Sugar-free diets may disrupt the gut microbiome, animal study indicates

Eliminating sugar from your diet may be more detrimental than previously thought, according to an animal study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

“Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, highlighting that balanced nutrition is more important than simply eliminating sugar,” said Rasheed Ahmad, Ph.D., principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The institute was founded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences.

Researchers investigated the effects of a sucrose-free low-fat diet compared with a sucrose-containing low-fat control diet in two groups of mice for 16 weeks.

They evaluated glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating metabolic hormones, the gut microbiome, and inflammation in the colon and liver.

Mice fed the sucrose-free diet developed impaired glucose control, insulin resistance, gut microbial imbalance, intestinal inflammation and fatty liver changes, despite having no significant differences in body weight compared with control mice.

“The findings suggest that complete removal of sucrose from a low-fat diet may negatively affect gut microbiota and metabolic health,” Ahmad said. “The study highlights the importance of maintaining balanced dietary carbohydrates to support gut and immune homeostasis.”

Until now, the consequences of restrictive diets that eliminate sugar from a low-fat diet were unknown.

“This research may influence future dietary recommendations by emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome rather than focusing only on sugar restriction,” Ahmad said. “In the long term, these findings could help improve strategies for preventing and managing metabolic disorders, fatty liver disease and chronic inflammatory conditions.”

“Studies such as this reflect our institute’s commitment to advancing evidence-based scientific discoveries that improve public health outcomes and deepen our understanding of metabolic disease,” said Faisal Hamed Al-Refaei, MD, acting director general of Dasman Diabetes Institute.

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