What is fructose?

fructose, also known as levulose, is a naturally occurring monosaccharide that can be found in fruit and honey. About twice as sweet as table sugar and with a lower glycemic index can be used as a natural table sugar substitute people who want to reduce calories or maintain a healthy level of blood sugar. For these reasons, it is sometimes used commercially in prepared cakes, biscuits and other sweets. However, caution must be used when using fruit sugar in home cooking, as it has different physical and chemical properties from table sugar and cannot always be replaced in the same amount in standard recipes. There are a number of monosaccharides, both synthetic and naturally occurring, but the only monosaccharides found in the diet are fructose, glucose and galactose. Simple sugars are often found as couples connected, in which case they become disaccharides and mdash; such as sucrose, maltose and lactose. Sugar molecules can also join long chains, knownH as polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates. From a nutritional point of view, complex carbohydrates can be considered as the most important form of sugar in the diet, because it takes longer than to fall into the digestive system, and create a more stable blood sugar than fast -processed sugars.

The chemical formula for monosaccharides generally involves some multiple ch _{2 o. In a typical monosaccharide, carbon atoms are a string in which each carbon is bound to the hydroxyl group. The only carbon that does not start with the hydroxyl group is instead of the double bound to the oxygen molecule and creates a carbonyl group. The location of the carbonyl group divides monosaccharides into ketone sugars and aldehyde sugars. Laboratory test known as Seliwanoff's test can be used to determine whether it is a particular sugar sugar, such as fructose or 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 increased blood uric acid levels. There are also certain digestive disorders that are associated with the processing of difficulty or absorbing diet fruit sugar. Malabsorption of fructose is a disorder in which the small intestine lacks the ability to absorb this particular sugar, leading to a concentration of sugar in the digestive system. Symptoms and testing of this condition are similar to symptoms of lactose intolerance and treatment often involves removing the trigger food from the diet.

More serious state is hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI), a genetic disorder including a deficiency in the liver enzymes needed for digestion of fructose. Symptoms generally include severe gastrointestinal discomfort, dehydration, convulsions and sweating. If hfi is not treated, may lead to permanent damage to the liver and kidneys and even death. While HFI is much more serious than malabsorption of fructose, the treatment is similar and usually focuses on careful avoidance of food containing fruit sugar or derivatives.