SUGAR, Slow Toxin or Treat? By Roxana Soetebeer, MPHC, NNP, MHP, PFC

SUGAR, Slow Toxin or Treat?

What sugar actually is

Let's get the nerdy stuff out of the way first.

Sugars are simple carbohydrates that exist in two main forms. Monosaccharides are single sugar units and include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Disaccharides are made of two linked monosaccharides. Common examples include sucrose, which is glucose and fructose combined, lactose, which is glucose and galactose, and maltose, which is two glucose molecules. These sugars are rapidly absorbed in the digestive tract and quickly affect blood sugar levels. Glucose is used directly by cells as a source of energy. Not the preferred source of energy, by the way. And fructose is primarily metabolized by the liver, where it contributes to fat production and metabolic stress.

While their names vary, these sugars are chemically simple and quickly absorbed, which is what makes them so metabolically disruptive when consumed in excess.

Sugar is everywhere, even when it's not sweet

Sugar isn't just what's in your dessert. It's in your cereal, your ketchup, your granola bars, your juice, and even in presumably sugar-free Tic Tac or sugar-free sweetener.

It's not just the obvious sweets that are the problem. It's the so-called healthy foods that spike your blood sugar the same way a cookie does. Juice and soda? Same molecule. White bread or whole wheat bread? Same insulin hit. Fruit? I know, it has fibre, but the body still needs to deal with the same glycemic load. Dr. Gary Fettke dubbed it wet candy, rightfully so.

Sugar is added, sugar is hidden, it is almost impossible to escape.

Sugar hides in everyday foods people trust.

When people think of sugar, they picture white crystals in a bowl. But that's only one form.

Sugar goes by many names. These includes:

Sucrose
Glucose
Fructose
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
Dextrose
Maltodextrin
Honey, agave, maple syrup, molasses

Less commonly known:

Evaporated cane juice: sounds cleaner than "sugar," but it's just another refined sweetener
Brown rice syrup: made from rice starch, high in maltose (spikes blood sugar)
Barley malt: often used in cereals and granola, high glycemic
Fruit juice concentrate: concentrated sugar, stripped of fibre
Turbinado: a less processed form of cane sugar, but still sugar
Agave nectar: marketed as healthy, but up to 90% fructose

This is not a comprensive list. There are hundreds of names for sugar.

Names of sugar

Sugar also includes starches that rapidly break down into sugar, like pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice.

Your body treats them all the same. Blood sugar rises, insulin kicks in, and the metabolic chain reaction begins.

Fructose, the sweet lie

Fructose has a health halo because it's found in fruit. But your liver doesn't care if it came from a grape or a soda. It is the same molecule, and it is processed in the same way.

Fructose doesn't trigger insulin, but that doesn't make it harmless. It goes straight to the liver, where it's more likely to be turned into fat. And unlike glucose, fructose causes far more glycation, 7 to 11 times more. The damage from fructose glycation isn't tracked in your A1C. It isn't tracked at all.

Fructose is directly linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. The condition was first identified in 1980 and was previously seen only in alcoholics. Now, children as young as eight are being diagnosed with it. This is a public health crisis.

Fructose drives obesity.

The polyol pathway

When blood sugar stays high and insulin can't keep up, excess glucose is forced into alternate metabolic pathways. One of those is the polyol pathway, which receives little attention from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or official dietary guidelines. In this pathway, glucose is converted into sorbitol, then into fructose. This fructose isn't from your food. It's produced inside your cells and contributes directly to metabolic harm.

That internal fructose drives fat accumulation in the liver (NAFLD), fuels inflammation, and worsens insulin resistance. The ADA considers an A1C of 7% to be well-controlled, but at that level, damage is already happening. Nerve pain, vision loss, and kidney disease are not caused by diabetes itself, but by glucose and the harmful substances it produces. These include sorbitol and fructose inside the cells, which create osmotic stress, advanced glycation end products that damage tissues, and reactive oxygen species that accelerate cellular aging and inflammation.

