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

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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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Move Over, Halloween! Sugar Addiction Awareness Day Comes First

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It’s that time of year again. We’re entering into what I call the Season of Sugar Overload, beginning with Halloween, where, as you well know, it’s considered normal and inevitable for most of you to consume lots of candies.
Yes, Halloween on Oct. 31 is National Sugar Overload Day.
Unfortunately, most of you — i.e., the average American — doesn’t need a National Sugar Overload Day to get license to over-indulge.
The average American consumes a whopping 22 teaspoons of refined sugar a day from hidden or overt sweeteners in packaged, boxed, or canned foods and beverages, according to recent statistics.
In my opinion, though, most of you are taking in far more sugar than that — you’re consuming more like 50 teaspoons per person each day.
Of course, you may think you don’t consume that much. Years ago, I didn’t realize I was that hooked.
But after releasing my sugar addiction in 1998 (on doctor’s orders), I learned that I was killing myself (and not so slowly) with sugar — specifically candies. For me, it was Halloween every day!
Now, I’m dedicated to dishing the sour scoop about sugar so that you can have a happier, healthier, more enjoyable life.
Which brings me back to this 22-teaspoons–day figure.
It’s easy to consume that much In fact, just add up the sweeteners you get from a bowl of most breakfast cereals, a can of soda, a granola bar and three small cookies, and you’ve already topped 22 teaspoons of sugar.
Anyhow, given the fact that Halloween is upon us soon, a group of us health experts, researchers, authors, nutritionists, physicians, and concerned citizens have joined together to help wake you up to sugar’s dangers.
We’ve banded together to celebrate the first annual Sugar Addiction Awareness Day (SAAD), which kicks off the day before Halloween, on October 30, 2011.
Jill Escher headshot new.png.opt160x198o0,0s160x198The mastermind behind Sugar Addiction Awareness Day is Jill Escher, who, like me, has personally triumphed over her sugar addiction.
She also wrote about her success (even offering tips) in her new book, Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss.
Jill makes the important point that while Halloween may seem like an innocent occasion, but “the reality is that millions of Americans are hooked on refined sugars, and it starts in their youth.”
Chronic consumption of sugar can lead to a plethora of diseases, including obesity, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, as I point out in my book Sugar Shock.
Join our worthwhile effort. Just check out the helpful website, End Sugar Addiction Now, where you can see a collection of healthy and inexpensive Halloween ideas that can take the place of sugar.
You’ll also get some ideas for reducing sugar at home, in the schools, in the community and at work. The website also offers a list of resources about Sugar Addiction and an extensive Q & A section.
Those of us who support Sugar Addiction Awareness Day include:
Gary Taubes, award-winning journalist and best-selling author of Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat. Taubes is widely credited for writing groundbreaking pieces that have changed the way we understand today’s chronic diseases.
Nicole Avena, Ph.D, University of Florida. Dr. Avena’s pioneering research, using rodent models, has demonstrated the addictive qualities of highly palatable refined foods. (See a fascinating video here.)
Zoe Harcombe, nutritionist, obesity expert, and author of The Harcombe Diet and The Obesity Epidemic, and host of the podcast “Diet and Health Today.”
Ashley Gearhardt, doctoral candidate, Clinical Psychology, and with the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Gearhardt’s 2011 study revealing patterns of addiction based on brain scans of people affected with compulsive overeating was widely reported. (Watch this fascinating video here about “Food & Addiction: What it is, How it is Measured in Humans.”
Darlene Kvist, Licensed Nutritionist, host of the podcast “Dishing Up Nutrition.” Ms. Kvist has helped thousands of clients lose addictions, lose weight and regain their health through proper nutrition. Ms. Kvist is located in Minnesota.
Jimmy Moore, host of “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb,” one of the most popular health podcasts on iTunes. Mr. Moore has interviewed hundreds of health experts, has written two books relating to the subject, and himself found recovery from sugar addiction through a low-carb food plan.
Jeff O’Connell, editor, fitness expert, and author of the recently published Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America’s Deadliest Epidemic and The Simple Way to Beat It.
Fred Pescatore, M.D., weight loss physician and author of The Hamptons Diet. Dr. Pescatore, who began his career working with Dr. Robert Atkins, has been helping patients recover from Sugar Addiction and find permanent weight loss for decades.
Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., physician and author of Beat Sugar Addiction Now! Dr. Teitelbaum specializes in helping patients recover from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and other conditions related at least in part to Sugar Addiction.
Yours Truly. I’m author of Sugar Shock. The reason I’ve been not as active lately is that I’ve been finishing my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which is set for release next spring from Hay House. (I kicked sugar back in 1998).
Although in an ideal world, you’d have no refined sugar at all, I’m realistic.
According to the American Heart Association, adult women should consume no more than 6 teaspoons a day.
Adult men may have 9 teaspoons a day for adult men.
Meanwhile, the AHA’s recommends no more than 3 teaspoons for children.
As noted previously, today, most of you are vastly exceeding these maximums, with the average adult intake consuming about 22 teaspoons, and teens, about 34 teaspoons. (Again, I think most people consume more, but I’m using the often-cited stats.)
Sugar Stacks – colasTo illustrate sugar content of common foods, jsut look at how much sugar is found in soda, thanks to SugarStacks.com.
For instance, one 12-ounce can has 39 grams of sugar.
To calculate how many teaspoons that is, just divide by 4, and you come to nearly 10 teaspoons os sugar (about 9.75 tsp.)
Meanwhile, a Snickers 2 to Go bar — which you may seen in stores lately — contains 23 grams of sugar or 5.75 tsp. of sugar.
Bear in mind that only single sugary drink or candy treat can put a child well above the limit.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 25 percent of teens drank one can of soda per day.
A study in the journal, Pediatrics cites a much higher figure. According researchers, soda contributed about “67% of all sugar-sweetened beverage calories among the adolescents, whereas fruit drinks provided more than half of the sugar-sweetened beverage calories consumed by preschool-aged children.”
“On a typical weekday, 55% to 70% of all sugar-sweetened beverage calories were consumed in the home environment, and 7% to 15% occurred in schools.”
The researchers concluded that children and adolescents today “derive 10% to 15% of total calories from sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% fruit juice.” Plus, they taking in more and more.
“Schools are a limited source for sugar-sweetened beverages, suggesting that initiatives to restrict sugar-sweetened beverage sales in schools may have an only marginal impact on overall consumption. Pediatricians’ awareness of these trends is critical for helping children and parents target suboptimal dietary patterns that may contribute to excess calories and obesity.”
Join us on Sugar Addiction Awareness Day and in the coming week, which I’m dubbing Sugar Addiction Awareness Week.
This is a wonderful opportunity to help us spread the word that if you just cut back on your consumption of candies, other refined desserts, and processed carbs, you could easily shed weight, get more energetic, possibly halt or reverse such diseases as cancer and type 2 diabetes, and boost your libido.
And if you’re hooked, then get help from such resources as my book Sugar Shock, as well as the new book, Sugar Nation.
Please join the Sugar Addiction Awareness Hour on my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show. It will take place Tues., Nov. 1 at 2 pm EST, the day after Halloween, with a number of top experts. Stay tuned for details.
Also, stay tuned for some tips to deal with what I call Halloween Havoc.

