Welcome to the course

Welcome to ‘Sweet tooth: understanding sugar and the body’ with BBC Good Food.

Hello, I’m Tracey Raye, health editor at BBC Good Food. I’ll be guiding you through this course. This video gives you an overview of what to expect over the next four weeks, and I’ll introduce myself and the team.

During this course we’ll be learning about the different types of sugar, how they affect the body and whether some are better than others. We’ll look at sugar substitutes, both natural and artificial, and we’ll cover tips and tricks to help manage sugar cravings and reduce the sugar load in your diet.

Part of an ExpertTrack

This course is the first in the Navigating dietary needs in the kitchen with BBC Good Food ExpertTrack, which consists of four courses. We recommend taking them in the following order:

• Course 1: Sweet tooth: understanding sugar and the body
• Course 2: Fibre, fermentation & your gut
• Course 3: Special diets: cooking for allergies & intolerances
• Course 4: Healthy vegan cooking

Assessment and Certificates

You’ll be able to gain a Certificate of Achievement for each of the ExpertTrack courses if you score over 70% in the end-of-course tests, and mark over 90% of steps as complete. If you complete all four courses and earn a certificate in each, you’ll also receive an ExpertTrack Certificate.

Meet the course team

Tracey Raye

Lulu Grimes

Anna Glover

Introduce yourself!

Say hello and tell us about yourself in the comments section below. Don’t forget to mention why you’ve chosen this course.

Learn together

The educators won’t be able to join the discussions themselves or respond to individual comments, but the course encourages a strong learning community. The learning is focussed around debate and discussion – supporting other learners, sharing your own experience and knowledge, and listening to new perspectives. We hope that you will enjoy interacting with, and learning from, each other in this way.

You’ll see the ‘comments’ area on most steps, and you’ll also see dedicated ‘discussions’ throughout the four weeks, where the primary task is to talk about your experiences and ideas – and learn from each other! You can ‘follow’ other learners to keep track of their commenting through the course, and also ‘like’ their comments.

If you have blood sugar issues, which have been diagnosed by a medical practitioner, be sure to consult your doctor or other healthcare professional before making any significant dietary changes. This is especially important if you’re on medication. This course material is written for information purposes and to help improve your understanding of sugar and how it affects your body, it is not intended as a diagnostic tool or to replace important medical advice.

I look forward to learning and sharing some practical kitchen tips with you.

Tracey