Sugar - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

摘要

We've all heard it before—sugar is bad for you. More recently, the enemy has been high-fructose corn syrup—a chemically modified version of sucrose (table sugar). However, even the most basic chemistry or biology class teaches that bodies run on sugar, more specifically glucose—sugar in its most basic form. So how can some types of sugar be good and some bad? The quick answer to this question is moderation. Almost any type of food we put in our bodies is acceptable and safe, as long as it is eaten in moderation. Glucose, sucrose and fructose are all types of sugar naturally existing in the food we eat. The difference comes from the way our bodies process each type of sugar. Sucrose and fructose are broken down from their more complex structures to make glucose once inside the body, which is then used for cell energy and growth. All three of these types of sugars are naturally-occurring, meaning they are naturally found in foods like fruits, root vegetables and honey. High-fructose corn syrup is chemically modified from its natural form, corn syrup, by increasing the amount of fructose.