Episode 66: Trick or Treat? Why Sugar-Free Sweets and Diet Drinks Are Not the Free Pass to Healthy Weight Loss You Think They Are

Send us your questions & comments With Halloween this weekend and sweets everywhere, Joanne Willis closes out October's nervous system series with a timely look at sugar-free sweets and diet drinks. Prompted by a conversation with colleagues in the Metabolic Balance world, she shares two stories: a woman who can't drink plain water without her cordial, and a colleague who lost a lot of weight by filling her points with diet products, yet felt exhausted and unwell the whole time. Joanne explains why zero calories doesn't mean zero impact, drawing on a new Tufts University analysis that compared sweeteners with water rather than sugar. At the heart of the episode is insulin, your body's storage hormone. Joanne explains why it matters far more than the number on the scale, how insulin resistance can hide behind "normal" blood tests for years, and how it shows up in your energy, cravings, sleep, blood pressure, cholesterol and hormones. She also covers why weight lost while insulin stays high so often comes back. She explains the UK sugar tax and why "no added sugar" so often means added sweeteners, then walks through the full sweetener spectrum: artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, stevia and monk fruit, and "natural" options like maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar and agave. For each one, she covers where it may be a better choice and what to watch for. She closes with practical ways to steady your blood sugar and reduce your reliance on sweetness, plus a simple Halloween plan, because steadier blood sugar means steadier emotions too. In this episode, you'll learn: Why insulin, not the scale, is the key to losing weight, keeping it off and feeling your best for decades What the latest research says about sweeteners, blood sugar, insulin and your gut What the UK sugar tax is, why it was introduced, and how it put sweeteners into so many drinks The pros and cons of each type of sweetener, from aspartame and erythritol to stevia, maple syrup and agave Why sugar-free sweets may not be the kinder choice for trick-or-treaters, and why xylitol is so harmful to dogs Six practical ways to calm your insulin response and gently retrain your sweet tooth A guilt-free Halloween plan you can start this week Free Event Coming Up - Save the Date! On Thursday, November 12th, 2026, Joanne is hosting her new live workshop, The Midlife Metabolic Reset for Women Over 40 at 7pm UK time (2pm Eastern, 11am Pacific). This interactive workshop is for women in midlife whose weight won't budge no matter what they try and are thinking of taking a GLP-1, or are already taking a GLP-1 but want to know how to support their body while taking it to avoid the negative side effects and rebound weight gain once they choose to stop. This workshop is also for women who feel their body is slowly betraying them and can't make sense of their symptoms and declining vitality despite trying all the things. Follow the podcast so you don't miss the details next week and in the meantime, save the date! Resources mentioned in this week's episode: Study Raises New Questions About Artificial Sweeteners (Tufts University analysis, July 2026) Episode 41: Why You're Still Exhausted Even After a Full Night's Sleep Episode 63: Why You Feel Heavier, Foggier and Flatter When the Light Starts Fading Episode 65: Why You Reach for Food When Your Emotions Run High Ready