Sugar as a Food

As a foodstuff, sugar has attracted much criticism. This applies particularly to refined white sugar. Unrefined brown sugar is sometimes portrayed, in contrast, as healthful because of the nutrients which it retains. It is true that people who eat a lot of white sugar tend to have an unhealthy diet, may be obese, and are exposed to the risk of heart disease. This, however, is not the fault of the sugar, which contains no harmful substances; it is the fault of people who eat too much of it. Since sugar provides energy but nothing else (no vitamins, no protein, no essential fatty acids, virtually no minerals) it follows that a diet which is high in sugar will risk being short of necessary nutrients.