Why We Overeat: The Toxic Food Environment & Obesity

Join the Conversation. What is your biggest Ahah! from this video, “Why We Overeat: The Toxic Food Environment and Obesity”? Talk to us now.
Do you or your loved ones overeat? Have you or your family members been gaining unwanted excess weight? Are you concerned about our obesity crisis?
To gain insights into why two-thirds of people are getting fatter and fatter and sicker and sicker, I urge you to watch a video of this fascinating panel discussion, “Why We Overeat: The Toxic Food Environment & Obesity,” thanks to the Harvard School of Public Health and the Huffington Post.
I’m so excited that I came across this video while doing research for my next book, Tame Your Crazy Cravings™.
This program presented an illustrious panel, which included:
Walter Willett, Chair, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, and Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition
David Kessler, Former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco; and Author, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
Dariush Mozaffarian, Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and
Michael Rich, Director, Center on Media and Child Health, Boston Children’s Hospital
The modferator of “Why We Overeat” was moderated brilliantly by Meredith Melnick, Editorial Director for HuffPost Healthy Living.
This program has many fascinating points, and I urge you to watch through it for the entire time.
In particular, I urge you to pay attentiont to these fascinating comments from Dr. Mozaffarian:
“Now sugar, I agree that sugar is a problem, but sugar is no greater a problem and then totally unsweetened refined grains. And the worry I have about just focusing on sugar, it gives the refined grains, it gets them off the hook.
“So white bread, all refined cereals that have no added sugar at all, they say zero sugar on the panel, those are just as bad. And when we’ve looked at populations of hundreds of thousands of people, the weight gain associated with Skittles is exactly the same weight gain that is associated with Corn Flakes or white bread or a bagel. So to think that a bagel, that has no sugar, is different than candy is really misleading. …”
Also, I invite you to keep watching to check out the second video (at 59:00) from the HBO film, Weight of the Nation, .where you can discover which beverages contain the most sugar content, thanks to The WATCH Nutrition Clinic.
I’d love to hear what you think about this video.
Join the Conversation. What is your biggest Ahah! from this video, “Why We Overeat The Toxic Food Environment & Obesity”? Talk to us now.

FDA to Include Added Sugars on Nutrition Labels

Added sugars will be singled out for the first tiarmful sweeteners.
me, according to proposed label changes from the United States Food and Drug Administration.
This is very good news for those of us, who’ve been warning people about sugar’s dangers and who’ve been trying to help people reduce their consumption of potentially hWhat you’ll see are two lines of information for the total amount of sugar contained.
One line will say, “Sugars,” and another line will state “Added Sugars,” according to the FDA.
By offering information about “Added Sugars,” this will help consumers to cut back on their sugar consumption. which the U.S. government now recommends.
It’s reassuring that the FDA is now making efforts to educate consumers about of how much sugar occurs naturally in a product, and how much has been added.
Other changes you’ll see will include:
Updated serving sizes, which will make it clearer for products that are consumed in one sitting. (You’ll find dual column labels that indicate both “per serving” and “per package” calorie and nutrition information for larger packages that could be consumed in one sitting or multiple sittings.)
Calorie information will be provided in a bigger font and bolder. Serving sizes would be bold, too. (The proposed label “would drive attention to calories and serving sizes,” Michael R. Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said in a statement.
The new labels would take out Calories from Fat. (This decision was to show type of fat rather than amount so that consumers can choose products lower in saturated and trans fats.)
Changes Won’t Happen For 2 Years
Unfortunately, consumers won’t see changes right away. Food companies will have two years to comply with the new requirements, according to the FDA.
Even though this will take some time, the FDA’s plans are exciting, because they’re designed to reflect the latest scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.
Learn about other FDA food label changes here.
Nutrition-label-fda-140227b-02Special thanks to Karl Tate, who created the above infographic for LiveScience.

