“In nature, fructose comes pre-packaged with the fibre, antioxidants, and phytonutrients that appear to nullify adverse fructose effects.” — Dr. Greger, How Not to Die
Drinking sugary water causes and spike in blood sugar leaving you hyperglycemic in the hours after. The resulting influx of insulin released into your bloodstream causes blood sugar levels to drop well below normal, causing your body to transfer fat into the bloodstream as an energy source to keep you alive in what it believes to be a faminelike environment.
The same effect does not occur with a blended berry drink despite having the same sugar content. In fact, you can eat berries alongside sugary foods to blunt the subsequent insulin spike.
“17 people were asked to eat 20 servings of fruit per day for months. Despite the extraordinarily high fructose content of this fruit-based diet — the sugar equivalent of about 8 cans of soda a day — the investigators reported beneficial outcomes with no overall adverse effects for body weight, blood pressure, insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.” — Dr. Greger, How Not to Die