The Role of Sugar in the Diet: Friend, Foe, or Something in Between?

Sep 2

We often hear about sugar, salt, and fat as the villains of our diet. They’re blamed for chronic diseases, weight gain, and poor health. But the truth is more complicated. Each of these nutrients plays an essential role in the body, and we can’t survive without them. The problem comes when we get too much, often from added or processed sources. This series looks at sugar, salt, and fat individually—why we need them, what happens when we don’t get enough, and the potential consequences of excess. This is part 1 in the series.

The Role of Sugar in the Diet: Friend, Foe, or Something in Between?

What is Sugar?

When most people think of sugar, they picture the white granules in a sugar bowl or sugary desserts or candy. But chemically, sugar is so much more than that. Sugars are what we call “simple carbohydrates,” which are made up of either one unit (monosaccharides like glucose, fructose, and galactose) or two units (disaccharides like sucrose, lactose, and maltose). All sugars are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates are sugars.

Your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, the primary source of energy or fuel for your brain, muscles, and cells. While we often hear about the dangers of sugar, it’s essential to understand its vital role in keeping us alive and functioning. To reiterate, glucose is fuel to help your body function daily. Every human body needs this—every single one of us.

Why Do We Need Sugar?

Glucose is the preferred energy source for the brain and central nervous system. Without a steady supply, your body must find alternative ways to keep you going. If intake drops too low, let’s say less than 20 grams a day, your body shifts gears. And this can even occur at less than 100 grams per day.

At that point, protein from your muscles is used for gluconeogenesis, which means creating glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. While the glycerol backbone of fat molecules can also be converted into a small amount of glucose, it isn’t nearly enough to meet your body’s needs. This is why some carbohydrates, in the form of sugar or starch, are essential. So, when people cut carbohydrates and essentially restrict the body’s access to glucose from food sources, it does start to burn fat, but that isn’t the whole story, and it is not the primary source of creating new glycogen.

The body does have a backup plan, but this is like having a generator and a few AA batteries when the power goes out. The batteries are like using fat for energy, and the generator is the protein from muscles. The batteries for fat are used to for some energy, but the primary backup source is protein breakdown.

The fact is that we truly cannot live without glucose, no matter what some people claim. This doesn’t mean spoonfuls of table sugar, but it does mean that sugar itself plays an essential role in health and survival.

Is Sugar All Bad?

This is where things get tricky. Sugar is often vilified and blamed for every problem on the planet, or so it seems, and while overconsumption of added sugars can be harmful, it doesn’t mean all sugar is the enemy.

People with diabetes, for example, do not need to eliminate sugar. The key is balance (usually with some protein), portion control, and understanding how different foods affect blood glucose levels. Completely cutting out all forms of sugar isn’t realistic, and it isn’t necessary.

You may also have heard the claim that sugar is addictive. While people may feel a strong pull toward sweet foods, there is no diagnosis for sugar addiction in the DSM-5, the manual that defines mental health conditions. Unlike caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, or other substances we can live without, glucose is something the body requires to survive. Feeling a craving for something essential doesn’t make it an addiction in the clinical sense.

What Happens if We Get Too Much Sugar?

The real concern isn’t about the natural sugars in foods like fruit, milk, or plain yogurt, as I noted previously. Those foods come packaged with other valuable nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Instead, the problem lies in the excessive consumption of added sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts, and processed foods that have added sugars.

Too much added sugar can:

Contribute to weight gain and obesity.
Increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions.
Crowd out nutrient-rich foods, leaving less room for the vitamins, minerals, and protein your body needs. Consider that eating fruit strips with added sugar is different from eating actual fruit, which contains fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Promote dental cavities and poor oral health. (Of course, one can have excess added sugar and good oral health, but it is a higher risk.)

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020-2025) recommend limiting added sugars to less than 10 percent of daily calories. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day, that’s about 50 grams of added sugar. This doesn’t mean sugar is forbidden, but it is worth being mindful of where added sugars show up in your diet.

Friend, Foe, or In Between?

So, where does sugar really stand? The truth is that sugar isn’t just the white crystals in your pantry. By definition, sugar—specifically glucose—is required for life. That makes it a friend. However, consuming excessive amounts of added sugar, especially from processed foods and beverages, can harm one’s health over time. That makes it a foe.

The real answer is somewhere in between. Sugar is an essential fuel for the body, and it should be recognized for its important role. At the same time, balance is key. Enjoy natural sources of sugar in fruits, vegetables, and dairy, be mindful of added sugars, and remember that it isn’t about extremes. It’s about moderation and making choices that support your overall health.

Sugar, salt, and fat are not the enemies of health that they’re often made out to be. They are essential nutrients that keep the body running, but they can become harmful when consumed in excess—especially from added or highly processed sources. Understanding the balance between “enough” and “too much” is the key. As you follow this series, remember that nutrition isn’t about extremes or elimination. It’s about finding the middle ground where food supports both health and enjoyment. Next week’s topic, Salt: Why Your Body Needs It—But Not Too Much