Is Sugar Truly That Bad For You?

Although we’ve barely said goodbye to September, bags of Halloween candies are in our pantries. A little research and development never hurt anybody! Which, truthfully, is the perfect excuse to talk about sugar. And before you panic, no one’s taking away your candy—especially the kind without artificial flavors or colors (we’re currently obsessed with Unreal dark chocolate peanut butter cups).

Before we go any further, this is not a newsletter about demonizing sugar. We're not here to tell you to throw out everything in your pantry or exercise restraint when you’re handed a slice of cake at a birthday party. Sugar is not poison. But it's also not nothing. And in our opinion, the conversation around it has gotten so polarized! Either sugar is fine and anyone who questions it is fear-mongering, or sugar is the root of all evil and you should never touch it again. Needless to say, most people have no idea where the middle ground is.

How much is too much?

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day for women; which is about six teaspoons. To put that in perspective, a single can of soda has around 39 grams. A flavored yogurt can have 15-20 grams. A ‘healthy’ granola bar might have 12. It adds up fast, and most of it is sneaking in from places that don't taste particularly sweet.

The key distinction here is added sugar vs. naturally occurring sugar. The sugar in a banana or a sweet potato comes packaged with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water, all of which slow its absorption. The simple sugars added to packaged foods, ultra-processed snacks, sauces, dressings, and drinks don’t come with any of that. It hits your bloodstream faster, spikes insulin harder, and offers very little in return nutritionally.

This doesn't mean you need to track every gram. But it is worth becoming a label reader, because added sugar shows up in places you wouldn't expect: bread, oat milk, pasta sauce, salad dressing, protein bars, matcha lattes, nut butters, etc. Once you start noticing, it's kind of wild how much of it is built into the standard grocery haul.

Why this matters for your hormones (and everything else)

When you consume a lot of added sugar, especially without protein or fat or fiber to slow it down, your blood sugar spikes. Insulin rushes in to bring it back down. And if this is happening over and over, day after day, your cells start responding less efficiently to insulin. That's insulin resistance, and it's connected to everything from stubborn weight gain and intense cravings to hormonal imbalances like PMOS and irregular cycles.

Excess sugar also feeds inflammation. And chronic inflammation, as we've covered in our cramps and PMS newsletters, can worsen prostaglandin production, intensify period pain, disrupt your gut microbiome, and impair estrogen metabolism. It can also affect your skin, your energy, your mood, and your sleep! Again, it's not that one cookie is going to derail your health. It's the cumulative, daily, hidden intake that tends to be the issue.

Better alternatives when the craving hits

Cravings aren't something to fight against. They're usually telling you something; I.e. you need more fuel, your blood sugar dropped, you're tired, or your serotonin is dipping in the luteal phase and your body is looking for a quick fix. The goal isn't to eliminate sweet things from your life. It's to find options that satisfy the craving without sending your blood sugar on a roller coaster.

Some of our go-to swaps:

1. Dark chocolate (72% cacao or higher). This is the swap that feels the least like a swap. Dark chocolate is rich in magnesium (which we love!) and polyphenols, and a few squares after dinner can feel genuinely indulgent without the blood sugar chaos of milk chocolate or candy.
2. Fruit with fat or protein. An apple with almond butter and cinnamon, berries with full-fat yogurt (sweetened with a few drops of liquid monk fruit) and a scoop of beeya, a drizzle of raw honey and hemp seeds over cottage cheese. The fat and protein slow the glucose absorption and keep you satisfied way longer than fruit alone.
3. Dates with nut butter. A Medjool date stuffed with peanut butter and a pinch of sea salt is one of our favorite afternoon pick-me-ups. The natural sugars in dates come with fiber, potassium, and magnesium, and the nut butter rounds it out into something that feels like a real dessert.

Recipes from our blog for when you need more than a piece of fruit

We've got you covered!

1. For something quick: Chocolate Coconut Crunch (these take less than 5 minutes to make and then you pop them into the freezer), Raspberry Dark Chocolate Parfait (no cooking required), or a Chocolate Pomegranate Yogurt Bowl (pomegranates are in season right now!).
2. For something that feels like a full dessert moment: No-Bake Twix Bars, Snickers Fudge Cups, Flourless Dark Chocolate Brownies, or Pistachio Date Bark.
3. For breakfast or a snack that just happens to taste sweet: Mango Protein Chia Pudding (frozen mango works great here) or a Chocolate Crunch Protein Overnight Bowl.
4. And one to bookmark for when the weather turns: Peppermint Protein Patties. Not quite the season yet, but trust us—you'll want these in your back pocket come November.

These are all made with whole food ingredients, all incorporate our seed cycling blends, and all genuinely delicious (not ‘healthy-delicious,’ just delicious). Enjoy!

A few habits that help without requiring a complete overhaul

Recipes aside, read your labels for a week. Not to obsess, but to get a baseline. You might be surprised by where added sugar is hiding in your routine. Start swapping one or two of the biggest offenders (a sweetened coffee drink, a flavored yogurt, a particular sauce) for versions with less or no added sugar and see how you feel.

Additionally, eat balanced meals with enough protein, fat, and fiber so that your blood sugar stays steady throughout the day. Cravings for sugar are so much more intense when you're running on an empty tank or riding the spike-and-crash cycle. When you're well-fed, the cravings tend to quiet down on their own.

Lastly, give yourself full permission to enjoy something sweet when you want it. The guilt and restriction cycle tends to create more sugar consumption over time, not less. Having a piece of cake at a birthday party isn’t a health crisis. Having 20 grams of hidden added sugar in your Tuesday lunch without realizing it is a different conversation.

Where seed cycling fits in

Seed cycling supports several of the systems that sugar can disrupt. The fiber in flax and sesame seeds supports blood sugar stability and gut health. The zinc in pumpkin and sesame seeds supports insulin signaling. The magnesium in pumpkin seeds helps with stress resilience and cravings (especially in the luteal phase when sugar cravings tend to peak). It's not a sugar substitute, but it's part of the foundation that makes the whole picture work.

It's about awareness, not perfection

Nobody needs a perfect relationship with sugar. But most of us could benefit from consuming a little less—be it in our morning coffee or the toast we typically reach for. And remember, the goal is always to add more of what supports your body, not to remove some of life’s simplest pleasures.