Carlos Solis
Sugar isn’t a poison — at least not the way people claim, says Dr. Emily Liming of King’s College London. When people cut out sweets they often feel better, but that improvement may have nothing to do with sugar itself.
“People feel better after they stop eating sweet foods because their overall diet improves and there’s room for whole foods,” Liming says.
Why sugar gets a bad rap
Claims that sugar by itself inevitably causes weight gain, blood sugar problems, or heart disease often come from viral social media posts. Controlled trials that keep calories constant usually find that high-sugar diets do not produce worse results for weight loss, metabolism, or key health markers.
Sugar’s poor reputation partly comes from the fact that high-sugar foods are often calorie-dense. If someone consistently consumes more energy than they need, that overconsumption can raise inflammatory markers. Also, long-term high blood glucose leads to a buildup of advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, and researchers associate AGEs with aging and a range of diseases.
“Harm tends to appear with chronically elevated blood glucose, not from occasionally adding a little sugar to your diet,” Liming notes.
Which sugars you should limit
Dietitians recommend limiting “free sugars” to 30 g per day. That category covers sugars added to foods and drinks, for example, sweets and cookies, and the sugars found in fruit juices.
Sugars naturally present in whole fruits are not included in that group because the fruit’s fiber and micronutrients slow absorption and reduce potential harm.
“It frustrates me when people advise cutting out fruit just because it contains sugar,” Liming adds.
This article draws on reporting from The Guardian
Photo: Unsplash