If blood sugar levels stay high, your cells keep making fructose, and the damage keeps building.

Some historic perspective

In the early 1800s, the average American consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year. By 1900, that number had climbed to over 40 pounds. Today, it's closer to 150 pounds per person per year.

What was once a lifetime of sugar for someone born in 1800 is now consumed by children before they finish elementary school.

That rise in sugar intake mirrors the explosion of metabolic disease. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and insulin resistance were rare in the past. Now they are common, and they are showing up earlier than ever, even in kids.

This didn't happen because people got lazy. It happened because sugar became normal.

Sugar causes decay. Beef doesn't.

How food labels deceive

Tic Tacs are labelled as sugar-free. Not because there is no sugar in Tic Tacs. They are actually almost entirely made of sugar. But each Tic Tac weighs 0.5 grams. Labelling laws allow any serving that contains under 1 g of sugar to be declared sugar-free. Isn't that fun? Since one Tic Tac is conveniently one serving, and it weighs in at only half a gram, it can be lawfully advertised as "sugar-free".

The ingredients don't lie. Sugar is listed first (sugar), and second (maltodextrin). But the nutrition facts get away with it because of outdated rules.

But wait, there is more: Tic Tacs are also zero calories, because one serving (one Tic Tac) is under 5 calories. That is a very optimistic serving size.

Always read the label.

What sugar does to your body

Raises blood glucose and insulin
Drives fat gain and insulin resistance
Speeds up aging
Damages your liver (contributing to NAFLD)
Triggers inflammation
Feeds harmful bacteria
Rewires reward pathways in the brain
Lowers your natural motivation and energy

What sugar does to your mitochondria

And it gets worse. Sugar doesn't just raise blood glucose or spike insulin. It impairs your mitochondria, the powerhouses inside your cells that generate energy for everything your body does. Fructose increases oxidative stress and interferes with how these systems function. Over time, your body stops burning fat efficiently. You feel sluggish, inflamed, and anxious. Imagine trying to run while breathing through a straw. That is what sugar does to your cells. Sugar is not food. It is a metabolic toxin that breaks the system from the inside out.

Sugar is addictive

For many people, sugar isn't just a treat. It's a fix. They are not just craving sugar, they are addicted. Giving up sugar seems like an impossible task. I've seen people in diabetes groups say "Cake is life," even while facing severe diabetic complications.

Addiction is a brain disease. It has nothing to do with willpower. It is marked by a loss of control.

Sugar doesn't just light up the same areas of the brain as cocaine. It wires behaviour: eat, reward, crash, repeat. Over time, that loop becomes automatic.

Sugar isn't officially listed as a substance of abuse in the DSM-5, but it fits the pattern. Tolerance, withdrawal, failed attempts to quit, it's all there.

Sugar addiction is real

Surprising sources of sugar

Whole wheat bread: same blood sugar spike as white bread
"Heart Healthy" cereal: pure carbs, packed with added sugar and a dash of glyphosate
Ketchup, sauces, spice mixes: sugar is one of the main ingredients
Bananas and grapes: very high in sugar
Sugar-free sweeteners
Fruit juice

Read the label. Then test your blood sugar if you really want the truth.

Juice is not a free pass. It's full or sugar.

Getting off the sugar trap

For some people, "moderation" is just another trap. They don't need portion control. They need distance. They need to know there are bad foods.

Get rid of it. Eat real food. Eggs. Beef. Butter. Things that don't come with a label or cause cravings an hour later.

And fix your environment. Don't bring the problem into your home. Don't leave it in your car or stash it in your bag.

Calling out how broken our advice has been. You can't fix a sugar problem with more sugar.

Final thought

Sugar is not a treat. It is not fuel. It is a toxic substance that disrupts hormones, damages the brain, and burns out your cells. The solution isn't less of it. It's to stop calling it food.

SUGAR, Slow Toxin or Treat? By Roxana Soetebeer, MPHC, NNP, MHP, PFC

SUGAR, Slow Toxin or Treat?

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