Sugars serve as energy sources and building blocks for macromolecules, making them indispensable to living organisms. Yet, there is also a negative side to the actions of sugars. They fuel nonenzymatic glycation, a spontaneous posttranslational modification of proteins in vivo that results in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which adversely effect biochemical, biomechanical, and cellular function and are implicated in the complications of diabetes and many age-related diseases.