Yes. Possibly the most vilified ingredient or food in our society. No one questions and simply repeats the repeated.
There is of course, a difference between a snickers bar and a beautiful strawberry.
And I will argue that the healthiest thing in the snickers bar is the sugar, and it's taking the blame for what polyunstauraded fats did.
“The age-related glycation products that are usually blamed on sugar, are largely the result of peroxidation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids.” - Dr. Ray Peat in "Fats and degeneration"
Sugar is an essential nutrient. It let's your body know it's safe and thriving. It's anti stress, down regulates cortisol and adrenalin. It's incredibly pro metabolic. Pro thyroid. It's quick fuel for energy. Energy being not a 5k run, but to "run" life forward in general.
It's your body’s favorite, and preferred source of fuel. Everything runs on it. Without it, your body releases stress hormones and looks for ways to turn fat, muscle, and more into sugar.
It's also a NECESSITY for hydration: Sodium and glucose use the same cotransport mechanism in the small intestine to get in to your body (SGLT1).
It also makes the rehydration process in your body effortless. When your body is under stress, from an already dehydrated state, going through dehydration, or through strain (working out), your body will struggle to rehydrate. Sugar makes that struggle not exist.
We could've used "natural" sweeteners like stevia or monk as well. But the problem of a sweetener is that it's just sweet... Your body expects from a sweet signal, some kind of energy, and a sweetener gives nothing.
Sugar is yummy, and gives that sweet signal some fuel too.
I could go on and on, and I do on X, @revivosupps