Fructose, glucose and feeling full after eating
What it found
In studies in people and in lab models, fructose did not clearly make eaters feel less full than glucose.
The results varied a lot from one study to the next.
What they found
Studies in people and animals
Mixed results on eating
Studies of how fructose and glucose affect eating have given inconsistent results, in both people and lab models.
Timing and serving size
Whether the sugar was given before or with a meal, whether it was a pure sugar or part of a food, and how large the serving was all seemed to shape the results.
Satiety itself
The authors say these study details, rather than any real difference between the sugars, appear to explain much of the difference in how much people ate.
Fructose vs glucose
On balance, the authors did not find a strong case that fructose fills you up less than glucose, or that high-fructose corn syrup fills you up less than sucrose.
Other findings
How the sugars differ
Fructose and glucose leave the stomach at different speeds, are taken up differently by the gut, lead to different hormone patterns, and are used differently by the body. Each of these steps could change how much a person eats.
What the authors conclude
“On balance, the case for fructose being less satiating than glucose or HFCS being less satiating than sucrose is not compelling.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that the case for fructose being less satiating than glucose, or high-fructose corn syrup being less satiating than sucrose, is not compelling.
- They note that the differences seen in food intake appear to come from study factors rather than from the sugars themselves.
How it was done
Some researchers have suggested that eating more fructose, and high-fructose corn syrup in particular, plays a part in the rise in obesity.
The authors pulled together eating studies that compared fructose and glucose in people and in lab models, looking at how the sugars were given, when they were given, and how big the serving was.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The studies looked at many different situations, so the results do not point to one clear answer.
- Most of the comparisons were short-term and measured eating at a single meal, not weight over time.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NIDDK NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
The paper
- Title
- Fructose and satiety
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Moran TH (2009). Fructose and satiety. The Journal of nutrition. doi:10.3945/jn.108.097956Free full textPubMed 19403706DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error