Sugar Addicts: Get Secrets to Go Mostly Sugar-Free – 15 Years of Sweet Success

Sugar addicts and carb junkies, I bring you hope!
Indeed, this is a BIG week for me. It’s been 15 years since I bid bye-bye to my sugar addiction — mostly — yes, I wasn’t totally perfect.
So let me help you now.
If you’re tired of being a sugar or carb addict and are fed up with gaining weight, getting spaced out, or have other health issues, discover Secrets to Let Sugar Go by listening anytime to this special Gab with the Gurus 15-year-mostly-sugar-free-iversary Show with my sugar-free mentor Roberta Ruggiero.
Back in 1998, I was so blessed to find Roberta, who, after dealing with her own issues of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, went on to found The Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, Inc. She also wrote The Do’s and Don’ts of Hypoglycemia: An Everyday Guide to Low Blood Sugar, which has been acclaimed by the American Library Association as “one of best lay medical books public libraries.”
In our special Gab with the Gurus Show, you’ll first learn our startling stories. You’ll discover:
How when Roberta simply changed her diet by quitting sugar and those quickie carbs (processed carbohydrates that are metabolized quickly), she personally overcame 10 years of illness during which she saw dozens of doctors, endured countless medical tests, took thousands of pills and even underwent electric shock therapy!
How when I finally let go of my sugar addiction — very reluctantly, though — presto, ALL 44 of my ailments (including crippling headaches, difficulty concentrating, awful PMS, excessive fatigue, cold hands and feet, embarrassing mood swings, scary heart palpitations, etc.) vanished! Wow!
How most people are consuming too many sweets whether they know it or not, especially if they eat foods in boxes, cans or jars. That sugar or quickie-carb habit can be deadly, leading to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and an early death.
On our Gab with the Gurus Show, you’ll also find out Secrets to Go Mostly Sugar-Free. While I share some tactics in my book, Beyond Sugar Shock, Roberta and I go into more depth on this program, and we give you the personal touch, of course, because you get to listen to us chatting.
Among the Secrets to Go Mostly Sugar-Free, you’ll discover:
How it’s okay to be imperfect. In fact, not expecting that you’ll do everything “right,” frees you up to succeed marvelously.
How most people around the world — whether they know it or not — are eating far too much sugar (roughly 170 to more than 200 pounds per year) and/or quickie carbs (possibly as high as 200 pounds), thereby paving the way to diseases galore.
How you can take your slips and turn them into successes. You’ll realize that your so-called “failures” lead you to lasting success.
How you want to change your relationship with those persistent cravings. (We’ll talk about how to embrace them — yes! — and how they can become major allies.
How to take one of your absolute worst habits — something almost all of us do — and turn it into one of your biggest foolproof tools to bid your sugar addiction farewell.
How some people are wise to let a little sugar (some tastes here and there) into their lives. (You’ll discover that I’ve modified my stance over the years.)
How, for many people, a few tastes can turn into a binge and they’re better off to say sayonara to processed sweets.
How before I quit sugar, first I binged on candies for three weeks after my doctor’s orders to “Quit sugar or die young.”
How it’s imperative that you keep track. Roberta discusses how it’s very important to keep a symptom diary. (That way, you’ll know what happens when you eat sweets. You want to get a clear message about how too much sugar leads to symptoms.)
How you need to be prepared, wherever you go.
How you can have fun replacing those sugary treats that you used to adore.
How it’s vital to get support and learn about success stories.
And much more.
Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio
Share your bigggest Ahahs! about this Gab with the Gurus Show.
A very special thanks to B. Eco Chic and founder Bethany Gonzalez Moreno for this sugar image with the poison symbol on it. This photo accurately demonstrates how sugar can kill you over time. I highly recommend that you find out about B. Eco Chic now and get on the mailing list for this blog.

Get Your Sweet Success Gifts Now

Today, you can order new book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which you’ll receive on Monday from Amazon.
In honor of my book becoming a reality after holding various incarnations of my Sugar Freedom Now Course for 10 years, I’m now offering you a series of fun Sweet Success Gifts.
In these short, audio gifts, you’ll get to listen to former sugar addicts tell you about their lives when they were hooked on sugar.
They’ll even share their rock-bottom moments with you.
Next, you’ll discover how their lives have been remarkably transformed.
Bear in mind that I’m not even asking you to quit sugar yet. I’m just inviting you to discover how your life can become much sweeter just because you’re quitting sweets.
The first short and sweet audio gift features chiropractor and fitness trainer Dawn Strickland, whose remarkable story will wow you, I predict.
You can read more about Dawn on page 75 of Beyond Sugar Shock, which you can pre-order here.

