Your Smartphone is Making You Stupid

Are you one of some 2 billion cell phone users, who talk, touch or swipe your cell phone 2,617 times a day? (Yes that often, according to research.)

You’re probably addicted whether you know it or not.

Smartphones hook people using the same neural pathways as gambling and drugs, as The Guardian explains, citing Chris Marcellino, who helped develop the iPhone’s push notifications at Apple.

Have you Quit Sugar & Quickie Carbs: Share Your Sweet Success Story

Are you what I call a Sweet Success Story? Share your tale now.
Happy people Have you shed excess weight, eliminated your horrible headaches, gotten rid of your pre-cancerous condition, or done away with another pesky health problem by kicking or cutting back on sugar, refined carbs and other high-glycemic foods such as corn nuts, potato chips, and French fries?
In short, are you now slimmer, happier, and sexier?
In other words, have you discovered the power of life without all those super-sweet or quickie-carb foods?
Do you now Enjoy Living Sweeter Naturally™?
If you’re a Sweet Success Story, we may want to tell your story to inspire others.
As you may already know — or your friends do — quitting sugary foods and rapidly processed carbohydrates (what I also call “culprit carbs”) can speed you on your weight loss journey.
Not only that but cutting out the culprit carbs can help you overcome a variety of health challenges, as thousands of people — whom I call “Sugar Kickers” or “Carb Kickers” — have been gleefully sharing with me for 16-plus years since I quit the dangerous carbs on doctor’s orders.
Readers of this Sugar Shock Blog love inspiring tales such as yours.
We’d like to hear from you if you’ve had a drastic health improvement by cutting out sugar, quickie carbs, gluten, dairy or artificial sweeteners.
If you’re a Sweet Success Story — whether you lost weight, got more energy, improved your moods or got your diabetes under control — we want to consider sharing your tale here.
Remember, by sharing your story, you’ll be able to inspire, motivate, and encourage people from around the world.
Wondering what I mean? Read some motivational Sweet Success Stories shared here previously:
Fellow blogger Jimmy Moore. (Catch our interview on my Gab With the Gurus Show, too.)
Jaime Jackson
Felicia DesRosiers
Karly Pitman
Are you what I call a Sweet Success Story? Share your tale now. (Please submit info using the format used above, and we’ll get back to you.)
CB – pink shirtWho is blog founder Connie Bennett? Connie is a former pooped-out, fuzzy-headed, sugar-addicted journalist. After quitting sugar on doctor’s orders in 1998, ALL 44 of her baffling, crippling ailments (brain fog, PMS, headaches, etc.) vanished,, and she became “reborn.” Now, 16 1/2 years later, Connie is devoted to helping people Get a Sweeter Life that Rocks™. She is the acclaimed, energetic, charismatic Sweet Freedom Guide, Bounce-Back-to-Your Best Body™ coach, a transformational speaker, sugar and carb expert, blogger, certified health coach, certified life coach, EFT practitioner, Gab with the Gurus host, and bestselling author of Beyond Sugar Shock, which was endorsed Beyond Sugar Shock_RGBby Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Dr. Daniel Amen, JJ Virgin, and many others, and Sugar Shock, which was praised by such respected people as Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Christiane Northrup. She’s now planning the first Sugar World Summit, which will feature the biggest names in sugar and carb addiction, recovery, mindful eating, compassion, weight loss, etc. She is also completing her next book, The Bounce Back Diet™, which will help millions, who are blindsided by Crazy Cravings™ and overpowering emotions after the death of a loved one, a divorce or breakup, moving, losing a job, or another life-changing event. Get free gifts at www.Connie-Bennett.com

