Start with Robert Lustig's Sugar: The Bitter Truth on YouTube. Then read Gary Taubes' Is Sugar Toxic?

Other good resources:

• Mark Sisson's Definitive Guide to Sugar
• Kathleen DesMaisons' Science Behind Sugar Sensitivity
• Nephropal's Sugar Addiction

Ray Peat argued in favor of sugar. See an overview here:

http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/2012/2/27/sugar-pure-white-awesome.html

Can any Paleohackers explain where they disagree? Although Ray Peat is Paleo on many aspects, there seems to be a strong divide on sugar and carb consumption.

I got very positive results from adjusting my diet with Ray Peat's (fructose, calcium, food combinations, etc) so I'd be really interested to know.

Are you actually eating things sweetened with sucrose or do you mean sugar from fruit? There's a fair amount of nutrition to be gained from fruit (potassium, vitamin C, manganese, etc.) so the presence of sugars isn't all that big of a deal.

I'm not going to pretend to hate sugar because I don't and because I'm biased. I think it's more important to hate the context rather than the sugar.

Sugar causes problems when you let it invade the overall quality of your diet in my opinion. Most people who switch to a Paleo type diet did so because they were unhealthy. For those individuals it is probably wise to minimize pure white sugar. I think this is especially true if your daily caloric intake is low. So if you are eating 1500-2000 calories a day it's probably wise to eat only the nutrient dense foods. If all your eating is 1500-2000 calories a day lets say you eat 500 calories from white sugar. Basically 25% of your diet is coming from white sugar with absolutely no minerals or vitamins. With a caloric intake that low you are just begging for problems. In that case the white sugar is the problem because in context your not getting enough whole foods again with the vitamins and minerals for your body to operate properly. So I think, or at least I say that in this particular context sugar is the indirect cause but your nutrient status is the direct cause. Big difference. And blaming sugar is a cop out, take responsibility and blame yourself. If you have a sugar addiction more than likely you're not getting enough of some nutrient.

Now lets take somebody who is extremely active. Lets say to maintain their basic metabolic caloric intake they are eating a good nutrient dense diet. However they also need an additional 2000-3000 calories a day because they participate in a sport. It would be easy to say okay, I'm eating 2000 calories to maintain my BMR from nutrient dense foods so I should be able to eat white sugar for the rest of my diet because I just need something to burn. Not so fast. You also have to take into consideration that your going to need to replace any minerals and vitamins that you lost during your activities in addition to the fuel. So as you can see even if you are working out a lot your still losing more than just energy your also loosing minerals and vitamins.

Okay so here is how I approach things. I run 100+ miles a week. I eat eggs, butter, a little meat and liver, milk, cream, and cheese, and bone broths, potatoes, etc. A really Paleo type diet that nobody on here could disagree with. However, I also drink a lot of home squeezed pulp free orange juice and whole ripe fruits. When I consume white sugar, it's always mixed in coffee with milk or cream, chocolate milk, hot chocolate made with egg yolks, ice cream, milk and honey, etc. It's always mixed with something nutrient dense. It's never just empty sugar calories.

Even when I have things like white rice, it's never just white rice, I'll make a cream sauce.

Again, when people have problems it's not the sugar, it's: what is white sugar invading? If it is invading the quality of your diet, then you have what's coming. If your addicted to sugar it's usually because something else is wrong. A good portion of the foods I eat have lots of sugar. I do not have a sweet tooth nor do I crave sugar or sweets. It's just part of my diet just like everything else I eat.

These anti-sugar "experts", my problem with them is that they can't see the forest from the trees. They are ignoring the larger problem of diet quality. Especially the outspoken ones. I would guess that they have some deep seeded psychological issues and nutrient imbalances judging from their demeanor and critical reasoning skills.

If you want to hate sugar because it helps you eat a better diet. Good. Just realize the solution to the problem is to eat a nutrient dense diet i.e. take care of yourself.

