What is the difference between carbohydrates in fruit and carbohydrates in sugar or grains?
Fruit juices contain mostly sugars from fructose, the simplest type of sugar which is different from carbohydrates found in other foods. Fructose is a monosaccharide composed of one sugar molecule which is absorbed quickly as it doesn’t need further digestion. On the other hand, sucrose or regular white sugar, is a disaccharide composed of two sugars. This means that before your body can absorb white sugar, your digestive enzymes have to break it down into two smaller sugar molecules, known as glucose and fructose. This takes longer to get to the blood stream. The longer the digestive process – the less hungry you remain after eating. Complex carbohydrates contain many more sugar molecules, plus beneficial fibre and take the most time to metabolise keeping your appetite at bay for many hours. Does fast absorption of fructose elevate blood sugar levels too high? A fascinating fact about fructose is that even though it is absorbed quickly, it has a very low Glycaemic Index and does not r
