Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruits and honey, and is often used as a substitute for table sugar due to its lower glycemic index. However, caution should be taken when using it in home cooking. Monosaccharides are the simplest forms of sugar, with fructose, glucose, and galactose being the only ones found in food. Complex carbohydrates are the most important form of sugar in the diet. Excessive consumption of fructose can lead to hyperuricemia, fructose malabsorption, or hereditary fructose intolerance, which can be life-threatening.
Fructose, also known as levulose, is a naturally occurring monosaccharide that can be found in fruits and honey. About twice as sweet as table sugar, and with a lower glycemic index, people who want to cut calories or maintain healthy blood sugar levels can use it as a natural substitute for table sugar. For these reasons, it is sometimes used commercially in prepared cakes, cookies, and other confections. However, caution should be exercised when using fruit sugar in home cooking, as it has different physical and chemical properties from table sugar and cannot always be substituted, in equal amounts, in standard recipes.
Monosaccharides are the simplest forms of sugar, each consisting of a single sugar molecule. There are various monosaccharides, both synthetic and naturally occurring, but the only monosaccharides found in food are fructose, glucose, and galactose. Simple sugars are often found as linked pairs, in which case they are converted to disaccharides, such as sucrose, maltose, and lactose. Sugar molecules can also be linked into long chains, known as polysaccharides, or complex carbohydrates. From a nutritional standpoint, complex carbohydrates can be considered the most important form of sugar in the diet, as they take longer to break down in the digestive system and create more stable blood sugar levels than rapidly processed simple sugars. .
The chemical formula for monosaccharides usually involves some multiple of CH2O. In a typical monosaccharide, the carbon atoms form a chain, in which each carbon except one is attached to a hydroxyl group. The single carbon that does not bond with a hydroxyl group doubly bonds to an oxygen molecule, forming a carbonyl group. The location of the carbonyl group subdivides monosaccharides into ketone sugars and aldehyde sugars. A laboratory test known as a Seliwanoff test can be used to chemically determine whether a particular sugar is a ketone sugar, such as fructose, or an aldehyde sugar, such as glucose or galactose.
While fruit sugar and honey are generally considered safe, excessive consumption can lead to hyperuricemia, a condition characterized by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. There are also certain digestive disorders that are associated with difficulties in processing or absorbing sugar from dietary fruit. Fructose malabsorption is a disorder in which the small intestine lacks the ability to absorb that particular sugar, leading to a buildup of the sugar in the digestive system. Symptoms and tests for this condition are similar to those for lactose intolerance, and treatment often involves removing trigger foods from the diet.
A more serious condition is hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI), a genetic disorder that involves a deficiency in the liver enzymes necessary for fructose digestion. Symptoms generally include severe gastrointestinal upset, dehydration, seizures, and sweating. If left untreated, HFI can cause permanent liver and kidney damage and even death. Although HFI is much more serious than fructose malabsorption, treatment is similar and generally focuses on careful avoidance of any foods that contain fruit sugar or its derivatives.
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