Jerry Hall has seen it all. As a supermodel and actress, partner first to a Rolling Stone then to a media tycoon, the soon-to-be-star of Celebrity Traitors has had a front row seat to every trend, fad and fashion that’s taken hold since the 70s. So which one does she actually stick with?

Back in the noughties, Jerry served as an ambassador for Splenda – the low-calorie sweetener brand – partnering with celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson for a ‘Back to Baking’ campaign promoting healthier, reduced-sugar baking recipes. About a decade later, she told Lorraine Kelly that ‘I don’t eat sugar, I think sugar is very bad for you.’

Beyond that? ‘I eat everything and I don’t have any fads,’ she has said. ‘I like my three meals a day. I drink the occasional glass of red wine, but not excessively, definitely not. It just makes you feel ill. My motto is everything in moderation.’

Sugar’s impact on your health

Can cutting out sugar really make a massive difference to your health? ‘Excess refined sugar is one of the easiest ways for a modern diet to drift out of balance, as it delivers a lot of sweetness and energy very quickly with very little nutritional value,’ explains Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist at gut health science company ZOE and author of upcoming book, The Appetite Reset.

In the short term, she explains, the biggest impact will be on your appetite and energy. ‘Refined sugar added to food or drink is absorbed fast, so it can cause a sharper, more pronounced rise in blood glucose and consequent insulin response than the same amount of sugar eaten in a whole food such as fruit,’ she says. ‘For some people, that can be followed by a dip in energy and increased hunger soon after.’ If that leads you to snack more, then over time you’ll end up taking in more calories than you need.

The ‘real’ health impacts are longer term, however. Diets high in refined sugar (especially from sugary drinks, sweets and ultra-processed snacks) are – Dr Amati explains – consistently linked with weight gain. They’re also associated with a higher risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes as well as poorer cardiometabolic health. Then, there’s also long-term inflammation and tooth decay – ‘one of the most direct and well-established effects,’ says Dr Amati.

The problem, she explains, is that there are so many ‘hidden’ added sugars in modern food – from bread and sauces to drinks and yogurts – that your sugar intake can creep up without you even noticing that you’ve eaten much sweet food.

Should you cut sugar out altogether?

Well no, suggests Dr Amati: ‘moderate and infrequent consumption alongside an otherwise balanced diet is absolutely fine, though most of us do consume more than we need.’

The WHO recommends keeping free (or added) sugars to less than 10% of total daily energy intake and ideally under 5%. Sugars in sweet wholefoods, such as fruit, are healthier than refined or added sugars, explains Dr Amati, not because the sugar is different, but because the fibre, water and intact structure that you eat alongside it helps to slow your digestion, keeping you feeling satisfied and supporting a steadier blood sugar response. ‘In wholefoods, sugar also comes packaged with beneficial nutrients like vitamins, minerals and polyphenols, which also provide health benefits,’ she points out.

How about honey?

‘While high-quality honey does offer some trace micronutrients and can genuinely help a sore throat and tickly cough, it is still a free sugar,’ says Dr Amati. ‘Whether it’s honey, maple syrup or white table sugar, your body processes them all similarly, and they will impact your blood sugar in a comparable way.’ Instead of looking for a sugar alternative, she suggests, it’s best to cut back on the sugar in your cake recipe or turn to wholefoods – such as mashed bananas, stewed apples or dates – which add helpful fibre and nutrients alongside sweetness.

Most importantly? ‘Remember that food is supposed to be about joy, and this especially applies to baking,’ she says. ‘Don’t stress over restricting yourself or finding a perfect substitute. Simply add more of the good stuff: adding chia seeds, using different flours like almond or buckwheat and serving your cake with a generous handful of fresh berries.’

The Appetite Reset (Michael Joseph, £25) by Dr Federica Amati is available to preorder and out on 25 June 2026