[E6300]

> Glucose is a ubiquitous fuel in biology. It is used as an energy source in most

> organisms, from bacteria to humans, through either aerobic respiration,

> anaerobic respiration, or fermentation. Glucose is the human body's key source

> of energy, through aerobic respiration, providing about 3.75 kilocalories (16

> kilojoules) of food energy per gram. Breakdown of carbohydrates (e.g. starch)

> yields mono- and disaccharides, most of which is glucose. Through glycolysis and

> later in the reactions of the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation,

> glucose is oxidized to eventually form CO2 and water, yielding energy mostly in

> the form of ATP. The insulin reaction, and other mechanisms, regulate the

> concentration of glucose in the blood.

[CuriousSkeptic]

Sugar breaks down to equal parts glucose and fructose though. And fructose is treated very differently from glucose in our bodies.

[jackvalentine]

Do you care to elaborate on how they're differently treated?

[midnitewarrior]

Glucose is used as fuel, whereas fructose doesn't have a direct pathway to be used as fuel, it must first be stored as fat.

You then have to have an absence of glucose in your body before you may metabolize your body fat. This doesn't happen often for most people, hence, the obesity epidemic from overconsumption of sugar.

That's the short version. The long, detailed version is available from YouTube, search for Dr. Robert Lustig's videos.

[chiefalchemist]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the point of your comment.

Mine was, in short, reducing isn't so hard if you simply remove the unnecessary. That's it. Speaking for myself, as fit as I might be, I do know I consume unnecessaries.

[civilitty]

No, you went on to say:

> But if you think of sugar, etc. as necessary and natural then you're more or less doomed, as you deserve to be.

Which, apart from being wildly unnecessary color commentary, is the equivalent of saying the earth is flat. Sugar is literally one of the core building blocks of aerobic life, which is over 99.9999999% of multicellular organisms.