Is fructose worse than all other sugars?
We don’t know conclusively, but fructose in its natural forms is probably not an issue for healthy individuals.
So, is fructose worse than all other sugars?
For a while now, fructose has been vilified. Supposedly, it goes straight to the liver, where much of it gets converted straight to fat, thereby leading to more fat accumulation.
Here’s the thing, though. Everything (protein, fats, and glucose) gets turned into fat if you have enough food. That’s just how our body stores energy. Other sugars are no better and get turned into fat just as easily if you’re in a hyper caloric (enough calories) state.
I’m not contending that we should count calories – it’s not necessary for most people if they’re eating a nutritious, whole-foods diet – but calories do matter when it comes to fat accumulation.
The real problem is processed sugar. And the bigger problem is adding processed sugar to foods with fat and salt. All of which creates hyper palatable food that we can’t stop eating.
So there’s a difference between processed sugars that contain fructose (or a lot of it like processed agave syrup), and fructose that naturally occurs in fruits or in sweet potatoes. In its natural form, fructose is likely not a problem at all.