Food Addiction Program Featuring Dr. Robert Lustig, Michael Prager, Etc. Planned

Robert H. Lustig, M.D., whose YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, hit viral, and Michael Prager, author of the exciting book, Fat Boy, Thin Man, are among the fascinating experts I’ll have the pleasure of meeting and listening to in an exciting program about food addiction at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco next week.
Stay tuned for some compelling points that you’ll get from these amazing speakers.
These are the experts lined up.
Michael Prager, Author, Fat Boy Thin Man
Nicole Avena, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Florida
Eric Stice, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Oregon Research Institute
Dr. Vera Ingrid Tarman, MD., MSc., FCEP, CASAM, Medical Director, Renascent
Elissa Epel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry
Robert H. Lustig, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, in the Division of Endocrinology at UCSF
Now read the enticing description:
Addiction is about brains, not just about behaviors. We all have the brain reward circuitry that makes food rewarding; it’s a survival mechanism. In a healthy brain, these rewards have feedback mechanisms for satiety or “‘enough.” For some, the circuitry becomes dysfunctional such that the message becomes “more.”
Michael Prager, author of Fat Boy Thin Man, will begin the discussion telling his very personal story of recognizing and then seeking treatment for his food addiction. Leading researchers and clinicians will discuss many aspects of this important topic.

Dessert for Breakfast? Sugary Children’s Cereals

How would you feel if your kids had a Twinkie or even had cookies for breakfast?
Well, that’s exactly what she or he — or maybe even you — may be doing most mornings.
Suffice it to say that millions of children are beginning their day going into Sugar Shock.
So found a scary new report on popular cereals, Sugar in Children’s Cereal, from the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to using the power of information to protect human health and the environment.
The Environmental Working Group arrived at its frightening sugar findings after studying 84 popular brands of cereal, many of them marketed directly to children, to see if they meet either the federal government’s proposed nutrition guidelines or the industry’s looser nutrition guidelines.
And the EWG found lots about sugar, sugar, sugar.
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, which has nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of the 10 worst children’s cereals, according to EWG’s analysis.
In fact, the EWG found, a one-cup serving of the brand contains more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie.
Meanwhile, one cup of any of the 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.
Here’s EWG’s list of the 10 worst cereals.
10 Worst Children’s Cereals
Based on percent sugar by weight
1.) Kellogg’s Honey Smacks 55.6%
2.) Post Golden Crisp 51.9%
3.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow 48.3%
4.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries 46.9%
5.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original 44.4%
6.) Quaker Oats Oh!s 44.4%
7.) Kellogg’s Smorz 43.3%
8.) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks 42.9%
9.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries 42.3%
10.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original 41.4%
Of course, this EWG report comes as no surprise to me, given that I often share information about sugar’s pervasiveness and its dangers, as I did in my first book, Sugar Shock.
So why should you care about your kids eating so much sugar for breakfast?
As the EWG points out, studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts that are high in sugar have more problems at school.
For instance, they become more frustrated and have a harder time working independently than kids who eat lower-sugar breakfasts, as the EWG noted. And by lunchtime, these kids who filled up on sugar for breakfast have less energy, are hungrier, show attention deficits and make more mistakes on their work.
Kudos to the Environmental Working Group for sharing this important news.
Click here to see the best and worst cereals, as discovered by the EWG.
Wondering what’s a good breakfast then? Well, for starters, why do your kids have to have cereal to start the day?
But if they do, make sure, as nutrition expert Marion Nestle, Ph.D., recommends that you pick:
Cereals with a short ingredient list
Cereals high in fiber.
Cereals with little or no added sugars (such as honey, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, corn sweetener, sucrose, lactose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup and malt syrup).
An easy breakfast for children would be a piece of fresh fruit (like an orange or apple), a cooked of steel cut oats (sprinkled with cinnamon), some plain milk (if they can handle dairy), and a hard boiled egg (prepared the night before).
Have you heard yet that my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, is due out next year? Stay tuned for details.