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Begin Your Day With Positive Thoughts to Create an Exceptional Life, Louise Hay Urges

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How do you begin each and every day?
What are the very first thoughts you think?
What ideas fill your head as you get out of bed, hop in the shower, make breakfast, and prepare for the day ahead?
Do you dread the projects and duties that lie ahead of you? Or do you approach your day with happy anticipation?
No matter what challenges you are facing — whether it’s sugar addiction, financial issues, or other family situations — If you begin your day joyously and gratefully, you’ll have a fabulous day — and life.
Lately, I’ve been giving quite a bit of thought to how I begin my day, thanks to the fabulous new book, You Can Create an Exceptional Life, from two of my heroines, Louise Hay and Cheryl Richardson, both mega-best-selling authors, who’ve helped millions around the world. (Follow these amazing ladies on Facebook — just click the links I just gave.)
Both of these remarkable women are living proof that the spiritual principles they discuss in their new book really do work. As you read You Can Create an Exceptional Life, you’ll discover that you, too, can create an exceptional life, too.
In fact, I now follow their wonderful advice religiously, and I urge you to do that, too.
In You Can Create an Exceptional Life, which features the collective wisdom of Louise and Cheryl, you get many wonderful tidbits of advice on how lead a glorious life.
For instance, Louise suggests that you begin your day by looking at yourself lovingly in the mirror and telling yourself how much you love yourself and how awesome you are. Try it! You’ll find that this simple little tool works amazing wonders!
Also, see this wonderful YouTube video with Louise and Cheryl.
Anyhow, in this fabulous new book, You Can Create an Exceptional Life, you get many wonderful affirmations to use as you begin and go through your day. (There’s an amazing Collected Affirmations section in the back of the book, which you’ll love, I predict.)
By the way, another one of my absolute favorite CDs/books is, I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life, also from Louise Hay.
Since June — after getting quite exhausted, rundown, headachy, low on energy, and really burnt out (I developied electropollution from working long hours on my book, Beyond Sugar Shock) — I’ve been listening to I Can Do It or another Louise Hay CD every morning.
My daily Louise Hay booster shot helped to quickly bring back my natural energy, enthusiasm and joe de vivre. Wow! If you’re facing any kind of challenge, I urge you to check it out!
Let us know here what you think of both of these fabulous books, You Can Create an Exceptional Life and I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life.
Stay tuned for photos of me with Louise and Cheryl at Louise’s recent 85th birthday party.
So what new affirmations and thoughts are you having as you begin your day?
(Full Disclosure: My next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, is for Hay House, which is the same publisher for both You Can Create an Exceptional Life and I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life, but just because we’re in the same publishing family does not affect my thoughts about these books. Both of these books are amazing, and I’d be raving about them no matter what. Get them now to change your life, and tell us what you think!)

