You need fat in rather largeish amounts, but I've yet to hear a benefit of eating sugar compared to carbohydrates that are digested more slowly.

Well, the main benefit to sugar is that it metabolizes quickly.

How is that a benefit to someone living in the modern industrialized world, though?

I think it would be best considered as having limited utility, but folks who need a quick sugar boost like diabetics and endurance athletes can take advantage of sugar's characteristics.

They can take advantage of glucose. Fructose still needs to processed by the liver, similarly to alcohol.

Not everyone in the west is a fattie. I am pretty skinny and wanted to gain some weight fairly rapidly a few years ago, so sat with a 2L bottle of soft drink beside my desk at work every day for a couple of weeks. It worked a lot better than my previous attempts of just "eating more".

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese though. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...

I find it useful at breakfast or when i need a quick energy boost an hour or so before "real" food.

When you need to run for the bus