How could sugar be responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemics?

Story Source: Materials provided by BMJ. Note: Content may be edited for style and length by Science Daily

The idea that sugar could be a fundamental cause of the global obesity and diabetes epidemics, with deleterious effects on the human body that go beyond just empty calories, should be considered seriously again, argues journalist and author Gary Taubes in The BMJ today.

In the midst of such a huge public health crisis, Taubes says "we must do more to discourage consumption while we improve our understanding of sugar's role.
Doctors have long suspected sugar is not simply a source of excess calories but a fundamental cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes, writes Taubes. But until recently, fat consumption and total energy balance have dominated the debate about obesity and the nature of a healthy diet.

Official estimates are that one in 11 people in the United States has diabetes; one in 16 in the UK -- and latest estimates suggest that obesity and diabetes may now cost the US healthcare system as much as $1bn (£740m; €850m) a day.

In 2016, World Health Organization (WHO) director general Margaret Chan described the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes worldwide as a "slow-motion disaster" -- and suggested that the likelihood of preventing the current "bad situation" from getting "much worse" was "virtually zero."

Why, despite all our best efforts, have these epidemics gone unchecked, asks Taubes?
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Could sugar be responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemics?