Are some types of sugar healthier than others?

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Avoid refined white sugar, they will say, and search out the healthier “natural" stuff instead, such as raw sugar or honey. Alas, the advice is misplaced—the type of sugar you eat won’t make any difference to your health. What could, though, is how you eat it.

More than 250 different types of sugar can appear on food labels. But whether you see sugar (eg, brown, coconut, cane or crystal), nectar or syrup (eg, corn, maple, agave or grape), their sweetness comes from the same two ingredients: fructose and glucose. When they are bound together in equal proportions, they form sucrose—familiar plain white sugar.

What matters most when consuming sugar, in whatever form, is to eat it slowly. Glucose is the body’s main source of fuel, used for metabolism within cells. Consuming lots at once will cause a spike of it in your blood, which is then followed by a sharp dip that will make you hungry (cue snacking).