Sugar in excess is a toxin, unrelated to its calories. The dose determines the poison. Like alcohol, a little sugar is fine, but a lot is not. And the food industry has put us way over our limit.

Sweeteners condition our taste buds to want more sweet. Consuming excessive amounts of sugar triggers your brain and body to want sugar most of the time. If your blood sugar dips down, your body gets a signal to eat more sugar. It's almost as if your system has been hijacked.

Are you angry with yourself because you can't seem to turn down tempting desserts or other empty-calorie carbs -- even though you began your day determined to eat cleanly?

If you are skeptical by nature, you may have thought the segment last night claiming sugar was toxic was some kind of April Fool's joke. Certainly, you thought the scientists appearing on the show were overreacting in saying that sugar might be addictive. Let me tell you, they weren't.

We need to know that we consume too much sugar and that it does us harm because, ostensibly, knowledge is power. In that spirit, we in public health have cause to welcome some important new allies to the mission of advancing health through better nutrition: museums.

Sugar leads to the release of powerful chemicals like serotonin, beta-endorphin and the reward chemical dopamine. No wonder we can't live without it!