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The Dark Side of Sugar

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Learn more about the Sour Side of Sugar in this fascinating article on DailyRx.com from reporter Laurie Stoneham.
FYI, I’m one of the experts quoted in this story, “The Dark Side of Sweet: Sugar is everywhere and it may just be killing you.”
Read this important article on DailyRx now.
Then, tell us: Does this article help inspire you to quit the stuff — or at least reduce your consumption?
If you’re stumped as to how to let go of your sugar habit, join me next Thursday week in a free teleseminar.
Sign up here for the program, Fast-Track Secrets to Release Your Sugar Addiction & Shed Excess Weight.
Now, tell us why do you want to quit your sugar addiction?

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Book a Free Sweetness Strategy Session With Me this Weekend

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If you’re around this weekend, you can book some free time with me to set you on a path to freedom from sugar, carbs or other bad habits.
You see, I’m around working on my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, for Hay House. If you haven’t bought it yet, I recommend that you get my first book, Sugar Shock.
Anyhow, you get to benefit from my being home. Just nab me now for 20 minutes for a Sweetness Strategy Session.
Book your Sweetness Strategy Session now.
Just go to http://www.GenBook.com/coachingwithconnie

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Agave is Worse for You than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): Please Stay Away From the Stuff!

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Agave nectar is high fructose and it’s bad for you. Respected Dr. Joseph Mercola called it worse than high fructose corn syrup. Learn more about agave now.

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Megan Confronts Cake in a Letter

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Often, when I’m coaching clients to kick their sugar addiction, I’m hit by moments of intuition as to what may help people. (In coaching school with iPEC, they taught us to honor, respect and look for those flashes.)
So last Wednesday, during one of my Break-Free Group Coaching sessions, the idea hit me out of the blue that members might be helped if they wrote a letter or poem to their favorite sweets.
I then asked members what they thought of the idea of doing this. (I never give assignments.)
On Friday, Megan Bozman, one of our members, ran with the idea and wrote a brilliant, insightful, poignant letter while tempted by a cake at work.
She then confided to us (the group members and me): “B-day cake, vanilla with white icing is one of my #1 fav sweets — and that happens to be EXACTLY what is in our conference room right now, about 5 feet from my desk. So I figure it’s a good time to write that letter to my fav sweet (which, as of Wed night, I was already planning on making white b-day cake!)”
White-cake Here’s how Meg confronted Cake — a letter I’m republishing with her permission:
“Dear Cake,
“It’s not you; it’s me. I am aware this is cliched, but it is the truth in this case. You are not an evil entity.
“While you are a nutritional wasteland, you are not evil in moderation. I still plan to welcome you into my home to celebrate my son’s birthdays and other such occasions.
“Again, it’s not you; it’s me. Something in me doesn’t react well to you & I realize this. You are fantastic during the too-brief time I get to enjoy you. Ecstatic & wonderful.
“But too often, before I even finish swallowing the last bite, I just want more! Then, I still want more and more and more. That is where the evil comes into play… it is in large quantities that you become evil.
“And I won’t waste time elaborating on why large quantities of you are bad. That doesn’t bear repeating.
“When I get ensnared by your addictive properties, I feel terrible; both physically & emotionally. The feeling of being hooked is dreadful. For one thing, it’s just simply embarrassing! It also has a negative effect on my self-esteem (really, I can’t `just say no’ & only eat a moderate amount?! What is wrong with me?)
“I don’t have some of the negative effects some experience such as stomach pains, yeast infections, skin problems, & blood sugar crashes causing a rapid decline in both energy & mood. However, I feel bloated, fat, and, well, gross. Feeling fat & gross makes me feel ugly. It’s just bad; just all around bad.
“So there you sit in the conference room. I’m sure others will enjoy you — don’t fret. Cake rarely goes uneaten in any office. But for now, I’m 10 days sweets-free & intend to go another 11 days for a round 3 weeks. At that point, I’m thinking I’ll stick to a serving of dessert or sweets once every 3 weeks.
Ta ta,
Meg”
Megan then told us that she shared her Letter to Cake with her husband, who came back with a hilarious response. He wrote:

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