The role of
dietary sugars in the current
obesity epidemic is much debated and opposing views can be found in the lay as well as scientific literature. Here we have reviewed the recent scientific literature on consumption of
sugars and
body weight. Main focus was on three questions: (i) What is the evidence that intake of
dietary sugars is associated with higher
body weight than intake of non-
sugar carbohydrates? (ii) What is the evidence that
sugars in liquid form are associated with higher
body weight than
sugars in solid form? (iii) What is the evidence that diets with a low glycaemic index (GI) or glycaemic load (GL) are associated with lower
body weight than diets high in GI or GL? We conclude that (i) there is insufficient evidence that an exchange of
sugar for non-
sugar carbohydrates in the context of a reduced-fat ad libitum diet or energy-restricted diet results in lower
body weights; (ii) observational studies suggest a possible relationship between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and
body weight, but there is currently insufficient supporting evidence from randomized controlled trials of sufficient size and duration; (iii) at this moment there is insufficient evidence to support a difference between liquid and solid
sugar intake in
body-weight control and (iv) there is some, although not consistent, evidence for a lower
body weight on diets with a lower GL, but the effect is likely to be small. There is currently no convincing evidence for a role of GI independent of GL.