It’s time to clarify the confusion since I’m not on deadline right now for my next book, I Blew My Diet! Now What?, people have been contacting me recently to point out that the phrase, Sugar Shock, has been increasingly used to draw attention to the hidden sugars that are lurking in the foods you’re likely eating. As you can see when you do an Internet search, since late 2006, with the publication of my first book, Sugar Shock! from Berkley Books, the term, Sugar Shock, took off.
For 14 years, I was the main person to use this apt expression to convey a condition that affects millions of people. After I originated this phrase in my first book, Sugar Shock, I continued using it with my second book Beyond Sugar Shock. Here’s the timeline, to the best of my understanding.
- In 2005, the clever wordsmith Sam Horn — who I met and consulted with at the Maui Writers Conference in 2002 or 2003 — helped me coin the phrase, Sugar Shock,
- In late 2006, Berkley Books published my book which then became the title of my book that was published in late 2006.
- From 2005-on, I researched, wrote, and promoted my book, Sugar Shock!, for years.
Anyhow, in the world of publishing, you can use a book title that’s been used before, as Writers Digest explains. Lately, since I’m not on tight deadlines right now this week for my next book, I Blew My Diet! Now What?, I’d like to take time at last to welcome the Sugar Shock newcomer. Well, the second Sugar Shock, is not so new anymore.
As far as I’m concerned, any book that draws attention to sugar’s dangers is welcome indeed. We’re all on the same team to help you cut back on your sugar intake, help you shed weight, and improve your health. So now, as we enter another holiday season, I invite you to check out both my 2006 book, Sugar Shock from Berkley Books, and the 2020 book, Sugar Shock: The Hidden Sugar in Your Food and 100+ Smart Swaps to Cut Back.
Anyhow, here’s the definition of Sugar Shock that I developed years ago. Bear in mind that this is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide, including an estimated one-quarter to two-thirds of the U.S. population.
Sugar Shock!™ – A mood-damaging, personality-bending, health-destroying, confusion-creating constellation of symptoms affecting millions of people worldwide, who often turn to processed sweets and much-like-sugar carbs, which send their blood sugar levels wildly soaring and plummeting. The term Sugar Shock is intended to encompass the often-misdiagnosed and maligned condition of reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), as well as other blood sugar disorders, from insulin resistance to diabetes. Considerable research reveals that repeatedly overconsuming sweeteners, dessert foods, and culprit, quickie carbs (such as white rice, French bread, chips, etc.) wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels, overstimulates insulin release, triggers inflammation, and could contribute to some 150 health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome, severe PMS, failing memory, depression, mental confusion or “brain fog,” mood swings, Candida, sexual dysfunction, infertility, wrinkles, acne, and early aging. Victims of Sugar Shock also may experience such baffling symptoms as excessive fatigue, headaches, dizziness, cold sweats, anxiety, irritability, tremors, crying spells, drowsiness or the opposite (sleeplessness), forgetfulness, heart palpitations, nightmares, blurred vision, muscle pains, temper outbursts, suicidal thoughts, and more. Ultimately, this insidious Sugar Shock roller-coaster effect brought on by eating too many inferior carbs hampers sufferers’ ability to function at full throttle–or even half throttle.
My mission, of course, is to help you move from Sugar Shock to Sugar Freedom. That’s the goal of my second book, Beyond Sugar Shock. When you move Beyond Sugar Shock, you break the mesmerizing stranglehold that sugar and toxic carbs have over you. When you get out of Sugar Shock, you achieve a now-elusive feeling of independence, excitement, joy, delight, and exhilaration, which is unlike anything you’ve ever felt. It would be my pleasure to take you on an adventure to help you break free. A good first step is to get my book, Beyond Sugar Shock. I hope that this book helps you achieve the freedom, sweetness, and glorious life that you so richly deserve.