. Vos said. “If your child is eating the right amount of calories to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight, there isn’t much room in their food ‘budget’ for low-value junk foods, which is where most added sugars are found,” Dr. Vos said. This recommendation is coming from the American Heart Association. Diabetes is related to heart health, but they aren't making this recommendation based on an argument about sugar metabolism.
  - kyriakos 10y ago
    The original question was about what's different with sugar in a banana and refined sugar - I don't think it was in context with the article.
beachstartup 10y ago
fruits have fiber and vitamins and other redeeming qualities. maybe you're one of those people who think fiber and vitamins are useless and that 1000 calories of chocolate cake is identical to 1000 calories of chicken and broccoli, maybe not, but that's the reason. also, do you know anyone who overeats bananas, or other fruit? now, do you know anyone who overeats foods with added sugar? one of these is common, one is not, and probably never will be.
- NDizzle 10y ago
  Yes, exactly this. With the fruit comes fiber. Natural sugars, as long as they are consumed with their naturally occurring fiber, are fine. You can try to over-consume, but you'll have a bad time.
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  >fruits have fiber and vitamins and other redeeming qualities. I wouldn't word it that way. A cake can have plenty of fiber, and you could make a cake with a lot more vitamins than fruit has. But the cake is still a bad choice, for reasons such as having 5-10x more calories per ounce.
- derefr 10y ago
  Personally, I'd rather just make a smoothie out of hemp and a multivitamin (and magnesium, some fish oil, etc.) to get all the nutrition with no sugar, rather than worry about solving a complex system of "redeeming qualities." But then, I'm one of those crazy MealSquares/nootropics people.
taeric 10y ago
Mainly, the desire for easy instructions. There is also the idea that there aren't that many people getting overweight by just eating bananas. In general, I think the belief is that nature has to add sugar with other things, so that the net is a benefit. When you add sugar, you can just add sugar. (Or, do you really think that dried sweetened cranberries have as many nutrients as two bananas?)
coldtea 10y ago
Fructose is not the same as sucrose -- and they have different properties. The same is true about how its consumed, and how fast it's absorbed. (In fact fructose -- present in fruits -- can even be worse than table sugar: http://www.healthline.com/health-news/evidence-shows-some-sugars-are-worse-than-others-012915#2 http://www.healthline.com/health-news/evidence-shows-some-su...). That said, I seriously doubt the problems in american diet is "overconsumption of fruits", so they are quite right to stop people eating all the other sugary-containing crap first.
- smaddox 10y ago
  Sucrose is half fructose half glucose. In the body, the enzyme sucrase nearly instantaneously splits sucrose into fructose and glucose.
VLM 10y ago
American serving sizes are extremely corrupt. Its unusual to eat two bananas, so my "real world" breakfast is one banana or about 12 g carbs. We sell unhealthy stuff in crazy small serving sizes to market it as healthy. When I eat junk food, like pasta and meatballs night, we use two boxes of Penne (some consider use of Penne to be sacrilege in itself) and the box is labeled as 8 fifty gram servings per box, although we make two boxes for four people and admittedly have plenty left over for lunch the next day. Sure that pasta sauce claims a mere 24 grams of carbs per serving, if you get 9 servings out of that little jar (we usually get about four servings). I don't eat junk food very often. Lets compare guacamole dippers. For a good laugh look at the official legal serving size for potato chips. Like 10 chips. For real human beings its more like half a bag (if not the whole thing). An entire half pound "single serving" bag of baby carrots is about 80 calories. I pig out in front of the TV sometimes, the difference is I don't think its physically possible to get fat off carrots and guac and I eat like "half a zerving" and feel I've had enough, but obviously pretty easy to get fat off soda and chips and I can eat ten servings and feel hungry-ish. Ten servings of potatoe chips is only 100 or so chips ya know.
- derefr 10y ago
  One thing I've figured out about "servings" is that the corporate nutritionists' mental model of dinner is a lot like a "balanced breakfast": they expect that instead of eating big portions of one or two things, you'll be eating the "recommended servings" of five-to-eight different things, each of which takes a half-hour to prepare.

by guelo 10y ago

kyriakos 10y ago

It has to do with the way the sugar gets metabolized. Actually the rate it gets absorbed and released in the bloodstream. A banana has a lower glycemic index than refined sugar. A gram of refined sugar will cause a blood sugar spike requiring a large amount of insulin to remove it from the blood. A banana, takes longer to digest and release the sugar meaning the sugar spike is smaller hence less insulin. Type 2 diabetes is thought to be caused by sugar spikes in the blood stream - the more insulin gets released at once the body builds tolerance to insulin and requires more and more to do the same work leading to diabetes. check the following for a list of glucemic index in different foods: http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycem...

