Sugar Busters - Their Claims

Sugar Busters! is a nutritional lifestyle, not just another fad diet. It is about how, what, and when to eat and, yes, it does involve exercise. You will find Sugar Busters! logical, practical, and reasonable and you will not be burdened by having to weigh, count, and measure. Because we encourage you to avoid refined sugar and processed grain products, Sugar Busters! will be a “less” sugar diet but definitely not a “no” sugar diet. In fact we strongly encourage you to make a commitment to choosing correct carbohydrates, those low insulin-producing carbohydrates. Insulin causes you to convert and store excess sugar as fat and also store excess fat as fat. You cannot live without insulin, but you can live much better without too much insulin. Remember, most of the fat on your body comes from sugar, not fat.

Sugar Busters! involves eating high fiber vegetables and whole grains. The fiber in both of these food products has a beneficial effect on your digestive process and overall health. Fruits are encouraged on Sugar Busters! and are excellent as snacks. Meats are an important source of protein but should be lean and trimmed. Sugar Busters! is cautious about fat. We encourage reduced fat products when choosing milk and cheese and strongly advocate careful attention to saturated fats. Too much saturated fat and transfats, those oils used in fast foods, are very harmful not only to your waistline but also to your heart and blood vessels. Hydration is important and everyone is encouraged to drink six to eight glasses of water daily. Missing meals is not healthy. It is important to eat three regular meals daily, and appropriate snacks are allowed. But moderation in portion size is most important. If you are not careful you easily can eat too much of even a correct food choice. Late night snacking is not allowed. Eating at night before going to bed only raises your insulin level and encourages cholesterol production since most cholesterol is manufactured while you are sleeping.

Exercise is an important part of any successful nutritional lifestyle. You should strive to exercise at least twenty minutes four days per week so that you will raise your resting heart rate. However, most people are over-ambitious about exercise, and when they do not meet their expectations they just don’t do it at all. They literally bite off more (exercise) than they can chew (perform). A little exercise will go a long way and certainly is better than none at all.

Sugar Busters! is not restrictive. You can eat from all food groups, but we encourage you to make the best selections within each food group Sugar Busters! is not an extreme or radical approach to nutrition but rather the voice of moderation. A great plan not followed yields poor results. Sugar Busters! has been developed to encourage compliance rather than cheating. The closer you follow Sugar Busters! the better your results. You and your family deserve the best. Make the correct nutritional choice and join the Sugar Busters! lifestyle.

Our Summary Of This Fad Diet

Similar to Mastering the Zone and Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, the Sugar Busters diet claims that carbohydrate (sugar) causes obesity and insulin resistance in the United States. The authors advocate the elimination of carbohydrate from the diet, claiming that one will not overeat foods high in sugar and become insulin resistant. Again, by removing carbohydrate and sugar from the diet, a significant number of calories are eliminated, creating a caloric deficit and, thus, weight loss. An analysis performed by the American Dietetic Association indicates that the menu plans recommended in the book yield approximately 1,200 calories a day. It is not the lack of carbohydrates that cause one to lose weight but rather the very low calorie intake.

Advantages:
The authors recommend consuming lean cuts of meat in addition to fruits and vegetables. Regular exercise is also encouraged.

Disadvantages:
Similar to other high-protein plans, rebound is inevitable due to eventual carbohydrate cravings and the unrealistic restrictions proposed by the diet.

The deception here is brilliant because an increase in body fat can lead to insulin resistance (IR). Therefore, lowering body fat with any method can reverse IR.

They make you believe that your carbohydrate intake (not weight gain) leads to the IR and that starts the increase in body fat. By removing carbohydrates, the calories decline, and succinctly body weight, leading to a reversal of IR. The authors win because you lost weight and became insulin sensitive again, but you lose because once you grow tired of protein and are starved for carbohydrates, you will rebound with a vengeance.**

The American Dietetic Association analyzed the recipes recommended by the book and found that each menu averaged a mere 1,200 calories a day. This is an unrealistic restriction on food intake that cannot be maintained. Keep in mind that weight loss itself reduces the disease symptoms of obesity; not necessarily the method in which one achieves it.

Long-term success:
Due to inevitable carbohydrate cravings, long-range success is unlikely.

**The bottom line is that this food plan is not the best way to lower your food intake unless you are strictly throwing out junk food. You must maintain a healthy balance of good carbohydrates within a caloric allotment that promotes a healthy and desired level of body fat.

Sugar Busters diet was created by: H. Leighton Steward, Morrison C. Bethea, M.D., Sam S. Andrews, M.D., Ralph O. Brennan and Luis A. Balart, M.D.