> To be specific, sucrose is a name for one particular sugar. You also have fructose, lactose (milk sugar), glucose, maltose and on and on. In general if it ends in -ose it is probably a sugar.

Correct. Sucrose is, according to a pediatrician at UCSF, a glucose and fructose molecule joined by an oxygen atom. The human body needs the glucose (it's what we get our energy from), so right off the bat, it's enzymes cleave the sucrose molecule a the oxygen atom and gloms onto the glucose section. After this the body runs through a whole series of chemical processes to extract the energy. However, the body hasn't evolved to metabolize fructose, so it ignores it as best it can. In the quantities left over from this first stage of sucrose metabolism, the fructose levels aren't much of a problem. However, when you overload the body with fuctose (big gulp soft drinks, etc.), the body tries to metabolize it, but all that it accomplishes is turning it into fat, which loges first in the liver, then elsewhere.

I've never claimed to be a "doctor" of any sort, but I do read a lot. It's just a handle, no different than all the others you see here, so if you think I have been claiming to be one, I have a bridge to sell you, one owner, slightly used.

Any time you think I'm blowing smoke, feel free to say so, but also be prepared to back up what you assert, like this: [www.youtube.com]

And No, there is no difference between beet sugar and cane sugar. This tidbit comes from: [de.wikipedia.org] At the time I heard her say this, she was clinical professor of psychology at UCSF. Glycogen, the metabolite of glucose, is 100% brain food, so I think she had a pretty good handle on what she was talking about.