Food for thought: Perhaps sugar science only shows trends towards disease because it is placed in the context of a overall world wide decline in diet quality.

Update March 9, 2012: I'm convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that white sugar is quite beneficial, it's no secret that I pound oranges, but behind the scenes for a very a long time I've been riding the dark horse, she has led me down the straight and narrow.

Different strokes or different folks. Once I learned that without a doubt, sugar was harmful, it was easy to stop it completely by getting mad at it. I guess that is the opposite of hyperpalatability.

Maybe that's why food reward gets under my skin so much. It's as far away as reality as I can be. I see sugar treats in the store and think, "crap, evil, poison, why does that even exist!?" Food reward my ass! I really do hate that stuff!

I read an article a few months ago (which, of course, I can't find now) that detailed how there are 8 things that make a substance addictive. The article went on to say that sugar has 5 of these things - which was more than cocaine or alcohol.

In trying to find that article, I did find this: http://drryanbentley.com/2012/are-you-addicted-to-the-most-addictive-substance/

I love sugar. I really do. My biggest weakness is non-US Coca Cola (made with sugar instead of HFCS). That used to not be such a problem since I could only get it when I traveled outside the United States. But now even my local grocery store carries Mexican Coke. And the sub shop across the street from my condo, called Larry's, carries it. I used to think it was cute to say I was "going to Larry's to get some Mexican Coke," but now I feel like I would be better off if I was actually getting Mexican coke. Man, I really gotta quit.

Here is something else you might want to read:

http://www.sugarshockblog.com/2007/12/salt-the-forgot.html

Agree: Mark Sisson's "Definitive Guide to Sugar" and Lustig's "Sugar: The Bitter Truth." Go Google "health benefits of sugar" and enjoy a good laugh.

For what it's worth, I try to make a point not to "hate" food, including food I emphatically choose not to consume.

Hate sugar because it messes with your system.

Hate sugar because it makes you crave even more sugar!

Hate sugar because it gives you a 'rush' and then you feel awful a short time later.

Hate sugar because it affects your moods, your performance and your general well being.

Give up sugar, cleanse your system.......... See how amazing you feel. Do it - You won't regret it!

Because it makes WORMS AGE FASTER! ... and worms are our friends.

The issue is fructose from added, exogenous sugar, not so much endogenous sugar from fruits or other whole foods. The fiber and the soury tastes of most fruits are built-in inhibitors that stop you from eating too much or screwing up your liver. This is why it's rare for anyone to become diabetic by eating too much fruit; endogenous sugar isn't likely to screw up your metabolism. If you're juicing, though, that's another story.

Those who claim sugar isn't harmful do not understand the (i) addictive nature of sugar, and (ii) the predatory nature of sugar in your palette, crowding out all other taste buds. Products enhanced by a combination of excess sugar and salt are "hyperpalatable": the best examples are Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Doritos, Frito Lay, and Pop Tarts.

Add the addictiveness, hyperpalability, and the fructose component. Then add the high- glycemic nature of sugar, especially exogenous sugar, when combined with other high-glycemic items.

If you're not easily addicted and if you're hyperactive, is sugar ok? Dr. Lustig did say that if you're Michael Phelps, you can eat anything you want; you can eat as many Snicker bars as you can fit in your 6,000 calorie diet. He's not worried about athletes drinking Gatorades. He's worried about the fat kids that are impressionable, easily addictive, and inactive drinking Gatorades. Unfortunately, that's most of us.

I agree, don't hate sugar, just don't do sugar...I'm 37, highly fit athlete, just coming off the high carb, high sugar wagon that I used to believe was needed to fuel my activities. How wrong I was! Now I'm addicted to the stuff battling with glucose intolerance and am finding it extremely difficult to quit. (I'm by no means fat, but don't want to end up diabetic, having cancer, or any number of other nasty diseases sugar is responsible for.) Do read Mark Sisson, he has well researched science to back his theories up.

For my body, consuming sugar leads to inflammation.