Medically reviewed on April 4, 2023 by Jillian Foglesong Stabile, MD, FAAFP. To give you technically accurate, evidence-based information, content published on the Everlywell blog is reviewed by credentialed professionals with expertise in medical and bioscience fields.
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Inflammation is your body’s way of healing when it perceives a threat. To sweet tooths and dessert lovers, sugar may seem like anything but. However, if you’ve started noticing some inflammatory symptoms after you’ve enjoyed your pie with ice cream, you might be wondering how sugar and inflammation are related.
Does sugar cause inflammation? A 2022 literature review claims that dietary sugar intake could induce minor chronic inflammation, autoimmune responses, and neuroinflammation. [1]
Researchers are still closely studying the connection between inflammation and sugar intake, and healthcare providers are keeping an eye out for emerging data.
In this guide, we’ll dive into how inflammation works, explore how sugar can affect the body, and discuss how eliminating sugar from your diet may decrease your inflammation symptoms.
Inflammation is the immune system’s response to a problem (or perceived one) inside your body or on your skin, like bacteria, a virus, or toxins. [2] When your body activates its inflammatory response, your immune cells respond in a few ways:
But inflammation isn’t always a good thing.
When someone has an auto-immune disease, the immune system attacks cells that don’t actually pose a threat to the body. But, the immune system thinks they’re a threat, so it initiates the inflammatory process. [3]
Chronic or excessive inflammation may cause some health issues. For instance, overwhelming evidence suggests that chronic inflammation is the underlying cause of Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. [2]
Sugars of all kinds (whether it’s added sugar or naturally occurring) interact with systems throughout the body. For instance, glucose (one type of sugar) is a significant source of cellular energy—it helps cells perform basic functions. [4]
Researchers are still exploring the ways in which dietary sugars impact the immune system. But, one bodily process that’s drawn attention from scientists is the uptake of lipopolysaccharide (LPS): [5]
The LPS uptake process is only one example of how complex your body’s nutrient response can be. While researchers know that sugars impact cellular energy production and could induce immune system responses, we still have much to uncover about the connection between sugar and systemic inflammation.
A 2022 literature review explored numerous studies about the connection between dietary sugar intake and systemic inflammation. [1] There are two important things to note about this literature review and the studies it summarizes:
Here’s a brief roundup of the studies noted in the literature review:
As it stands, the evidence connecting inflammation and sugar intake is limited. We recommend talking with your healthcare provider or a Registered Dietitian to delve deeper into your unique symptoms.
Do sugar spikes cause inflammation? Researchers are still trying to establish a direct connection between high blood sugar and the immune system (which regulates inflammation). But, scientists do know that the body uses and responds to nutrients in some ways, which may be early evidence that suggests a possible connection.
If you’re concerned or curious about inflammation, consider taking the Everlywell at-home Inflammation Test. The test lets you check levels of both hs-CRP (an inflammation marker) as well as vitamin D.
What blood test shows inflammation?
Do blood sugar spikes cause inflammation?
Acute vs. chronic inflammation: understanding the difference
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