Outwardly, sugar is labelled the enemy of everything.

We’re told to detox, ban sweet things from the kitchen cabinets, and, God forbid, you eat fruit that’s too sweet. Some people take a sugar-free lifestyle very, very literally.

But, as with most things, living in extremes might not be all that good for you. And a surprising new study suggests that completely cutting sugar from your diet might not be good for your gut either, which may impact aging in ways that we’re still trying to understand.

Surprisingly, some of the early metabolic changes in a no-sugar diet may look like those caused by a high-sugar diet, at least in animal models.

In the study, mice were fed a no-sucrose, low-fat diet to examine the gut and metabolic effects of excluding all dietary sugar. After several weeks, the completely sugar-free mice showed changes associated with metabolic dysfunction:

The mice also showed signs of gut and intestinal inflammation, which is tied to metabolic dysfunction.

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These findings align with evidence that scientists have observed among people following low-sugar diets—such as the Carnivore Diet, Ketogenic diet, No-Carb diet, and fasting—where, for instance, studies of ketogenic diets have shown they can reduce certain fiber-fermenting gut bacteria linked to better gut and metabolic health.

Despite important caveats (including the potential for fat to protect healthy gut bugs), this research could be another step toward understanding the role of carbs and sugar in aging biology.

Decades of research show that added sugar—manufactured forms of sucrose, glucose, or fructose that make packaged food taste good—may compromise the integrity of your gut lining and gut microbiome.

Too much added sugar may:

Zooming out, it has also been linked to systemic aging. Explained one way, processed sugar may create “chemical handcuffs” that gum up your proteins, deactivate digestive enzymes, activate unproductive biochemical signals, and damage your DNA, according to Advances in Orthomolecular Research.

Whereas sugars from fruits, dairy, and unrefined whole grains are consistently associated with better gut health and longer lifespan when consumed as part of the whole food.

Fruit and whole-grain sugars are stonewalled by fiber, antioxidants, and other vital nutrients. Fiber specifically feeds gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, which help maintain the gut lining, regulate inflammation, and support metabolic health, explains Discover.

Health is balance. The evidence does not support eating more sugar to ‘feed’ gut bacteria, but it does suggest that balanced carbohydrate intake from whole foods may support gut and immune health. The eating patterns most consistently linked to longevity also emphasize a colorful variety of fruits, starchy vegetables, and whole grains, providing fiber, antioxidants, and hundreds of beneficial plant compounds.

The big idea is that restriction isn’t always the answer. What seems to matter is the type you eat, how much you eat, and how often you’re eating added sugar. This research is only beginning to show that sugar can shape the gut microbiome, and it’s doing so in ways we're only just beginning to understand.

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When and who is fasting not good for? LIV has the answer.

This question appeared in last week’s “Why we walk slower with age” article on walking speed and longevity.

When you're walking with other people, you're usually the person who...‘walks ahead of everyone else’ (40%)

Our fast walkers must have off-the-charts energy, but one response stopped and made me think: “The more I walk daily, the faster my speed gets.”

Newton’s law is that a body in motion will stay in motion, and no matter what speed you can walk at, it’s going is going to serve.