Sugar at “Safe” Levels Can be Deadly

Inevitably, the damning research about sugar keeps pouring in.
Indeed, another study reveals sugar’s deadly dangers — even when consumed in “safe” amounts.
Talk about scary.
The mice died more often, as shared by
Science Daily. Not only that, but they had fewer babies.
For the study, University of Utah researchers gave mice a diet of 25 percent extra sugar and ran a sensitive toxicity test. (When you give a mouse 25 percent extra sugar, it’s the equivalent of a healthy human diet, plus three cans of soda daily.)
Although the mice didn’t become obese, the females on the sugar-added diet died at twice the rate of the control group. In addition, the males on the sugar-added diet produced 25 percent fewer offspring than the control group and acquired fewer territories, according to a University of Utah news release.
“These findings represent the lowest level of sugar consumption shown to adversely affect mammalian health,” states the study abstract, published today in the journal Nature Communications.
Does this finding scare you enough to make you want to quit sugar?
If so, I invite you to get help in my latest book, Beyond Sugar Shock: The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Get Slimmer, Sexier & Sweeter. I’m honored that this book, from Hay House, has been praised by a Who’s Who of health and empowerment experts, including Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and Dr. Daniel Amen.
If you get Beyond Sugar Shock, let me know what you liked most about it.

Is Sugar Toxic? “60 Minutes” Explores Issue: Hurrah!

Tonight, on “60 Minutes,” multiple Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell the show’s viewers about new studies, which suggest that sugar is toxic.
Specifically, on “60 Minutes,” Dr. Gupta will tell viewers:
“New research coming out of some of America’s most respected institutions is starting to find that sugar could be a driving force behind some of this country’s leading killers.”
Of course, this sugar-is-toxic conclusion — which has been gaining momentum for years — is nothing new to those of you, who are regular visitors to this Sugar Shock Blog and to readers of my first book, Sugar Shock, which was first published in 2007.
Sanjay_GuptaFor my part, I’m thrilled that “60 Minutes” is devoting time to explore the question of whether or not sugar is toxic. I’ve been hoping for such a segment for years.
What I find especially exciting is that Dr. Gupta will spotlight the close cancer-sugar connection, which I also explored in my book, Sugar Shock.
I also examine recent sugar-can-cause-cancer research in my upcoming book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which is being published in June by Hay House. (In the book, I guide readers to eaily break free of their sugar addiction by joining me in a fun, six-week Mind-Body-Spirit adventure.)
Anyhow, in the “60 Minutes” segment about sugar, you’ll watch Dr. Gupta interview respected pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig, whose YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, has gone viral, attracting 2,159,456 viewers (as of today).
Dr. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, is not alone in his sugar-is-toxic view.
Amazon Sug Sh 51RDZ7DBVAL._SL110_Indeed, many cutting-edge physicians, including Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra, medical consultant for my book Sugar Shock, contend that the high amount of sugar in the American diet is killing us. (By the way, I disagree with the low figures usually cited — most Americans consume far more than the 130 or 150 pounds a year that’s often mentioned in news reports.)
While I applaud “60 Minutes” for telling the nation that sugar can be toxic, I also need to congratulate Dr. Mehmet Oz for his important work drawing attention to sugar’s dangers in several episodes of the top-rated “The Doctor Oz Show.”
In one episode, Dr. Mehmet Oz even called sugar “The # 1 food Dr. Oz Wants Out of Your House.” Hurrah!
By the way, I’m honored that Dr. Oz praised my book, Sugar Shock.
Again, congratulations to “60 Minutes” for devoting a segment to this important sugar subject.
Join us on my Facebook fan page during and after “60 Minutes” airs to share your thoughts and feelings about the is-sugar-toxic segment.
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Make sure to tell your friends and family members to watch this important “60 Minutes” episode.

