Sucrose: Nutrition, Pros & Cons
Sucrose, commonly known as table sugar, is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. While it serves as a rapid energy source, it offers 'empty calories' entirely devoid of essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
Health conditions
- Caution for Diabetes [ICMR-NIN, WHO, PubMed]
- Caution for Weight Loss [ICMR-NIN, WHO]
- Caution for Fatty Liver [ICMR-NIN, PubMed]
- Caution for Heart Disease [ICMR-NIN, WHO, PubMed]
- Caution for PCOD / PCOS [ICMR-NIN, PubMed]
- Caution for Uric Acid / Gout [PubMed]
- Caution for Gut Health [ICMR-NIN, WHO, PubMed]
- Caution for Immunity [ICMR-NIN, WHO]
Pros
- Acts as an immediate, highly digestible source of food energy to rapidly raise blood glucose when required. [USDA]
Cons
- Provides high energy density without essential micronutrients, leading to nutritional displacement and poor diet quality. [ICMR-NIN]
- Strongly linked to an increased risk of dental caries (tooth decay) and unhealthy weight gain in both adults and children. [WHO]
Key nutrients
- Carbohydrates — Contains approximately 99.8g of simple carbohydrates per 100g, providing 400 kcal of pure energy with zero dietary fiber.