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An information goldmine .. finally some logic at last .. Apr 2, 2003 (184 of 188 found this helpful)
About a month ago, in an effort at preventitive medicine to lower my cholestorol and resulting high blood sugars, my GP sent me to a cardiovascular surgeon. Well as a person that rarely has gone to doctors I wasn't exactly excited what this guy told me, but, when I asked him to explain what kind of a diet or program I should follow he just said buy the book Sugar Busters and follow what it says .....
I have been on all kinds of diets before (who hasn't) and every time some Doctor tried to explain to concepts to me they generally lasted only short periods since the darn diets just didn't make any sense, and it just felt like pieces were missing in the overall puzzle of chemistry in they body related to proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, chloesterol, good bad etc etc.....
What a great surprise this book was to me. Not only does it tie all the pieces together and explain its' diet as the 'Sugarbusters way of eating is roughly 40 percent carbohydrates 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat, it is a balanced diet' that makes overall sense.....
The authors go to great detail to explain the functions of the pancreas, the purposes of insulin, glucanol and exactly what happens when you eat a high protein meal vs a high cargohydrate meal....
For example, the book explains that "The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how much of a specific amount of ingested carbohydrate (usually 50 grams) will cause a persons blood sugar to rise and remain elevated over time relative to the effect on blood sugar of the same amount of pure glucose (which is assigned a GI of 100)... NOW HERE's THE SHOCKER FOR ME the book continues that to "compare the potatoes blood stimulating effect realtive to table sugar is that it would take 118 grams of sugar to have the same impact as one potato. That is 29 1/2 teaspoons of sugar ... WOW all that from one miserable white potato ....
From a historical perspective the book explains that sugar is not even mentioned in the bible and is a modern phenomena dating back only to 500 AD .... obviously the authors have the hots against processed sugars, flour, white potatoes, even white rice (surprising to me cause I thought that rice was a salvation for me .... WRONG) .... The authors also do something that I would have thought was ABSOLUTE BLASPHEMY and even HERECY in that they talk about the famous US goverment food pyramid, that even my dog knows by heart, and advise the reader the this pyramid was formed after many battles with the sugar lobby, the flour lobby, the potato lobby, meat people, egg people, milk people etc etc etc ... needless to say the resulting pyramid is more than suspect, for lack of using stronger words .......
Ok .. so you get the picture ... and as an added bonus this book contains som 100 pages of recepies from restaurants around the US that are in line with the Sugar Busters diet ....
This is one FABULOUS book that is well written, easy to understand, clear cut (don't really need a PhD in chemistry to understand it)and I feel is a definive answer to all those bits and pieces of diet information and stupid, misleading and politically correct food pyramids that I have been exposed to over my 'sugar eating' lifetime.....
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In a world of crash diets, a plan that works for life. Oct 15, 2003 (130 of 133 found this helpful)
I happened upon the original incarnation of this title in mid 1998, when looking for a healthful alternative to the fast-food lifestyle I'd been living in my early-mid 20s. At 6'2" and 190 pounds, I was not searching to lose weight. Rather I was concerned about what toll eating on-the-run had taken on my body. I had tried the typically recommended low-fat way of eating for several years while in college and knew it did not work for me; I'd had several odd health problems related to the sheer lack of fat in my diet. After reading a quick and (rare) dispassionate review of SugarBusters! (SB), I decided to give it a go.
Almost instantly, I noticed I had more energy and stamina, which was important, working and being in school both full-time. Add to this I was eating more - and more frequently - than I had been, possibly ever. The range of what I was eating was diverse and delicious.
What I was not prepared for was the weight loss. In less than 3 months, I had dropped 27 pounds and several inches off my waist, settling at 163 pounds and a 33" waistline. And though I weighed a full 20 pounds more than I did when running cross-country in high school, I had a far lower bodyfat percentage. Simply eating correctly (for me, I will admit) allowed me to possess the best health and physique of my life.
I stayed with the SB way for several years, but eventually allowed the saboteurs (bagels, white rice, pasta, sugars, potatoes, and other of what i call "crappy carbs") to gain entry again into my life. I suffered the consequences, adding pounds over the years. So why did I stop eating the SB way? Stupidity, in a nutshell.
In the interim, I'd tried variations on Atkins, seeking to eliminate most carbohydrate from my diet, regardless of the quality of that carbohydrate. I'd lose and I'd gain. For me, it was simply too difficult to restrict carbohydrate simply on the total level of consumption, treating all carbs the same.
Then I remembered SB - and that a central tenet of the SB way is that "not all carbohydrate is created equal." There truly are "bad" carbs - those which cause wild spikes in serum insulin levels - and these must be avoided. However, better choices in carbohydrate consumption CAN be made... and should be for long-term success. This was the piece of the puzzle I was missing.
The book itself reads quite easily and is a subtle improvement on the original. The central message, the truth, itself is not very complex, which is I believe why some are disappointed with the level of sophistication of the book. If you're looking for the same relative message, with more scientific analysis, you might enjoy "Protein Power" or possibly "The Zone", although I believe the latter is rigid, unnecessarily so. One of the greatest strengths of the SB way is its flexibility. And if any way of eating is going to succeed in our world today, it's going to have to be flexible.
Oh - where am I today? I've dropped about 10 pounds in a month and am on my way back down... for good.
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Sugar Busters Explains it all to you! Jan 6, 2003 (89 of 93 found this helpful)
The New Sugar Busters! is more than an expansion of the original book. The authors take what was, five years ago, a radical approcach to weight loss, and back it up with more thorough explanations of how and why a low glycemic diet is best for weight loss. The new book does nothing to change the basic approach to a low-sugar, correct carbohydrate lifestyle, but it does offer additional information based on the scientific evidence that now supports the basic premise of Sugar Busters!
I have been following Sugar Busters for 2 1/2 years and have lost over 50 lbs. I believe that the new edition makes a convincing argument for why Sugar Busters is not a low-carb diet and should not be lumped in with Atkins, Protein Power, and other low-carb diets. If you are looking for a nutritional plan to help bring in a healthier and leaner new year, then the New Sugar Busters may be just what you need!
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Repetitive - but informative Jan 30, 2003 (57 of 58 found this helpful)
The Sugar Busters book was not only a rehash of the book before, it was a rehash of itself - if you actually take the time to read it straight through, you'll notice that half the content is the same material repeated over and over. And the print IS obnoxiously large.
However, if you are picking up Sugar Busters for the first time, this book is a great way to get the basic facts about the low-glycemic, right carbohydrate format of this diet, in a little more detail than the previous edition. The charts, recipes, and label information makes it easy to get started, and the lists of "acceptable" foods makes it easy to stick with it. The book is written in a simplistic, gimmicky format, but the diet makes sense - and it works.
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not a low carb diet Dec 12, 2003 (37 of 37 found this helpful)
I cannot understand why two previous reviewers have called Sugarbusters a low carb diet. It is not a low carb diet. I have tried low carb diets and could not stick with their restrictions. Then I found Sugarbusters and I have been more successful with it than any diet I've tried in the past twenty years, easily losing 50 pounds. It was great, I could eat more fat and I could have sugar-free ice cream, bread and nearly all kinds of fruit. Now where in Atkins diet can you have that?? Sugarbusters cuts out the sugar not the carbs. Carbs are not bad, sugar is.