There is a world of difference between the sucrose found in fruits and vegetables and the sucrose found in deserts and candy. Fruits and vegetables contain fiber, vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Sweets contain little more than sugar. Fiber may bind with potentially cancer causing chemicals and speed their removal from the body. Fibers are classified as soluble or insoluble.
Insoluble fiber is associated with the large intestine.
It helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids and colon cancer. Soluble fiber staves off hunger by slowing the absorption of glucose. It can lower cholesterol levels as well. American fixation on weight has also created a market for sugar substitutes like Equal and NutraSweet. These sweeteners are as caloric as sugar but two hundred times sweeter.