(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Emanual Maverakis, University of California, Davis; Carlito Lebrilla, University of California, Davis, and Jenny Wang, Yeshiva University

(THE CONVERSATION) When you think of sugar, you probably think of the sweet, white, crystalline table sugar that you use to make cookies or sweeten your coffee. But did you know that within our body, simple sugar molecules can be connected together to create powerful structures that have recently been found to be linked to health problems, includ...