Sugar: A guide to the sweet stuff in all its forms

Magnification of grains of refined sucrose, the most common free sugar. - Wikimedia Commons

Learn how to tell one sweetener from another with our essential guide.

SUGAR is sugar, most science now agrees: a simple carbohydrate that almost all of us in the rich world eat to excess. The same goes for “natural” sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup – but they may have other elements that are good for you, or help you absorb the sugar that travels with them in a more healthy way.