Eliminating dietary sugar may disrupt gut health and promote inflammation
Eliminating sugar from your diet may be more detrimental than previously thought, according to an animal study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, highlighting that balanced nutrition is more important than simply eliminating sugar." Rasheed Ahmad, Ph.D., principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department, Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait City, Kuwait
The institute was founded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of
Sciences. Researchers investigated the effects of a sucrose-free low-fat
diet compared to a sucrose-containing low-fat control diet in two
groups of mice for 16 weeks.
They evaluated glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating
metabolic hormones, the gut microbiome and inflammation in the colon and
liver.
Mice fed the sucrose-free diet developed impaired glucose control,
insulin resistance, gut microbial imbalance, intestinal inflammation and
fatty liver changes, despite having no significant differences in body
weight compared with control mice.
"The findings suggest that complete removal of sucrose from a low-fat diet may negatively affect gut microbiota and metabolic health," Ahmad said. "The study highlights the importance
of maintaining balanced dietary carbohydrates to support gut and immune
homeostasis."
Until now, the consequences of restrictive diets that eliminate sugar from a low-fat diet were unknown.
"This research may influence future dietary recommendations by
emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome
rather than focusing only on sugar restriction," Ahmad said. "In the
long term, these findings could help improve strategies for preventing
and managing metabolic disorders, fatty liver disease and chronic inflammatory conditions."
"Studies such as this reflect our institute's commitment to advancing
evidence-based scientific discoveries that improve public health
outcomes and deepen our understanding of metabolic disease," said Faisal
Hamed Al-Refaei, MD, Acting Director General of Dasman Diabetes
Institute.