Salt, Sugar, Fat: Michael Moss Reveals How the Food Industry Addicted Us

Join the Conversation. What most surprised you from this fascinating interview with Michael Moss?
Salt, Sugar, FatLately, I’ve been planning the Sugar World Summit, which will feature some of the biggest names in sugar educationn, carb addiction, health, wellness, mindful eating, and personal empowerment.
For instance, in this virtual event, which will take place two weeks before Halloween, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Robert Lustig, JJ Virgin, Dr. Richard Johnson, Colette Baron-Reid, Sarah Wilson and many others will join us to give you The Sour Scoop or Sweet Solutions.
Anyhow, while preparing for the event, I came across this fascinating NPR interview with Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist Michael Moss, author of the extraordinary book, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us..
In his fascinating book, Moss takes an insightful look at the $1 trillion processed food industry, which most health experts believe has triggered the obesity epidemic and put millions at risk for such chronic health conditions as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Thanks to his many revealing interviews with leading food scientists and top food industry executives from companies such as Kraft and Coca-Cola, Moss explains how most Americans have become so dependent on processed food.
Get shocked now, thanks to this intriguing NPR interview.
Join the Conversation. What was your biggest A-hah?

Do you Multi-Task While Eating? It Makes Your Food Taste Bland

Do you multi-task at meal time?
If you eat while on the computer, watching TV or doing other things, this means there’s a good chance that you’re over-indulging, too. (So found a variety of studies, which link distraction with mindless bingeing. A review of 24 studies drew that conclusion in the April 2013 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.)
Now, more research published in Psychological Science reveals that doing mentally taxing tasks while you eat will make your food taste bland, too.
In other words, when you juggle too many things at mealtime, you just won’t enjoy or appreciate your food as much.
What’s more, scientists at the Institute for Psychological Research at Leiden University in The Netherlands discovered that when participants ate sour, sweet and salty substances while doing various tasks, they consumed more food and preferred stronger tastes.
In addition doing other things while eating makes your food tastes bland. Indeed, researchers found that an “increased task load reduces people’s taste perception by limiting attentional capacity to assess taste intensity and that people adjust their consumption accordingly.”
In short, the researchers believe that cognitive load may compete with sensory input for our attention.
But let’s focus on the good news, as pointed out by Scientific American’s Tori Rodriguez. Other studies have found you eat less when you pay mindful attention to your food and fully focus on the taste, armona and texture.
The important takeaway, as I see it, is that if you want to peel off the pounds, cut out multi-tasking at meal time.
Besides, as this new study reveals, you’ll enjoy your more, too.
So join me: Mindfully savor each morsel or swallow at each meal or snack.
Multi-Tasking at Meal Time: Why It
Special thanks to visual.ly for the above infographic.
Join the Conversation. Do you multi-task while eating? Do you end up eating more? Tell us your experiences.
Then join us in ending multi-tasking while eating.

Fun Friday Tune: Dale Dale

I invite you to enjoy this sweet start to get you ready for the weekend ahead.
Enjoy boogying to this Fun Friday Tune, “Dale Dale,” along with choreographer, singer, songwriter, dancer Francesca Maria.
(By the way, “dale” means “go ahead,” “give it” or “do it,” according to this Wild104fm site. If you’re a girl and someone shouts “Dale” at you, it means they think you’re cute.)
You may be wondering about the sugar connection here.
Essentially, when you bring sweetness into your life — in this case, it’s energetically doing Zumba to an upbeat — you’ll get a life that’s sweeter without junky sweets.

Sugar Shocker! Can You Believe It? Under Lock and Key

Since 1998, while quitting sugar on doctor’s orders, the subject has astounded and enthralled me. In short, I’ve been absolutely astonished by a variety of Sugar Shockers! Today begins a new Sugar Shocker! feature, which I’ll post from time to time. As you may know, I included a variety of Sugar Shockers in my first book, Sugar Shock (2007). Here’s the first such entry.
SUGAR SHOCKER!It’s hard to believe, but as William Dufty recounts in his landmark book, Sugar Blues, refined white sugar was locked up back in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe and America.
At the time, the substance was so expensive (the equivalent of about $30 a pound or a year’s salary for the average working man) that it was considered a delicacy reserved for the very wealthy, and the nobility certainly didn’t want their servants stealing such an exorbitantly expensive substance.
To this day, Unani healers or hakims in Afghanistan reportedly keep sugar under lock and key, believing it to be a narcotic.
Excerpted from my book, Sugar Shock! How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life — And How You Can Get Back on Track (p. 133).
If you know of any Sugar Shockers, please let me know so I can feature it on this Sugar Shock Blog.
Join the convversation. What do you think about this Sugar Shocker? Tell us now.

