Sugar

Studies in people

• Concern

  Overall health effects²

  A review of human studies found mostly low-quality evidence linking dietary sugar to various health outcomes.

• Concern

  Type 2 diabetes risk³

  People who drank the most sugar-sweetened drinks had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

• Concern

  Stroke and dementia risk⁴

  In people, sugar-sweetened drinks were not linked to stroke or dementia, but artificially sweetened soft drinks were.

Animal and lab studies only

• Concern

  Drug-like effects¹²

  In animal studies, sugar caused drug-like effects such as bingeing, craving, and withdrawal.

Study type not stated

• Concern

  Brain reward and overeating⁶

  Eating too much sugar may change the brain's reward system, leading to compulsive overeating.

• Concern

  Body inflammation⁷

  The authors suggest high sugar intake may play a key role in causing and worsening inflammation.

• Concern

  Liver fat buildup⁸

  Eating a lot of sugar can lead to extra fat building up in the liver.

• Concern

  Heart and diabetes risk⁹

  Eating too much sugar may raise the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, but this is still debated.

• Concern

  Heart and metabolic health¹⁰

  Drinking more sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to higher risks of depression, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.

• Concern

  Skin aging¹¹

  Sugar links collagen fibers in your skin, making them harder to repair, and sunlight speeds this up.

How it’s made and used

• Kids' sugary drink intake⁵

  In Chilean children, sugar-sweetened drinks still made up a big share of daily calories before newer rules took effect.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least two findings in people. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.