bmorgen said:
Glucose needs to be contrrolled and Fructose, which is found in the sweetest fruits e.g. grapes, isn't good for us in other ways.
Fructose metabolises differently from sucrose and so is a good way for diabetics to get sweetness without spiking. There is a significant non-scientific lunatic fringe opposed to fructose. But it is just one of the many natural sugars we eat. Virtually all fruit contains fructose. If it were as poisonous as the internet sites say, we'd all be doomed. Fun fructose idea: make your own chocolate bars with nearly unsweetened chocolate (85% or greater) and either fruit sugar or agave syrup. Add some almonds or hazelnuts and cool into chocolate bars/rounds. Low GI chocolate!
Fructose is scientifically proven to be processed via the liver and turned to fat as opposed to other sugars / sweeteners which will either pass through the body without being stored at all or used as energy.
All sugar in excess is bad for us. Many sugars have been proven to have more of an effect on us than others and whilst agave syrup has been marketed as being a low GI natural sweetener, it's insanely high in fructose and so should be avoided whether you're diabetic or not. I used to use agave syrup until doing a fair amount of research into sugars.
Fruit contains fructose but in very small amounts and because they also contain fibre, it helps the body to process it more slowly. Certain fruits contain more fructose than others such as pineapple, apple and melons. Fruits such as kiwi, lemon, blueberries and raspberries have the least amount of fructose.
So why is fructose considered bad if it's found in natural foods? Because it's also included in most other processed foods and drinks we buy so we unwittingly consume more than what we normally would if we lived on more natural diets.
Take a look for example at fruit juice made from concentrate (the ones you find in cartons on the shelves in the supermarkets). Because the fruit juice has been concentrated, so too has the content of fructose. You may think that because it's 100% orange juice it'd be fine but you may as well chug down coke. Fresh fruit juice that you find needs to be refrigerated is not concentrated but still contains fructose, just in smaller quantities and is the better out of the 2 but still needs to be consumed moderately...like most things.
The least bad sugars seem to be Stevia and coconut sugar but again that all seems to depend on how the manufacturer processes it!