Telling people to cut consumption of sugar will help them lose small amounts of weight, researchers report today.
A series of studies suggest that simply giving advice about sugar can have a small effect on weight.
Cutting sugar involves avoiding sweetened foods and also reducing intake of honey, syrups and fruit juices.
Researchers found that advice to reduce sugar led on average to people losing about 0.8 kg or one and a half pounds in weight.
Sugar consumption in food and drink is a key factor in the body-weight of modern people, the research suggests.
People who eat more sugar, or drink sugar-sweetened beverages, have a higher calorie intake and higher body weight than those who consume less sugar, researchers say.
The study was commissioned by the World Health Organisation to help update its population-level recommendations on sugar intake. It aimed to summarise evidence from 68 studies on the sugar/body weight link in adults and children.
Reporting in today’s British Medical Journal, Professor Jim Mann of the University of Otago, New Zealand, and colleagues say: "Among free living people, intake of free sugars or sugar sweetened beverages is a determinant of body weight."
In weight-loss studies, a reduced intake of sugar was associated with significantly reductions in body weight.
The researchers say that replacing sugars with other carbohydrates does not lead to a change in body weight.
Overall, the findings support international guidelines to cut sugar intake to less than ten per cent of total energy, to help reduce the global obesity epidemic, they say.
The authors write: "When considering the rapid weight gain that occurs after an increased intake of sugars, it seems reasonable to conclude that advice relating to sugars intake is a relevant component of a strategy to reduce the high risk of overweight and obesity in most countries."
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