Simply Sugar – An Explanation Of Sweeteners – Part 2

Alright, so now that I slammed the knowledge about glucose and fructose, how they interact with your body, and why one is good (glucose) and the other is bad (fructose) you may want to know how to identify fructose, and how to avoid it.

Quick warning, if you’re a sugar addict, or really enjoy sweets, you may want to stop reading now, because it’s going to get ugly.

I’m about to rock your world, and you will never see sweeteners the same way again. Yes… including your coveted “all natural sweeteners.”

You should probably be as scared as this guy below:

Careful about that fructose monster dude, he’s pretty tough.

But the good news is that he’s easier to find than the boogyman who supposedly lives in your closet, but you can never seem to find. (Which is probably a good thing by the way. I know I’d be pretty freaked out if I actually *met* a real boogy monster…)

Anyhow, how do you find fructose?

Well it’s in almost every sweetener out there.

Table sugar, natural cane sugar, evaporated cane sugar, fruit juice concentrate, maple syrup, honey, and even high fructose corn syrup… Pretty much any sweetener you may use has 1 part fructose, and 1 part glucose.

They pretty much all look the same (within just a few percent difference for each.)

They’re basically just connected together by a small little chemical bond that breaks down almost instantly when it hits your stomach.

For all intents and purposes, sweeteners look like this:

When they hit your stomach, they do this.

And then glucose does all of it’s good stuff, while fructose goes straight to your liver.

Out of all the “natural sweeteners” agave nectar is probably the worst, as it can be up to 90% fructose instead of just about 50%.

What’s the best sweetener?

Pure corn sugar is actually as close to 100% glucose as you can get, and that’s great.

It’s hard to find unless you order it online, or you get it from a local home brewing shop (it’s the sugar they use to make beer.)

Sometimes local cake baking shops have it too because they use it for the fondant on the cakes.

The bottom line is that sweeteners aren’t the best choice no matter what, but you need to know that most sweeteners have over 50% fructose, and it’s really not doing your body any good. (Refer to part 1 of this sugar series for a more detailed description.)

But if you *are* going to use a sweetener, do yourself a favor, put down the “natural” sweeteners like honey, agave nectar, or evaporated cane juice, and go get some corn sugar.

Your liver, and insulin sensitivity will thank you.