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Sugar is often said to be a reason not to eat candy, but many fruits contain much sugar as well. Which differences make fruit "healthy" and candy "unhealthy"?

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What's your own opinion and why do you even care about the question? Without some reference, its hard to teach you anything worthwhile. – Ivo Flipse♦ Apr 27 '11 at 11:14
@Ivo: I'm looking for a reason for candy to be "unhealthy" while fruit is "healthy" despite their containing similar amounts of sugar, such as "fruits generally contain more fibres". I realise that healthiness is not very well-defined, but there must still be reasons for candy to be regarded as mainly unhealthy and fruit as healthy. – user26 Apr 27 '11 at 11:23
What opinion do you want? – user26 Apr 27 '11 at 11:23
Its a good start to add that information to your question (rather than a comment), but you say similar amounts of sugar, have you checked if there are different kinds of sugar perhaps? Or is there also something as eating too much fruit and is it more that candy has a higher percentage of sugar/gram? – Ivo Flipse♦ Apr 27 '11 at 11:25
My mom always said that fruit has natural sugars, while candy has processed sugar, and corn syrup, etc. – Samuel Andrew Apr 27 '11 at 12:23
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closed as off topic by Informaficker, YYY, FredrikD, Matt Chan♦ Nov 8 '12 at 17:19

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5 Answers

up vote 17 down vote accepted

Candy does not contain any vitamins or nutrients, whereas fruits do.

As you stated, candy also does not have fiber. When you combine fiber with sugar as in the case of fruit, it lowers the glycemic rating of that food. That means you'll be able to digest it over a longer period of time, and the food will be available for energy for a longer period of time before it is stored.

Fruit juice contains vitamins just like fruit which is why people say it is healthy, but you are missing out on the fiber that you would get in a whole fruit, so it is still not as good of a choice as fruit.

Lastly, most candy contains more calories per volume, so you are likely to take in more sugar in a serving of candy versus a piece of fruit.

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Most types of candy also contain fat (not necessarily bad) and saturated fat (definitely bad) which, in large quantities without a healthy balance of carbs and protein (and a lack of exercise) will make you gain fat mass and put more strain on your circulatory system. If you have a lifestyle capable of burning all that energy on demand candy isn't necessarily bad. Unfortunately, most people who eat a lot of candy don't. – Evan Plaice Apr 29 '11 at 5:06
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The previous comment is misleading. Candy is equally bad regardless of your activity level. And there is no evidence that saturated fat in the diet is a cause for increased body mass any more than any other calorie source. – J. Winchester May 24 '12 at 0:32
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@EvanPlaice saturated fat is NOT definitely bad. – Mike S Sep 4 '12 at 5:58
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@MikeS OK, saturated fat isn't 'definitely bad' but in large amounts it isn't necessarily good. – Evan Plaice Sep 5 '12 at 4:49
@J.Winchester You don't 'increase body mass' if you have a high enough caloric expenditure. I used to munch on Snickers bars and those Nature Valley - Sweet and Salty Nut bars to keep my energy level up while snowboarding. They're cheaper than power bars and provide a more readily available source of energy. The combination of cold, high elevation, and high output at the level I ride required it. Same goes for snowshoeing, telemark skiing, and hiking 14ers. I'm talking about 5000-8000 calories burned in a day. – Evan Plaice Sep 5 '12 at 5:17
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up vote 5 down vote

Samuel Andrew hit a big part of it in his comment. Candies typically contain processed sugar, which is typically believed to be "more unhealthy" than natural sugars. I can't come up with specific studies at the moment on this though.

Also, candy tends to be empty calories. Most fruits are high in vitamins and minerals and are usually a great source of fiber. That's a pretty big advantage.

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It has a lot to do with other things in fruit that affect the sugar, as well. For example, there are other carbohydrates that alter the insulin response and prevent blood sugar spikes. I seem to recall reading about "fructosides" but am fuzzy on the details. – Matthew Read Apr 27 '11 at 15:19
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+1 Always listen to your Mom. ;) – Samuel Andrew Apr 29 '11 at 1:01
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"Processed sugar" usually = sucrose or high fructose corn syrup, which are bona fide sugars just like the fructose in fruit and are in fact just boiled down sugar from corn or cane. AFAIK, there are no other parts added to the molecules, so there is no "artificial" difference between these sugars. Sucrose is a disacchharide composed of a glucose + a fructose. The "processed sugars" thing is mostly a canard. – Chelonian Sep 17 '11 at 3:45
up vote 0 down vote

Objectively trying to answer your question...

Glycemic Index:
Fruit can sometimes be considered better for your body than candy if you factor in the glycemic index (GI) for each type of foods.
Fruit sometimes have a lower GI which will lesser impact on your blood sugar levels.

Nutrients:
Fruit contain nutrients and anti-oxidants. Where candy have abysmal quantities of the aforementioned.

Ingredients
Ingredients of candy sometimes contain harmful ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to obesity.

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up vote 1 down vote

"Candy is bad" is a pretty general statement. A little candy is probably fine from time to time, in moderation. In fact, some "candy" may be good for one's health: dark chocolate, candied ginger or ginseng, maybe licorice, etc. This said, yes, the fiber and vitamin (and water) benefits of fruits usually beats candy as a healthful food.

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up vote 1 down vote

Depending on which camp you fit in, fruit isn't that much better than candy :)

See Dr. Lustig's Video "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" here. There are some similar concepts presented in "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "The End of Overeating"

However, I am not saying that these are the final words on the subject :) They just might be interesting things to read/watch given your question.

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