Tag: Sucrose vs sugar

According to the World Health Organization, average added sugar consumption often exceeds recommended levels, leading many to question which is healthier, sugar or sucrose. However, this query is based on a common misunderstanding of what sucrose actually is. The truth is, table sugar is simply another name for sucrose.

While commonly used interchangeably, the term "sugar" is a broad, collective category that encompasses many sweet-tasting simple carbohydrates, of which sucrose is a specific type. Sucrose is a disaccharide, while other sugars like glucose and fructose are simple monosaccharides with different chemical structures.

According to research from Johns Hopkins Medicine, while the terms are often used interchangeably, sucrose is actually just one type of sugar. While the word 'sugar' acts as a broad umbrella term for a class of sweet carbohydrates, sucrose is a specific, single molecule within that larger category.