Holiday Gift for You: Download to Relieve Holiday Stress with Debra Berndt

The holiday season can be a very stressful time between overwhelming family gatherings to polite sugar-pushing at holiday parties.
This year it’s my pleasure to give you a holiday gift, an uplifting, soothing Relieve Holiday Stress download with Love-Mind Expert Debra Berndt.
You can listen to the Relieve Holiday Stress Replay at your convenience.
In this exciting, soothing program, Debra — a master in creative visualization and hypnosis, who has helped thousands of people around the world — explains how our subconscious mind works.
Then she guides you in three creative visualizations, which will leave you relaxed and refreshed.
Take a moment now to check out your Relieve Holiday Stress Replay Page, and then return to it, at your convenience, when you time to listen.
You can listen to the entire recording at once. Or, if you’d prefer, you can listen to part of the Relieve Holiday Stress program now and enjoy the rest later. It’s up to you.
We invite you to email this free, audio holiday gift, the Relieve Holiday Stress Replay Page, to friends, co-workers, family members and others, who you think may appreciate this program.
Please note that I’m offering this gift now for free to help you lead a a calm, peaceful holiday season,
If you’re interested in Debra’s Complete Relaxation Set (9 MP3s) and Weight Loss Set (4 MP3s), please contact Debra directly to find out how to obtain these exciting programss.
For more holiday help go here to get:
7 Tips to Relieve Holiday Stress.
How to Skip Overeating (although I wrote this for Thanksgiving, these tips can help you at any holiday function)
Enjoy your Relieve Holiday Stress program now, and have a sweet holiday season.
Remember to spread the word to your friends and loved ones.
Please Join the Conversation
Tell us about your Social Media Vacation. How has it helped you? Have you become more productive, enthusiastic, refreshed, etc.?
Share your thoughts here.

Mom Berated & Fined $10 for Not Giving Child Grains

Have you heard about the Mom, who was berated and then fined $10 for not including grains in her child’s school lunch?
Seriously! A mother had to fork over $10, because she didn’t add gluten to her kid’s allegedly healthy lunch.
To make the lunch more well-rounded, the school then added some gluten-filled Ritz Crackers.
Ritz CrackersI’m saddened, appalled, and disheartened to discover that children — many of whom may be allergeic or sensitive to gluten, grains and sugar — may be encouraged to eat the very foods that they should avoid.
Admittedly, this is only one such instance (and overseas, too), but I believe this incident exemplifies the problem worldwide.
Both adults and children here in the United States and abroad are often being brainwashed or programmed to eat potentially dangerous, processed grains.
Small wonder then that millions of children and adults worldwide are suffering from obesity, type 2 diabetes and early death.
To learn about the dangers of gluten on your brain, I invite you to listen to this recent Gab with the Gurus Show, during which I interviewed Dr. Perlmutter, author of the bestselling book, Grain Brain.: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar — Your Brain’s Silent Killers.
Listen now at your convenience.
New Health Internet Radio with Gab With the Gurus on BlogTalkRadio
Special thanks: I’m very grateful to Weighty Matters, Boing Boing,, as well as Mark Freuenfelder and Dr. David Perlmutter, for the heads-up about this sad carb catch.
Join the Conversation
What do you think of the fact that a school fined a mom for not giving he child grains for lunch?
Post your thoughts here.