timr 10y ago
No. It has to do with the desire for a single, simple guideline that stands in for a bunch of different factors. It's right there in the article: “Children who eat foods loaded with added sugars tend to eat fewer healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that are good for their heart health,” Dr. Vos said. “If your child is eating the right amount of calories to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight, there isn’t much room in their food ‘budget’ for low-value junk foods, which is where most added sugars are found,” Dr. Vos said. This recommendation is coming from the American Heart Association. Diabetes is related to heart health, but they aren't making this recommendation based on an argument about sugar metabolism.
- kyriakos 10y ago
  The original question was about what's different with sugar in a banana and refined sugar - I don't think it was in context with the article.

beachstartup 10y ago

fruits have fiber and vitamins and other redeeming qualities. maybe you're one of those people who think fiber and vitamins are useless and that 1000 calories of chocolate cake is identical to 1000 calories of chicken and broccoli, maybe not, but that's the reason. also, do you know anyone who overeats bananas, or other fruit? now, do you know anyone who overeats foods with added sugar? one of these is common, one is not, and probably never will be.

NDizzle 10y ago
Yes, exactly this. With the fruit comes fiber. Natural sugars, as long as they are consumed with their naturally occurring fiber, are fine. You can try to over-consume, but you'll have a bad time.
Dylan16807 10y ago
>fruits have fiber and vitamins and other redeeming qualities. I wouldn't word it that way. A cake can have plenty of fiber, and you could make a cake with a lot more vitamins than fruit has. But the cake is still a bad choice, for reasons such as having 5-10x more calories per ounce.
derefr 10y ago
Personally, I'd rather just make a smoothie out of hemp and a multivitamin (and magnesium, some fish oil, etc.) to get all the nutrition with no sugar, rather than worry about solving a complex system of "redeeming qualities." But then, I'm one of those crazy MealSquares/nootropics people.

taeric 10y ago

Mainly, the desire for easy instructions. There is also the idea that there aren't that many people getting overweight by just eating bananas. In general, I think the belief is that nature has to add sugar with other things, so that the net is a benefit. When you add sugar, you can just add sugar. (Or, do you really think that dried sweetened cranberries have as many nutrients as two bananas?)

coldtea 10y ago

Fructose is not the same as sucrose -- and they have different properties. The same is true about how its consumed, and how fast it's absorbed. (In fact fructose -- present in fruits -- can even be worse than table sugar: http://www.healthline.com/health-news/evidence-shows-some-sugars-are-worse-than-others-012915#2 http://www.healthline.com/health-news/evidence-shows-some-su...). That said, I seriously doubt the problems in american diet is "overconsumption of fruits", so they are quite right to stop people eating all the other sugary-containing crap first.

smaddox 10y ago
Sucrose is half fructose half glucose. In the body, the enzyme sucrase nearly instantaneously splits sucrose into fructose and glucose.

VLM 10y ago

American serving sizes are extremely corrupt. Its unusual to eat two bananas, so my "real world" breakfast is one banana or about 12 g carbs. We sell unhealthy stuff in crazy small serving sizes to market it as healthy. When I eat junk food, like pasta and meatballs night, we use two boxes of Penne (some consider use of Penne to be sacrilege in itself) and the box is labeled as 8 fifty gram servings per box, although we make two boxes for four people and admittedly have plenty left over for lunch the next day. Sure that pasta sauce claims a mere 24 grams of carbs per serving, if you get 9 servings out of that little jar (we usually get about four servings). I don't eat junk food very often. Lets compare guacamole dippers. For a good laugh look at the official legal serving size for potato chips. Like 10 chips. For real human beings its more like half a bag (if not the whole thing). An entire half pound "single serving" bag of baby carrots is about 80 calories. I pig out in front of the TV sometimes, the difference is I don't think its physically possible to get fat off carrots and guac and I eat like "half a zerving" and feel I've had enough, but obviously pretty easy to get fat off soda and chips and I can eat ten servings and feel hungry-ish. Ten servings of potatoe chips is only 100 or so chips ya know.

derefr 10y ago
One thing I've figured out about "servings" is that the corporate nutritionists' mental model of dinner is a lot like a "balanced breakfast": they expect that instead of eating big portions of one or two things, you'll be eating the "recommended servings" of five-to-eight different things, each of which takes a half-hour to prepare.