# Is there a nutritional difference between added sugar and natural sugar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248 "2016-05-20T18:43:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/1 "2016-05-20T18:43:25Z")
The new nutritional labels will show the amount of added sugar, in addition to the total. Is it really important if the sugar was added, or if it was there to begin with? I understand that fruit juice isn’t nutritionally much different from soda, despite one having only added sugar, and the other having only natural sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/2 "2016-05-20T19:17:05Z")
The nutritional value of any kind of sugar, as measured in a bomb calorimeter, is almost exactly the same, regardless of the exact configuration. (Note that this goes also for, say, cellulose, which isn’t available at all to the human digestional system!) However, according to what I learned in biochemistry class in college umpteen years ago, as for biologically available carbohydrates, some sugars, like fructose, somewhat bypass the main glycolyse chain and tend to get turned into fat rather than being instantly used as fuel (resulting in water + CO[sub]2[/sub]). So it does matter, to some degree, in what form you take in your carbohydrates. It’s pretty unclear what is meant by “natural sugar” though. Most fruits contain mainly fructose (hence the name!) Sugar canes and sugar beets contan sucrose, which can be regarded as a mix of equal parts glucose and fructose. Other plants, including maize and potatoes, contain starch, which primarily breaks down into glucose only. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/3 "2016-05-20T19:31:21Z")
When comparing more similar products such as all-natural apple juice and sugar-added apple juice you can pretty much guarantee there’s more sugar in the sugar-added version. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/4 "2016-05-20T21:06:08Z")
One can compare the amount of sugar in various products (e.g., soft drink vs fruit juice) by simply looking at the total grams of sugar – never mind how it got there. But I think the point is to let consumers know how much of sugar really needs to be there (that is, how much is naturally occurring). For example, compare the dry cereals Trix vs. Kix. They both look identical except for the artificial carnival colors in Trix (while Kix is just plain corn-meal yellow). Kix is mildly sweet, while Trix is dripping syrupy sugary. A look at the labels will show that Trix has a lot more sugar than Kix. With the new labels, it will be a lot more in-your-face that Trix in only more sugary than Kix because they added all that extra sugar at the factory. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/5 "2016-05-20T21:38:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > When comparing more similar products such as all-natural apple juice and sugar-added apple juice you can pretty much guarantee there’s more sugar in the sugar-added version. Not really. There’s a natural point of maximum palatability for sugar (around 10% in beverages) and all sweetened beverages cluster pretty tightly around that point. The sugar added version doesn’t contain more sugar, it contains less apple, replacing expensive apple juice with cheap water and sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/6 "2016-05-20T22:01:13Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > However, according to what I learned in biochemistry class in college umpteen years ago, as for biologically available carbohydrates, some sugars, like fructose, somewhat bypass the main glycolyse chain and tend to get turned into fat rather than being instantly used as fuel (resulting in water + CO[sub]2[/sub]). So it does matter, to some degree, in what form you take in your carbohydrates. This didn’t sound right to me, and it doesn’t pan out when I search. [Modern Diet Myth No. 4: Fructose turns to fat](http://scepticalnutritionist.com.au/?p=1770) ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/7 "2016-05-20T22:48:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This didn’t sound right to me, and it doesn’t pan out when I search. > > [Modern Diet Myth No. 4: Fructose turns to fat](http://scepticalnutritionist.com.au/?p=1770) As stated, my source for this is an age-old:) textbook of biochemistry ( Mathews/van Holde, _Biochemistry_, (c) 1990) and may well be superseded by later findings. There is some rather plausible argument in the text, though, as to why the conversion fructose-\>fat might take place. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/8 "2016-05-20T23:03:18Z")
Glucose enters the blood stream and is then immediately available to muscles, the brain and other organs. Fructose goes to the liver for conversion to glucose, it can’t be used directly. The advantage is that it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels the way ingesting glucose does, but the way I understand it is that if you ingest too much fructose your liver will turn a good portion into fat that sticks around your organs, which is not good (much worse than the fat under your skin). But perhaps this has been debunked. Of course there is no difference between glucose or fructose (or sucrose, which is 50% glucose and 50% fructose) that comes from plant A and the glucose/fructose that comes from plant B. Yes, it’s called “orange juice” and not “sugar cane juice” but it’s all plant juice: 89% water, 10% sugar and 1% other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/9 "2016-05-20T23:43:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > When comparing more similar products such as all-natural apple juice and sugar-added apple juice you can pretty much guarantee there’s more sugar in the sugar-added version. Sugar-added apple juice? Is there even such a thing? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/10 "2016-05-21T00:08:52Z")
Yes there is a difference and it seems to have to do with how it is packaged more than anything else. Natural sugars are most often both packaged with fiber and inside cells, both of which slow down absorption. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/11 "2016-05-21T00:17:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > When comparing more similar products such as all-natural apple juice and sugar-added apple juice you can pretty much guarantee there’s more sugar in the sugar-added version. 12 ounces of apple juice has 39 grams of sugar, ,while a can of soda has around 40 grams. Why would more sugar even need to be added? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/12 "2016-05-21T00:20:46Z")