Before You Indulge this Holiday Season, Consider Nearly 150 Ways Sugar Ruins Your Health

As 2011 winds down and we approach the holidays, we’re about to enter what I call the Season of Overeating and the Season of Sugar Gorging.
So before you over-indulge this holiday season, I urge you to learn the sour news. You need to know that when by continually chomping on delicious desserts, sugar can ruin your health in nearly 150 ways.
Suicide by sugar-pc2Below you’ll find an extensively researched list from my mentor and heroine, Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., author of Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction. Bear in mind that Nancy has been researching sugar’s dangers for more than three decades, and she found (and cites) medical studies to back up all of these claims on this list.
An avid researcher, Dr. Appleton is also the best-selling author of Stopping Inflammation and Healthy Bones. In addition, she lectures extensively throughout the world, has appeared on numerous television and radio talk shows, and maintains a private practice in San Diego, California.
Incidentially, to this day, more than 13 years after I quit sugar myself, I’m grateful to Nancy. In fact, her book, Lick the Sugar Habit, helped me quit sweets back in 1998.
Now review Nancy’s shocking list of nearly 150 ways that sugar can ham you before you continue to overdo it on sweets this holiday season.
144 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D. (Reprinted with permission.)
1. Sugar can suppress your immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause juvenile delinquencey in children.
4. Sugar eaten pregnancy and lactation can influence muscle force production in offspring, which can affect an individual’s ability to exercise.
5. Sugar in soda, when consumed by children, results in the children drinking less milk.
6. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses and return them to fasting levels slower in oral contraceptive users.
7. Sugar can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage cells and tissues.
8. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, inability to concentrate and crankiness in children.
9. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
10. Sugar reduces the body’s ability to defend against bacterial infection.
11. Sugar causes a decline in tissue elasticity and function – the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose.
12. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
13. Sugar can lead to chromium deficiency.
14. Sugar can lead to ovarian cancer.
15. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
16. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
17. Sugar interferes with the body’s absorption of calcium and magnesium.
18. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
19. Sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
20. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
21. Sugar can lead to an acidic digestive tract.
22. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
23. Sugar is frequently malabsorbed in patients with functional bowel disease.
24. Sugar can cause premature aging.
25. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
26. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
27. Sugar can lead to obesity.
28. Sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
29. Sugar can cause gastric or duodenal ulcers.
30. Sugar can cause arthritis.
31. Sugar can cause learning disorders in school children.
32. Sugar assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
33. Sugar can cause gallstones.
34. Sugar can cause heart disease.
35. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
36. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
37. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
38. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
39. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
40. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
41. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
42. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E in the blood.
43. Sugar can decrease the amount of growth hormones in the body.
44. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
45. Sugar increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which form when sugar binds non-enzymatically to protein.
46. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
47. Sugar causes food allergies.
48. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
49. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
50. Sugar can lead to eczema in children.
51. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
52. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.
53. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
54. Sugar can make the skin wrinkle by changing the structure of collagen.
55. Sugar can cause cataracts.
56. Sugar can cause emphysema.
57. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
58. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
59. Sugar can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
60. Sugar lowers enzymes ability to function.
61. Sugar intake is associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
67. Sugar is the number one enemy of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect children’s grades in school.
74. Sugar can cause depression.
75. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
76. Sugar can cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
77. Sugar can increase the risk of developing gout.
78. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in the blood much higher than complex carbohydrates in a glucose tolerance test can.
79. Sugar reduces learning capacity.
80. Sugar can cause two blood proteins – albumin and lipoproteins – to function less effectively, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
81. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
82. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness, which causes blood clots.
83. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance – some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
84. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
85. Sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
86. Sugar can lead to biliary tract cancer.
87. Sugar increases the risk of pregnant adolescents delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
88. Sugar can lead to a substantial decrease the in the length of pregnancy among adolescents.
89. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
90. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stool and bacterial enzymes in the colon, which can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
91. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
92. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, a digestive enzyme, which makes digestion more difficult.
93. Sugar can be a risk factor for gallbladder cancer.
94. Sugar is an addictive substance.
95. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
96. Sugar can aggravate premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
97. Sugar can decrease emotional stability.
98. Sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese people.
99. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit disorder (ADD).
100. Sugar can slow the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
101. Sugar can cut off oxygen to the brain when given to people intravenously.
102. Sugar is a risk factor for lung cancer.
103. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
104. Sugar can cause epileptic seizures.
105. Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is contracting).
106. Sugar can induce cell death.
107. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
108. Sugar can cause antisocial behavior in juvenile delinquents.
109. Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.
110. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
111. Sugar can cause women to give birth to babies with low birth weight.
112. Sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia.
113. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the bloodstream.
114. Sugar increases the risk of breast cancer.
115. Sugar is a risk factor in small intestine cancer.
116. Sugar can cause laryngeal cancer.
117. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
118. Sugar can contribute to mild memory loss.
119. Sugar water, when given to children shortly after birth, results in those children preferring sugar water to regular water throughout childhood.
120. Sugar causes constipation.
121. Sugar can cause brain decay in pre-diabetic and diabetic women.
122. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
123. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
124. Sugar increases neural tube defects in embryos when it is consumed by pregnant women.
125. Sugar can cause asthma.
126. Sugar increases the chances of getting irritable bowl syndrome.
127. Sugar can affect central reward systems.
128. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
129. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
130. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell cancer.
131. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
132. Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the bloodstreams of overweight people.
133. Sugar plays a role in the cause and the continuation of acne.
134. Sugar can ruin the sex life of both men and women by turning off the gene that controls the sex hormones.
134. Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness, and depression.
135. Sugar can make many essential nutrients less available to cells.
138. Sugar can increase uric acid in blood.
139. Sugar can lead to higher C-peptide concentrations.
140. Sugar causes inflammation.
141. Sugar can cause diverticulitis, a small bulging sac pushing outward from the colon wall that is inflamed.
142. Sugar can decrease testosterone production.
143. Sugar impairs spatial memory.
144. Sugar can cause cataracts.
Go here now to find find Nancy’s extensive references, which back up the citations on this list.
To learn more about sugar’s dangers, I urge you to get Nancy’s book, Suicide by Sugar. I also invite you to read my book, Sugar Shock.
In addition, I invite you to learn more about sugar’s dangers by listening to a special Gab with the Gurus Radio Show on which I interviewed Dr. Nancy Appleton.
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Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio

