Sugar tastes great for good reason: we evolved to like it, back when honey was a hard-to-get, energy-dense treat and we spent half of our time running around after antelope. Now that it\u2019s much easier to get and we don\u2019t move as much, that sweet tooth is working against us: many of us are consuming far too much of it, and suffering from poor health as a result. But is there anything specifically bad about it beyond it providing too many calories and not enough nutrients?<\/p>\n
This whole idea of trying to \u2018flatline\u2019 your glucose response that you see from some influencers is totally unnecessary<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we taste sugar, the body starts reacting the moment sweetness touches the tongue,\u201d says Dawn Menning, a registered dietitian who works with health app Nutu. \u201cThe brain recognises it as a quick source of energy and activates the reward system, releasing the feelgood chemical dopamine that makes it so appealing.\u201d Interestingly, not everyone tastes sugar in exactly the same way \u2013 in 2015, researchers compared<\/a> different types of siblings\u2019 perception of sugar and sweeteners, and found that identical twins were more similar to each other in their sweet taste perception than fraternal twins or non-twin siblings. They concluded that genetic factors account for about 30% of the variance in how sensitive people are to sweet tastes \u2013 but it\u2019s unclear whether that actually affects how much we eat.<\/p>\n Regardless, what happens after your first taste depends on the kind of sugar you\u2019re taking in: glucose, which is what you get from table sugar, most sweet treats and starchy carbohydrates, has slightly different effects from fructose, the type you\u2019ll commonly find in fruits and juices.<\/p>\n \u201cGlucose causes the pancreas to release insulin, a hormone which \u2013 to put it in simple terms \u2013 is involved in removing that glucose from circulation and depositing it where it needs to go,\u201d says Sarah Berry, professor of nutrition at King\u2019s College London and chief scientist at science and nutrition company Zoe. \u201cThat might mean that it\u2019s stored in the muscles or liver for energy as glycogen, or converted into fat.\u201d Fructose, meanwhile, doesn\u2019t cause insulin to be released. \u201cIt\u2019s delivered directly into the liver, where, again it can be converted to glycogen \u2013 or again, if consumed in excess, is converted also into fat.\u201d<\/p>\n When we eat sugar, the brain recognises it as a source of energy and releases the feelgood hormone dopamine. Photograph: Posed by models; Aire Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Both types of sugar, when eaten in excess, can lead to an increase in the type of fat circulating in your blood known as triglycerides: they\u2019re essential for energy, but high levels can increase the risk for heart disease, stroke and pancreatitis. Fructose is more of a concern for people at risk of fatty liver syndrome, but glucose is an issue for people who have trouble regulating insulin. Which one you should be more concerned about, then, really depends on your other lifestyle choices and genetic predispositions.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we also know is if you have an insulin peak that\u2019s excessive and repeated day in and day out, then it can increase levels of inflammation,\u201d says Berry. \u201cThat in itself isn\u2019t inherently bad because inflammation is happening all the time in our bodies \u2013 but if it\u2019s repeated and excessive, that\u2019s when we believe it becomes a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n The sugar rush, incidentally, is a myth that has somehow persisted for decades: when researchers analysed a meta-analysis of studies on young people eating sugar back in 1995, they concluded that \u201csugar does not affect the behaviour or cognitive performance of children\u201d, suggesting that \u201cthe strong belief of parents may be due to expectancy and common association\u201d. More recently, a 2019 meta-analysis <\/a>found no mood-boosting effects from carbohydrates (including sugar), and noted that it \u201cwas associated with higher levels of fatigue and less alertness compared with [the] placebo within the first hour post-ingestion\u201d. But even if our seemingly sugar-crazed darlings are actually just acting up in response to the placebo effect, or the fact that they\u2019re at a party, the other problem is what happens after the insulin peak goes away and we experience a corresponding dip.<\/p>\n A 2019 study found no mood-boosting effects from sugar. Photograph: Posed by model; Catherine Falls Commercial\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWe know from research that we\u2019ve done with our Zoe Predict cohort <\/a>that if people have that dip, they feel more hungry, and they tend to consume 80 calories more at their next meal, and 320 calories more over the day,\u201d says Berry. \u201cSo if you have a breakfast that\u2019s just carbohydrate it\u2019s very likely to cause you to have a dip and you\u2019ll end up eating more later.\u201d<\/p>\n This means that it\u2019s not just how much sugar you eat: it\u2019s about when you eat it, and how much. \u201cWe know blood sugar response is more favourable in the morning because you\u2019re more insulin sensitive compared to the afternoon,\u201d says Berry. \u201cBut our bodies are also better able to handle sugars if they\u2019re being delivered as part of an overall balanced meal with heart-healthy fats and healthy proteins. By the way, this whole idea of trying to \u2018flatline\u2019 your glucose response that you see from some influencers is totally unnecessary: an increase in blood glucose is a normal physiological response to eating. We just need to make sure that it\u2019s not excessive.\u201d<\/p>\n The takeaway? As a nation, we definitely eat more sugar than we need or can use. A recent study released by the Oral Health Foundation found that 84% of us eat at least one sugary snack daily, with 79% consuming \u201cup to\u201d three every day. It\u2019s a good idea to eat less, but there\u2019s no need to demonise or cut it out entirely: just enjoy it in moderation, preferably not too late in the day, and ideally alongside some fibre, healthy fat or protein.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re tempted to skip this whole worrisome business by relying on sugar substitutes instead, that might not be the foolproof plan you\u2019re hoping for. It was once thought that artificial sweeteners might cause your insulin to spike on their own or somehow \u201ctrick\u201d your hunger hormones into making you famished, but neither of those things seem to be the case: actually, the problem happens in a different place.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some emerging evidence<\/a> that sweeteners like saccharin and sucralose can affect your oral and gut microbiome,\u201d says Berry. \u201cMore research needs to be done to understand if there are also subsequent effects on other health outcomes in the long term, such as blood pressure, insulin resistance, and body weight. But it\u2019s not a get out of jail free card.\u201d It\u2019s also possible, according to research published recently<\/a>, that some sweeteners are actually converted to fructose in the body, triggering effects similar to regular sugar.<\/p>\n Until the results are in, get some sweetness from sugar instead \u2013 that\u2019s what we\u2019ve evolved to do. But remember: our paleolithic ancestors didn\u2019t have access to as much as you, and they probably moved around a heck of a lot more.<\/p>\n Fit Forever: Wellness for midlife and beyond<\/a>. On Wednesday 28 January 2026, join Annie Kelly, Devi Sridhar, Joel Snape and Mariella Frostrup as they discuss how to enjoy longer and healthier lives, with expert advice and practical tips. Book tickets here<\/a> or at guardian.live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sugar tastes great for good reason: we evolved to like it, back when honey was a hard-to-get, energy-dense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,395],"class_list":{"0":"post-404535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}