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If we want to be factually correct though, then it is important to note that sugar (table sugar, the tiny white cubes people sometimes add to their drinks or ce

If we want to be factually correct though, then it is important to note that sugar (table sugar, the tiny white cubes people sometimes add to their drinks or cereal or baking) is not actually glucose, but rather, it is sucrose, a disaccharide made up of two monosaccharides that have been bonded together (fructose + glucose) and so sugar is not actually good for people, but yes, glucose is fundamental to the functioning of the body. The human liver can actually create glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis in the absence of consumption of glucose.

xmonkee 3y ago
sugar is not actually good for you does not follow from it being a disaccharide. AFAIK when controlling for calories sucrose and fructose are no worse than any other form of carb, and controlling for calories carbs are no worse than fat. In fact they are much better in certain cases (like doing more than minimal amounts of cardio)
- Gibbon1 3y ago
  The metabolic pathways to process fructose and glucose are different. I think they can be bad for you in entirely different ways.
- adrian_b 3y ago
  While glucose is either used directly or it is stored as glycogen in liver and muscles, fructose is used in a different way. Fructose is mostly converted by the liver and much of the energy obtained from it is used to synthesize fat. In moderate quantities, fructose should cause no bad effects, but in excessive quantities it causes various problems, like fatty liver, as it has been known for millennia, because the method of producing foie gras is based on this (i.e. overfeeding geese with sweet fruits, but the same method would also work on humans). For humans it is recommended to avoid a daily intake of more than 25 g fructose or 50 g sugar (sucrose). When the main source of sugar are fruits it is not easy to eat more sugar than recommended, because most fruits have only around 10% sugar. Only a few fruits have over 15% sugar, e.g. grapes, (fresh) figs and (fresh) dates, and even with those you have to eat generous amounts before eating too much fructose. On the other hand, with dried fruits or with food with added sugar or HFCS, it has become extremely easy to eat too much fructose. The effects of fructose can be compared with those of alcohol, even if they are much less severe. In small quantities, both are sources of energy, but in too large quantities they both damage the liver. Fructose does not have effects on the nervous system and it becomes harmful only at higher daily intakes, but nonetheless it must not be abused.

xmonkee 3y ago

sugar is not actually good for you does not follow from it being a disaccharide. AFAIK when controlling for calories sucrose and fructose are no worse than any other form of carb, and controlling for calories carbs are no worse than fat. In fact they are much better in certain cases (like doing more than minimal amounts of cardio)

Gibbon1 3y ago
The metabolic pathways to process fructose and glucose are different. I think they can be bad for you in entirely different ways.
adrian_b 3y ago
While glucose is either used directly or it is stored as glycogen in liver and muscles, fructose is used in a different way. Fructose is mostly converted by the liver and much of the energy obtained from it is used to synthesize fat. In moderate quantities, fructose should cause no bad effects, but in excessive quantities it causes various problems, like fatty liver, as it has been known for millennia, because the method of producing foie gras is based on this (i.e. overfeeding geese with sweet fruits, but the same method would also work on humans). For humans it is recommended to avoid a daily intake of more than 25 g fructose or 50 g sugar (sucrose). When the main source of sugar are fruits it is not easy to eat more sugar than recommended, because most fruits have only around 10% sugar. Only a few fruits have over 15% sugar, e.g. grapes, (fresh) figs and (fresh) dates, and even with those you have to eat generous amounts before eating too much fructose. On the other hand, with dried fruits or with food with added sugar or HFCS, it has become extremely easy to eat too much fructose. The effects of fructose can be compared with those of alcohol, even if they are much less severe. In small quantities, both are sources of energy, but in too large quantities they both damage the liver. Fructose does not have effects on the nervous system and it becomes harmful only at higher daily intakes, but nonetheless it must not be abused.