Feel Addicted to Sweets & Other Foods? Junk Food Addiction May be Real

Do you feel completely out of control when it comes to eating candies, cookies and fast food?
More to the point, do you feel downright addicted?
New research reveals that your affinity — or addiction — may be real, according to new research.
“Researchers … say it’s possible that a diet heavy in highly rewarding foods — quite literally, sausages, cheesecake and other highly processed foods — might cause changes in the brain’s reward system for satiety.” writes HealthNews Today’s reporter Jenifer Goodwin.
Read her fascinating story now.
Would you like help to overcome your sugar addiction?
Learn here about my Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction program. Early Bird rates apply through March 31 at 11:59 pm PST.

Eat All the Pancakes You Want & Leave Happy, Ad Says. Huh? Wrong!

Frankly, I don’t get it. Here we are in the midst of a horrific nationwide obesity epidemic, and a certain national chain is now enticing people and tempting them via a TV ad to eat can eat all the pancakes they want and leave happy!
You’ve got to be kidding!
Eating as many pancakes as your heart desires will not make you happy!
Isn’t it more accurate to say: “Eat all the pancakes you want, especially ones smothered in butter and syrup, and leave bloated, feeling gross and angry at yourself for pigging out!”
After you eat a pile of pancakes, you’ll probably say, “Ugh! I can’t believe I ate all those pancakes! I’m so unhappy!”

