Eat, Drink & Be Healthy: A little sugar not all that bad

There are also misconceptions about sweets. “Sugar, by itself, does not cause diabetes,” says Stephanie Dunbar, director of clinical affairs for the American Diabetes Association. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/eat-drink-and-be-healthy-a-little-sugar-not-all-that-bad/2011/10/19/gIQAJjFlFM_story.html)

We need some sugar. In the form of glucose, sugar provides the fuel our cells, especially those in our brain, need to function. But most of our sugar should come from food sources such as fruits and whole grains, says Christine Gerbstadt, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and author of “Doctor’s Detox Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss Prescription” (Nutronics 2011).

There has been extensive research focused on soda or other caloric beverages and their role in health outcomes. While these studies provide data on the role that caloric beverages may have in health, these beverages are not a proxy for all the ways that sugar is consumed in the diet, and these studies should not be extrapolated to represent the role of sugar in health.