Fructose.

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Fructose. Fructose is a natural simple sugar found in fruits, vegetables and honey. Since it does carry certain advantages for certain groups, such as diabetics and dieters, fructose in it's pure form has been used as a sweetener since the mid 1850's. Of course, fructose has been consumed for centuries in foods we still eat. This simple sugar is also known as monosaccharide, since it is actually a single sweetening molecule. Crystalline fructose, just like the high fructose corn syrup is derived from corn, and is often mistakenly assumed to be the same thing, it is not. Extra processing steps result in the crystalline product that is almost a 100% pure fructose. Federal standards define crystalline fructose as a 98% fructose with the remaining 2% being minerals and water. It is 20% sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) or high fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, high fructose corn syrup is combined of approximately equal amounts of fructose and glucose. Table sugar also contains fructose in equal quantity to glucose to which it is linked. Fructose, just like the table sugar, is widely available and can be used in cooking and food processing in the same fashion. Hence, the fructose is found in such foods as desserts, dairy products and preserves. With fructose being quite a bit sweeter than the table sugar or high fructose syrup, lesser amounts of it are used to achieve the same level of sweetness which consequently results in lower amount of calories in the finished product. “Fructose has a low glycemic index (22) compared to other sweetener sources such as honey (55), High Fructose Corn Syrup (62) and table sugar (64)” (Jolliffe, 2009) The body's glycemic response depends on both, the type and the amount of the carbohydrate consumed, so a lower index and the lesser amount of the sweetener means a lower glycemic load. Since fructose does not involve insulin to be

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