Sugar Addiction Begone! Kick Sugar With Me This Month

If you’re like many Americans, you want to shed your excess weight so you can fit into your favorite slim outfit, have the trim, toned, sexy body you crave and be healthy.
Just imagine how you’d feel if you had more energy, more cheerful moods and more satisfying relationships.
Envision what your life would look like if you were more productive, thinking more clearly and experiencing a boost in your libido.
All of the above can happen if you eliminate sugar and refined carbs.
But losing weight, getting more energy, concentrating better, becoming happier and having a bigger sex drive are just a few of many benefits you can gain from eliminating sugar, as I pointed out in my book SUGAR SHOCK!
In fact, when I quit sweets and refined carbs on doctor’s orders in 1998, a whopping 44 ailments disappeared and I felt reborn!
But, let’s face it, cutting out sugar or those “culprit carbs” can be challenging for most people.
Let’s face it, you didn’t develop a sugar habit overnight. So let me educate, inspire and guide you to become joyously sugar free.
Kick sugar cartoon Join me Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 6 pm for my fun, interactive, life-changing free introductory class, “SUGAR SHOCK! Breaking Free of Your Sugar Habit” at the New York Open Center. the largest urban holistic center in the United States.
On that one night, you’ll get some tips and tactics to begin to break free of your sugar habits.
But, as you can imagine, since you’ve probably had a lifetime of being overly attached to sugar, one hour with me is isn’t enough to change your destructive patterns for good.
That’s why I’m also teaching a 4-week course at the New York Open Center, which begins next week, from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2.
In this four-week course, I’m sharing proprietary techniques that I developed and which worked for me when I removed sugar from my diet in 1998.
In addition, you’re getting dozens of tips that have helped my clients. Plus, you’ll receive many ideas from a variety of health experts, who kindly shared them with me.
For instance, in my 4-week course at the New York Open Center, you will:
* Discover the 10 reasons people fail when making New Year’s resolutions or when breaking a sugar addiction or other bad habits (what I call babits™).
* Get 7 Smart Starter Strategies so you can conquer your sugar habit for good.
* Find out 5 ways to save money on food and beverages in this economy but still make healthy choices.
* Find out why this course has the wrong title! (But we had to name it “SUGAR SHOCK! Breaking Free of Your Sugar Habit” so you’d know what you’re getting.)
* Receive 50 simple, effective tips and tactics to squash your sugar cravings.
* Get a helpful, comprehensive sugar-free shopping list and sample meal plans.
* Discover what 3 empowering questions to ask yourself whenever sugary foods “call out” to you to stop your destructive cycle.
* Find out how you can use “failing” or being human (i.e., imperfect) to your advantage.
* Have fun discovering tasty, sugar-free desserts.
* Taste delicious sugar-free treats from 2 local chefs.
* Find out which 3 foods can drive away your “sweet tooth.”
* Get educated about 20 cutting-edge research studies, which reveal the dangers of sugars and refined carbs.
* Receive a list of more than 100 ways your sugar habit is killing you.
* Learn how you can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes, cancer, infertility, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
* Be trained as a “Savvy Sugar Sleuth” so you easily unmask sugar’s many disguises and read food labels in the grocery store.
* Get invited to one complimentary teleseminar. (This is one of many bonuses you get by signing up for my 4-week course.)
* Learn to identify 10 surprising foods that contain hidden sugars.
* Get inspired by successful “Sugar Kickers,” whose sour-to-sweet tales you can listen to at any time via complimentary audio downloads.
* Determine how your sugar habit is harming your health, weight, moods, relationships, work, spirituality and ability to get things done.
* Uncover your 5 “W’s” that drive you to sweets and refined carbs.
(And many more.)

Connie’s Confession: I’m a Health Hypocrite! Help Each Other

Normally, I don’t reveal my vulnerabilities here, on this Sugar Shock Blog. Nor do I share a personal plight, but today, I feel a need to confess to you that I feel like the ultimate Health Hypocrite.
Sure, I eat healthy, wholesome, real foods. Yes, I religiously avoid sugary foods and carbs — and have since 1998 with only a handful of very minor infractions. I don’t even smoke anymore. (Inhaling two packs of cigarettes is a thing of the past.) What’s more, I’ve been shunning caffeine since a doctor suggested I do so more than a decade ago. And I don’t even chew sugar-less gum or eat candies with artificial sweeteners anymore. In addition, I’ve triumphed over my diet soda slugging. Plus, I’m huge exercise aficionado. But feeding my body well and moving just aren’t nearly enough.
Sleep My body craves — as does yours — ample sleep. We desperately need those zzzzzz’s.Otherwise, I’m headed for sniffles, sneezing, coughing and congestion.
Well, lately — especially in the last week — I haven’t walked my talk. Despite the fact that I know about the wonders of a good night’s sleep and I’m even mentioning it as a “Smart Diet Habit” in my next book, I skimped on sleep myself last week. Now that I’m a health coach, I’m not going to indulge in self-blame. Rather, I’m going to use this realization as an opportunity.
The irony is that lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about and striving to do excellent self-care, because of my training as a health counselor and life coach and because I’ve been completing Cheryl Richardson’s fabulous book, Take Time for Your Life, which was required reading for my life coaching program through iPEC.
I even just bought Cheryl Richardson’s latest book, The Art of Extreme Self-Care, this weekend at this remarkable Hay House ouse Movers & Shakers conference. Both books have motivated me to think a lot about how we all will benefit if we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to treating ourselves with respect and reverence, even it it means we have to let go of current projects and disappoint people.
Well, despite my commitment to treating myself right, last week, I neglected my needs when it came to snoozing. You see, I felt compelled to help you you a lot this month.

Halloween Tricks Kids Into Sugar Overload: Op Ed Piece

Are you re planning on passing out sugar-filled candies for Halloween tomorrow night?
If so, you should know that every time you hand out candies, you’re tricking kids into sugar overload.
Halloween isn’t just one night. It paves the way for bad eating habits year-round.
Read more about this in our opinion piece in today’s Newark Star-Ledger.