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[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 53 points 1 day ago

‘We should reduce sugar and sweetener consumption, let’s not tax this drink that’s almost pure sugar because it’s natural’ is asinine. Apple juice has virtually identical sugar content to a soda.

[-] tyler@programming.dev 8 points 1 day ago

They’re not the same types of sugar. Your body uses glucose differently than fructose.

[-] pseudo@jlai.lu 6 points 7 hours ago

They are both very high in fructose. What is your point? I genuinly don't get it.

[-] liuther9@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

What is the difference? Both harmful same way, glucose spikes, leads to obesity

[-] SalmiakDragon@feddit.nu 7 points 1 day ago

Maybe to some extent? I don't think the superiority of one monosaccharide over the other has been clearly established. There are differences, but the health impact of them are not clear. Also, "glucose vs fructose" is

  1. not super-relevant to the matter of comparing juice with soda. At least here in the Nordics, most sodas seem to be sweetened with sugar, a.k.a. sucrose (a.k.a. fructose+glucose, see below), and maybe a splash of juice. (Based on a survey of my favorites, though I mostly drink the Zero-versions)

  2. a bit of a false choice (see below).


Fructose often co-occurs with glucose

(Source: Wikipedia article on Fructose)

  • Fructose co-exists with glucose, in sucrose ...

Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a common monosaccharide, i.e. a simple sugar. It is classified as a reducing hexose, more specifically a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose.

  • ... and in fruit.

Table: "Sugar content of selected common plant foods". Note that many of the fruits' sugar content is dominated by a combination of sucrose and free fructose. Only plum breaks this trend, containing mostly glucose instead (still 47% sucrose and fructose).

  • Also: Fructose mostly ends up as glucose

The liver converts most fructose and galactose into glucose for distribution in the bloodstream or deposition into glycogen.

"Potential health effects"

  • A lot of the discussion in this part of the article is just about overconsumption of dietary sugars (including glucose and sucrose) in general, which would indicate to me that the differences between them aren't all that significant. However:

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stated in 2011 that fructose may be preferable over sucrose and glucose in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages because of its lower effect on postprandial blood sugar levels,[58] while also noting the potential downside that "high intakes of fructose may lead to metabolic complications such as dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance, and increased visceral adiposity".[58][59] The UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in 2015 disputed the claims of fructose causing metabolic disorders, stating that "there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that fructose intake, at levels consumed in the normal UK diet, leads to adverse health outcomes independent of any effects related to its presence as a component of total and free sugars."[60]

  • "Compared to sucrose"

Fructose was found to increase triglycerides in type-2 but not type-1 diabetes, and moderate use of it has previously been considered acceptable as a sweetener for diabetics,[61] possibly because it does not trigger the production of insulin by pancreatic β cells.[62] For a 50 gram reference amount, fructose has a glycemic index of 23, compared with 100 for glucose and 60 for sucrose.[63] Fructose is also 73% sweeter than sucrose at room temperature, allowing diabetics to use less of it per serving.

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 1 day ago

The sugar in soda contains fructose (it is in fact 50% fructose). Soda with HFCS isn’t actually that much higher in fructose than plain sugar soda, ironically; the ‘high’ just means ‘higher than white sugar’.

[-] tyler@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago

The “high” means greater than 55% fructose. HFCS has to be at minimum HFCS-55 according to the FDA. Many sodas mix HFCS-55 with HFCS-90 to increase the concentration. And I never said that soda doesn’t have fructose? Don’t know where you got that.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 day ago

Isn't it fructose, or has it changed during the "jucification" process? I mean fructose is sugar, but way less bad than refined sugars.

this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
373 points (96.0% liked)

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