Sugar. It's been labelled "deadly", "addictive", "toxic", "sweet poison" and blamed for the rise in global obesity in recent years." Get rid of the white toxin from your diet and you'll free up your body to drop those excess kilos" (or so say anti-sugar campaigners Sarah Wilson, David Gillespie and Robert Lustig). Here are the three real reasons why I believe quitting sugar helps you lose weight.

The question in full:

Q. I have a hiatus hernia and have trouble keeping food down. I feel full after a few mouthfuls and find I get bloated and tummy cramps. Any suggestions?

Meeting up at the bar or pub? Sharing a drink with friends? These are the times when you notice salty snacks everywhere – potato crisps, corn chips, beer nuts, cashews, pretzels and rice cracker snacks. Salty snacks fly under the radar – no one remembers eating them. Yet they’re a big problem for health and may explain why you can’t lose weight. Here’s my take on them.

Detox diets and detox 'cleansing' kits are big sellers. They promise lots of things - to purify the body, remove 'wastes' and eliminate 'toxins' (which are never really defined) and rejuvenate the liver. They say they can improve a sluggish digestion, revitalise the skin and boost your energy. Detox has become so accepted in our time-poor, instant world that many people embark on one whenever they've overdone the excesses of life and feel the need to refresh and revitalise. After Christmas is a classic time.

I first wrote about how I hated selling chocolate to raise money for our kids’ school back in 2008 and it really hit a nerve with my readers. I used to get so angry when one of our children would arrive home with a huge box of chocolate bars for me to sell. Once I clapped my eyes on that familiar box (with its soft-sell message of “fundraising chocolate” on each bar), I’d feel my blood pressure start to shoot up! Not many things upset me but this is one that’s guaranteed to make my blood boil!

Peanut butter enthusiasts – buckle up. There’s a new healthier alternative in town. I love peanut butter. I remember when I was younger, I’d go for spoonful after spoonful of this sinfully-wonderful-peanut-y-creamy paste after school. Yes, “glutton” I hear you say. But as I grew older, I soon realised that this spread isn’t too innocent afterall.

With their bright colours and pack shots of root vegetables, they scream "healthier snack". But are vegetable chips really better? We did a taste test side by side of two brands of vegetable chips and line them up against your standard salted potato crisp to see how they fare.

As a nation, Australians are losing the battle of the bulge and it's most evident with our kids. Across all age groups and backgrounds, Australian children are getting fatter.