I’ll try to explain what is going on. It’s not magic, and it’s not all conclusively beneficial. Fructose acts on the pancreas to increase insulin, but converts

I’ll try to explain what is going on. It’s not magic, and it’s not all conclusively beneficial. Fructose acts on the pancreas to increase insulin, but converts to glycogen directly at first pass of the liver and gets stored there. The glucose from the rice then gets deposited faster to adipose tissue because of the insulin, which shows up as lower levels of blood glucose. Fructose alone can cause hypoglycemia with this effect. Too much glycogen from fructose turns into non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. But glycogen feels great to the brain, which is why we drink HFCS. There are also some reasons why high blood glucose is bad, like decreased insulin sensitivity, and cell damage in sensitive tissues like the retina. The clear-cut benefit of the apple is the insoluble fiber, which slows absorption and gets metabolized by colon bacteria to capric acid, giving satiety for hours afterward. It’s possible that what I describe with the fructose is also good, if the glycogen stores are depleted prior to eating, and the adipose tissue is sensitive enough to grehlin/GH to release fatty acids throughout the day, and of course, the person maintains the proper energy balance. Energy balance always wins. Study after study tries to find a way around it, and it never works. Beyond basic macro and micro requirements, there’s very little effect of changing anything else. But those things might make you feel better, which makes energy balance goals easier to achieve.