What’s the Difference?
Regarding your health, the real difference is where the sugar comes from. While your body can’t distinguish the difference between the source of sugar once it’s broken down and absorbed, the food from which the sugar originated has a huge impact on your overall health. This is due to the nature other nutrients that may be in the food you consumed. 
Since complex carbohydrates come from plant-based foods, we know that those foods also contain a plethora of beneficial nutrients in addition to their carbs, including vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
The complex carbs are broken down into simple sugars. However, some simple sugars that are added to foods don’t give you any beneficial nutrients. For example, fructose can be found in candies, soda, and other sweets lacking in health-promoting nutrients, but fructose is also present in fruit.
Even though both foods contain fructose, fruit is obviously a healthier choice because it’s not solely made up of simple carbohydrates — it also contains fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. The fiber in fruit helps slow the digestion of carbs, which is why your blood sugar doesn’t spike as much after eating fiber-filled fruit like it does when you gulp down a soda or candy bar.
Vegetables and grains also contain some simple sugars in addition to their starches, mostly in the form of sucrose, but they give you a hefty dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants too, none of which you’ll find in candies, soda and other sucrose-packed sweets.
Kari Hartel, RD, LD is a Registered, Licensed Dietitian and freelance writer based out of St. Louis, MO
