It seems people are still not aware, so I will try make this nice and basic and short.
In short. The exact same added sugars found in full sugar soft drinks and cakes or lollies, are also found in fresh organic fruit and vegetables. For people to say they eat zero sugar must mean they eat no fruit or vegetables and I would be worried about their health. When they say they eat no added sugars. Well these sugars are natural but extracted from plants as a singular, and then added to foods which means they are no longer consumed on their own but consumed with other macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Just like a fruit or vegetable contains the sugar and has these.
Most common Types of sugars. And where are they naturally?
Monosaccharides. Single sugars.
Fructose, C6H12O6 Fruit sugar, occurs naturally in fruits, some root vegetables, cane sugar and honey and is the sweetest of the sugars. It is one of the components of sucrose or table sugar. Also in soft drinks. Fructose has the worst reputation due to being metabolized by the liver.
Galactose. C6H12O6 In general, Galactose does not occur in the free state but is a constituent with glucose of the disaccharide lactose or milk sugar.
Glucose. C6H12O6 Naturally in fruits and plant juices and is the primary product of photosynthesis. Most ingested carbohydrates are converted into glucose during digestion and it is the form of sugar that is transported around the bodies of animals in the bloodstream. Also in soft drinks.
Disaccharides. A disaccharide is a sugar (a carbohydrate) composed of two monosaccharides.
Lactose. C12H22O11 Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar found in milk. A molecule of lactose is formed by the combination of a molecule of galactose with a molecule of glucose.
Maltose. C12H22O11 Maltose is formed during the germination of certain grains, the most notable being barley, which is converted into malt, the source of the sugar's name. A molecule of maltose is formed by the combination of two molecules of glucose. It is less sweet than glucose, fructose or sucrose.
Sucrose. C12H22O11 Sucrose is found in the stems of sugarcane and roots of sugar beets. It also occurs naturally alongside fructose and glucose in other plants, in particular fruits and some roots such as carrots and apples. A molecule of sucrose is formed by the combination of a molecule of glucose with a molecule of fructose. It is the sugar in soft drinks.
So how much sugar is too much? This depends on the person and their activity level and if they have medical issues.
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