Table sugar is half glucose, half fructose—and your body handles them completely differently. Glucose goes everywhere, regulated by insulin. Fructose goes primarily to the liver, bypasses insulin, and readily converts to fat. Studies show fructose rapidly increases liver fat when substituted for other carbohydrates at equal calories.
This companion explores what glucose does, what fructose does, why the combination is worse than either alone, and why whole fruit is metabolically different from added sugar. (4 min read)