Giving up sugar entirely may not be as beneficial as many people assume. New research presented Saturday at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, suggests that completely removing sugar from the diet could have unintended effects on gut and metabolic health.
Researchers from the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait examined what happened when mice were fed a low-fat diet that contained no sucrose, a common form of sugar. The study compared those animals with a control group that received a low-fat diet containing sucrose over a 16-week period.
"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," said Rasheed Ahmad, Ph.D., principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The institute was founded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences.
Sugar-Free Diet Linked to Metabolic Changes
To evaluate the effects of eliminating sucrose, the researchers measured glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating metabolic hormones, the gut microbiome, and inflammation in both the colon and liver.
Despite maintaining similar body weights, mice on the sucrose-free diet experienced several negative health changes compared with the control group. These included poorer glucose control, insulin resistance, imbalances in gut microbes, intestinal inflammation, and changes associated with fatty liver disease.
"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."
Gut Microbiome and Dietary Balance
According to the researchers, little was previously known about the potential consequences of highly restrictive low-fat diets that eliminate sugar entirely.
"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."
The team believes the results underscore the need to consider overall dietary balance, rather than concentrating solely on reducing sugar intake.
"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.
