Stop Overthinking Sugar—Here’s What Actually Matters
There's more to the story - find out what really matters when it comes to sugar and the truth about artificial sweeteners. LIVE CLASS DETAILS inside.
I know, nobody likes talking about sugar the week before the official kickoff to cookie season begins. I promise this information will not be used to shame you or guilt you in any way.
In fact, I don’t think sugar is the villain we’ve made it out to be.
This week on the podcast, I’m sharing the surprising reasons why a little sugar might actually be necessary in our diets, how our body uses it, and what really matters when it comes to sugar consumption.
Join Me Live Tonight at 7:00 pm CST
To continue the conversation and add a plot twist, I’ll be answering your most-asked questions about artificial sweeteners. Here’s what we’ll cover:
A brief (and funny) history of artificial sweeteners
What we know about their health impact
Which ones to use or avoid
My Healthy Holiday Sugar Guide, including my favorite holiday dessert recipes
We’ll wrap up in just one hour—I promise! So grab some cozy sweats, warm up a mug of tea, and bring all your burning questions.
This class is free for all insiders. If you’re not currently an insider, you can join for just $5, which includes the live class, my sugar guide, and a replay link. (That’s less than your peppermint mocha, FYI.)
In other news, I feel the need to expand on the latest sugar podcast.
I’ll admit I hesitated to publish this week’s podcast episode. Not because I don’t believe in the content but because sugar is such a nuanced topic, and our minds tend to jump to extremes.
Here’s the thing:
Sugar is both necessary and harmful. It’s about finding balance—not too little and not too much.
Today, I want to remind you that it’s both necessary in the right forms and quantities and harmful in the wrong. To cover my bases, dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s, the best and potentially only forms of sugar we need are from:
Fruits
Vegetables
Honey
Maple syrup
Sorghum
These raw, unfiltered forms have research-backed benefits—even for people with diabetes.
Several studies on diabetic patients have found that eating honey may increase insulin levels and decrease blood sugar levels. Others have found that body weight, blood lipids, and glucose may also be reduced.
While I’m not suggesting we all go binge on honey, it raises an important point: perhaps the negative effects of sugar are less about sugar itself and more about how our bodies process it.
What if the negative consequences of sugar are less about the sugar and more about the liver and other cellular reactions to the sugar?
I’m completely hypothesizing…
This might be another case of proving you can really find research on both sides of any argument.
But I also think there is more to the story than sugar being the problem.
I think it has less to do with what you eat and more to do with how your body responds. The way your body responds to sugar often depends on broader lifestyle factors:
Muscle mass
Sleep quality
Stress management
Emotional regulation
The health of your relationships
Your sense of joy and purpose
I know, I always go back to this, but I can’t help but not. If we break down the root cause, I think we have to recognize it’s more than just food.
We’re all reacting differently, I want to know why and how can we change this reaction?
When it comes to sugar, it’s important to recognize that many factors at play potentially create more shifts in how your body responds, making those factors more critical than attempting to deprive or restrict.
Instead of micromanaging your diet, focus on building a lifestyle that supports your body’s natural processes. This approach is not only more effective but also more sustainable.
I’ll dive deeper into this tonight, but for now, let this sink in:
When you stop overthinking sugar, you think about it less—and when you think about it less, you consume less.
Then you can redirect that energy into meaningful lifestyle shifts, like:
Building muscle
Improving your sleep
Managing stress in healthy ways
Finding more joy in life
Shifting your eating cycles (e.g., eating earlier in the day)
Restricting or depriving yourself isn’t the answer. Sustainable habits and a supportive lifestyle are.
I’d Love to Hear From You
What are your thoughts on this hypothesis? How do you think your lifestyle affects your body’s response to sugar?
Make sure to listen to the podcast and join me live tonight for more. Let’s change the way we think about sugar—and our health.