My upcoming book, Sugar Shock!, is on the way. It’s time to tell you how the title came about. This definition below comes at the beginning of the book:
SUGAR SHOCK!(TM) – A mind-numbing, personality-bending, health-destroying constellation of symptoms affecting millions worldwide who frequently turn to processed sweets and simple carbs, which send their blood sugar levels wildly soaring and plummeting. The term SUGAR SHOCK! encompasses the often-misdiagnosed, dismissed condition of hypoglycemia and other blood sugar disorders, from insulin resistance to diabetes. Victims of SUGAR SHOCK! could experience such baffling symptoms as moodiness, fatigue, dizziness, cold sweats, depression, vertigo, drowsiness or sleeplessness, headaches, fatigue, forgetfulness, anxiety, mental confusion, heart palpitations, lack of sex drive, temper outbursts, suicidal thoughts, and more. This insidious roller-coaster effect brought on by inferior carbs hampers sufferers’ ability to function at full throttle–or even half throttle. Research suggests that repeatedly stimulating insulin release by over-consuming sweeteners (which most Americans do) could contribute to such “big killers” as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
For my book, I interviewed more than 250 revered physicians, researchers, nutritionists, fitness experts, obesity “warriors,” public health advocates, activists, attorneys, and more from all over the world (plus hundreds of self-described “sugar addicts”,) all of whom very generously took considerable time to explain how our consumption of sweets and refined carbohydrates (or what I call quickie, Much-Like-Sugar Carbs) could contribute to a host of health woes. (Incidentally, a well-respected physician is coming on board as my co-author. Details forthcoming.)
To ‘fess up, I’m afraid I can’t take full credit for this catchy phrase. I had some remarkable help and creative prodding three years ago from the super talented author/speaker/book-title-naming “queen” Sam Horn, while we brainstormed together (well, she was wildly innovative; I watched and helped some) at the Maui Writers Conference in 2002.
By the way, many thanks go to cutting-edge authors John Battelle, Aaron Hamburger, Poppy Z. Brite, David Weinburger, Chris Anderson — all recently written up in fascinating New York Times article, “Dear Blog: Today I Worked on My Book.” Each of these writers inspired me to use this Sugar Shock Blog in a different, more creative way than I’ve been doing since I launched it in early June, after I finished writing my book. Best of luck to you all on your books.