Glucose vs Fructose

As the holiday season approaches, it might be time for a reminder of how to be more likely to stay “well” and healthy for the rest of the year. For example, there is some confusion about the difference between glucose and fructose. Both have the same caloric value but the difference is in their chemical structure and how they are metabolized in the body. While fructose and glucose have the same calorific value, the two sugars are metabolized differently in the body. Fructose is a simple sugar commonly found in fruits and some vegetables. It registers lower on the Glycemic Index but higher on the Glycemic Load indexes (as compared with glucose). It is said to bind much faster to cellular proteins and releases high amounts of oxygen radicals (e.g., hydrogen peroxide). An excess of fructose can trigger health problems such as insultin resistance and liver disease. It is said to cause seven times as much cell damage as does glucose, because it binds to cellular proteins seven times faster; and it releases 100 times the number of oxygen radicals (such as hydrogen peroxide, which kills everything in sight). More tomorrow