**Ambivalid** , they usually have to call it apple drink if there’s water and sugar added. But there are plenty of apple drinks out there. > [@boffking](#): > > The new nutritional labels will show the amount of added sugar, in addition to the total. Is it really important if the sugar was added, or if it was there to begin with? I understand that fruit juice isn’t nutritionally much different from soda, despite one having only added sugar, and the other having only natural sugar. Are you sure the new nutritional labels show added sugar? I’ve only seen nutritional labels that show total sugar (under carbohydrates), and ingredient lists, that list sugar as an added ingredient. Two separate things. I’ve never seen a nutritional label with two total sugar listings. [Here for Tree Top Apple Juice - nutritional label.](http://www.treetop.com/consumerbrands/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryID=1&ProductID=79)[Here is the nutrition label AND the ingredient list for Snapple Apple.](http://www.snapple.com/products/snapple-apple-juice-drink) You can’t tell from the nutritional label how much of that sugar is added. You also can’t tell how much sugar is added from the ingredient list. You can only tell that there is more sugar added than apple juice concentrate and less sugar added than water. Unless someone can show me a nutritional label that distinguishes added from intrinsic sugar, I’m going to assume they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/13 "2016-05-21T00:39:34Z")
The changes became law today so you won’t have seen them in stores yet. However, the new labels make a point of showing an [added sugars line](http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/labelingnutrition/ucm385663.htm#images). ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/14 "2016-05-21T01:21:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > One can compare the amount of sugar in various products (e.g., soft drink vs fruit juice) by simply looking at the total grams of sugar – never mind how it got there. > > But I think the point is to let consumers know how much of sugar really needs to be there (that is, how much is naturally occurring). > > For example, compare the dry cereals Trix vs. Kix. They both look identical except for the artificial carnival colors in Trix (while Kix is just plain corn-meal yellow). Kix is mildly sweet, while Trix is dripping syrupy sugary. A look at the labels will show that Trix has a lot more sugar than Kix. > > With the new labels, it will be a lot more in-your-face that Trix in only more sugary than Kix because they added all that extra sugar at the factory. Perhaps they need to add Fix to that product line, where you can get a week’s worth of sugar Ina single bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/15 "2016-05-21T01:23:21Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > 12 ounces of apple juice has 39 grams of sugar, ,while a can of soda has around 40 grams. Why would more sugar even need to be added? Because people want their Fix, of course. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/16 "2016-05-21T01:46:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This didn’t sound right to me, and it doesn’t pan out when I search. > > [Modern Diet Myth No. 4: Fructose turns to fat](http://scepticalnutritionist.com.au/?p=1770) I have my doubts about exactly how sceptical Bill Shrapnel is. From his frequent appearances in the past he appears to be an apologist for the fast food industry and receives funding from Sugar Australia. I note that in his usual fashion the links are to his own site and I note that in one he uses the uncorrected work of other apologists who were later required to correct their findings. Here is one of many explanations of why fructose metabolism is different: [Does Sugar Cause Heart Disease?](http://www.docsopinion.com/2015/05/01/sugar-and-heart-disease/) > [@](#): > > Human intervention studies have showed accumulation of fat in the liver, muscle, and the visceral fat depot induced by sugar sweetened beverages. Most of the studies support the fact that fructose is the main driver of these metabolic aberrations presumably by inducing lipid synthesis and fat release from the liver (6). > > A large survey based on NHANES data and published in JAMA 2014 showed a significant relationship between added sugar consumption and risk for mortality from cardiovascular disease (7). The main findings were that individuals who reported more of their total calorie intake as added sugar did have a significantly increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/17 "2016-05-21T02:11:43Z")
> [@](#): > > in addition to the total. Is it really important if the sugar was added, or if it was there to begin with? I suspect it makes no difference. I can’t think of any reason why it would matter. Take the fruit juice vs. soda: they both have about the same amount of sugar. One is all added sugar, one is not. Both are unhealthy because of the sugar content. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/18 "2016-05-21T02:15:35Z")
Footnote 6 goes to a study on sucrose sweetened beverages. It mentions fructose, but a) fructose is half of sucrose and b) accumulation of fat in the liver and elsewhere has no relationship to Ignotus’s claim. It also says nothing about the nutritional differences between added sugar and natural sugar, just that increased amounts of sugar is unhealthy. Footnote 7 goes to a study of added sugar and has nothing to do with fructose metabolism. Could you tell me what your claim is so I know how to respond? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/19 "2016-05-21T02:33:03Z")
To throw in the usual additions - sucrose and high fructose syrup both contain about the same amount of fructose. It also is not just the amount of fructose that triggers that cascade but over what period of time, and _possibly_ even where in the intestine it gets absorbed. The liver can handle fructose without inducing _de novo lipogenesis_ at a certain rate, and more than that rate seems to trigger it. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248/20 "2016-05-21T02:50:21Z")
**Exapno** , [this](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3587472/) may have some of the detail you are looking for. > [@](#): > > Fructose as a key player in the development of fatty liver diseas … Fructose has a selective hepatic metabolism, and provokes a hepatic stress response involving activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases and subsequent reduced hepatic insulin signaling. … And [here](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10620-016-4054-0). > [@](#): > > Dietary fructose increases levels of enzymes involved in DNL even more strongly than HFD. Several properties of fructose metabolism make it particularly lipogenic. Fructose is absorbed via portal vein and delivered to the liver in much higher concentrations as compared to other tissues. Fructose increases protein levels of all DNL enzymes during its conversion into triglycerides. Additionally, fructose supports lipogenesis in the setting of insulin resistance as fructose does not require insulin for its metabolism, and it directly stimulates SREBP1c, a major transcriptional regulator of DNL. Fructose also leads to ATP depletion and suppression of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, resulting in increased production of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, fructose promotes ER stress and uric acid formation, additional insulin independent pathways leading to DNL. In summary, fructose metabolism supports DNL more strongly than HFD and hepatic DNL is a central abnormality in NAFLD DNL = de novo lipogenesis (making new fat) HFD = High Fat Diet NAFLD = Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nutritional-difference-between-added-sugar-and-natural-sugar/755248.md?page=2)