I have never understood why “added sugar” is more unfriendly to health than “natural sugar,” which can be found in abundance in so many fruits, starting with morning natural orange juice. Can you explain?
The natural sugar in whole fruit (fructose) is accompanied by fiber and nutrients and makes a slow journey through your body. But when sugar is added to beverages or packaged foods, it’s more quickly absorbed and burdens the liver. Here are three good reasons to choose whole fruits versus foods with added sugar or fruit juice.
Fiber: Whole fruits contain fiber, which slows the absorption of fructose. Sugars enter the bloodstream more slowly, so the liver has more time to metabolize them.
纤维：全果都含有纤维，可以减缓果糖吸收。糖进入血液的速度会更慢，所以肝脏会有更多时间来代谢它们。
Satiety: Processed food is digested quickly as soon as it enters our intestines. Fiber-rich foods like whole fruits break down slowly and travel farther through the digestive track, which triggers the release of satiety hormones that make us feel full.
Gut Health: The slow journey of the fiber, fructose and nutrients in whole fruit essentially allows the body to feed the healthy bacteria in our intestine, supporting the health of our microbiome.
