Sugar: the stuff of celebratory birthday cakes and wellness myth. Without a doubt, it elicits some pretty major debate for a pantry staple…and we spend a lot of airspace talking about  how sugar affects the body. So, in this week’s episode, I’m going to put on my Registered Dietitian hat and answer all of your burning questions about the sweet stuff, including, “Is sugar bad for you?” In order to answer that question, we’re going to have to dive DEEP. Starting with what the heck sugar actually is and how the body metabolizes it. We’re going to dive into the science and physiology of sugar, with a detour to cover alternative sweeteners like aspartame in order to arrive at the destination: how we should approach sugar in our everyday lives.  I hope you love this solo episode, our first of 2024! As always, we’ll start with 3 of Desiree’s current obsessions and close with a question from our community. On this episode we chat about: What is sugar, and how is table sugar different from the sugar in our bodies? How is the sugar we eat metabolized by our body? Is it okay for blood sugars to rise? Glycemic index vs glycemic load Is sugar inflammatory? Does sugar cause diabetes? Aspartame and cancer What you NEED to know about that erythritol and heart disease study How many added sugars should we eat daily? What about fruit? How to beat sugar cravings Support the Pod! We couldn’t make this podcast happen without the support of our amazing listeners… I love hearing your feedback on these episodes to be sure to join the conversation on our instagram @theallsortspod @desireenielsenrd as well as in our Nutrition with Desiree community. If you love this episode, please share it with your friends and family, or take a minute to rate, review or subscribe on your favourite podcast app. We appreciate EVERY. SINGLE. LISTEN! Connect with Desiree Website: https://desireerd.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desireenielsenrd/ Full show notes, along with episode links and references, available at https://desireerd.com/podcast/