The Hidden Truth About Sugar: What You Need to Know for a Healthier Diet

Uncover the truth about sugar, its presence in everyday foods, and learn how to make healthier choices to manage your sugar intake effectively.

Sugar is a ubiquitous ingredient in our diets, often hiding in plain sight. Despite our best efforts to avoid it, sugar sneaks into many foods and drinks, making it a challenge to limit our intake. With over 50 different names on labels and a presence in both sweet and savory products, understanding sugar and its alternatives can be confusing.

But is sugar truly addictive, and should we eliminate it entirely?

The sugar we commonly add to our beverages is sucrose, derived from sugar cane or sugar beet. However, sugar encompasses a broader category of simple carbohydrates found naturally in various foods.

Fruits and some vegetables contain fructose, glucose, and sucrose, while dairy products provide lactose, and malted grains offer maltose. These natural sugars are not the concern; it’s the added sugars that we need to monitor.

The Good and the Bad: Natural vs. Added Sugars

Natural sugars found in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, milk, and plain yogurt, are beneficial. These foods offer a wealth of nutrients essential for For instance, fruits provide vitamin C, fiber, and phytochemicals, while milk contains calcium, protein, and vitamin B12. In contrast, added sugars or free sugars are those included by manufacturers, cooks, or consumers. The usual culprits are fizzy drinks, biscuits, cakes, and chocolate, but they also lurk in many other processed foods.

Surprisingly, even seemingly healthy foods can be high in added sugars. The Food Foundation’s annual Broken Plate report revealed that 74% of baby and toddler snack products contain high or medium levels of sugar, often due to fruit purees. Similarly, a report by Action on Sugar found that 68% of so-called healthy snack bars in the UK would carry a high in sugar warning label in Chile, which has a mandatory labeling system. Even milk substitutes like rice, almond, and soya milks often contain added sugar.

The Health Impacts of Excessive Sugar Consumption

Excessive sugar intake is linked to several health issues. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) reported that high sugar consumption is associated with an increased risk of obesity. In Greece, children consuming more than 10% of their calories from added sugars were 2.57 times more likely to be overweight or obese. Additionally, there is a possible link between excess sugar and high blood pressure, some cancers, and non-alcoholic liver disease.

Sugary drinks are particularly problematic. They make it easy to consume large amounts of sugar quickly, promoting weight gain and various medical conditions. Research has shown that people who drink lots of sugary drinks have significantly more liver fat, less good cholesterol (HDL), and more bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. In 2026, a study by Lund University found that sugary drinks had a stronger link to cardiovascular disease than any other form of sugar. The group that drank the most had a significantly increased risk of ischaemic stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Sugar can also affect your mood and cognition. Research has observed long-lasting impacts of chronic excessive sugar intake on memory, mood, object recognition, and concentration. Correlations have been found between high-sugar diets and depression, anxiety, stress, hyperactivity, and behavioral issues. Some studies have shown that drinking lots of sugary drinks while pregnant or breastfeeding is inversely related to childhood cognitive performance and social-emotional development.

Cutting down on sugar can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Gradually reducing your intake is more sustainable than eliminating it entirely. For example, if you usually add a teaspoon of sugar to your tea or coffee, try reducing it to half a teaspoon and gradually decrease from there. Swap fizzy, sugary drinks for fizzy water with fruit or a low-sugar kombucha.

Retraining your palate to prefer lower-sugar options can help. Your taste for sweetness is influenced by both genetics and environment. Choosing lower-sugar options can make the taste more acceptable over time. Focus on what you can eat more of, such as vegetables, pulses, and wholegrains. The FoodSwitch app can help you find lower-sugar alternatives by scanning barcodes in supermarkets.

While sweeteners can be a useful alternative, they are not a standalone solution. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that non-sugar sweeteners not be used as a means of achieving weight control or reducing the risk of noncommunicable diseases. Water remains the ideal drink for a healthy lifestyle.

Understanding sugar and its impact on our health is the first step towards making healthier choices. By being mindful of our sugar intake and making gradual changes, we can enjoy a healthier, more balanced diet.