And this is where the metabolic differences between glucose and fructose becomes important (see Chapters 2 and 12). One might think that glucose and fructose, both being molecules found in dietary sugar (sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave—they’re all metabolically the same; take your pick), would drive this reaction at the same rate. You would be very wrong. Yes, they’re both carbohydrates, and yes, they both bind to proteins, but that’s where their similarities end. Because glucose has a six-member-ring structure (see Fig. 7–2), it’s more stable and engages in the
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