New Man or Woman of the Day Spotlight: Donyale Reavis for Integrity

Today, I’m introducing a new feature on the Sugar Shock Blog — Man or Woman of the Day. Each day (excluding most weekends), I’ll feature a spectacular person, who stands out for some extraordinary quality.
I was inspired to begin this feature because of something so incredibly nice that a woman I didn’t know did for me today.
Earlier today, I was impressed and so awed by the integrity and kindness of a woman, Donyale Reavis, who I met while trying to buy a ticket to the 2010 BlogHer conference in New York City. (Tickets were not available at the door.)
Donyale reavis Donyale — an intellectual property attorney, charity founder and independent film producer with Coyopa Productions, who also runs Success Happens.org and Pure Imagination.org — quickly revealed that she was a spectacular human being.
When I met her this morning in front of the BlogHer registration area, Donyale offered to sell me her ticket to tomorrow’s BlogHer because she had to fly to Atlanta tonight and give a presentation tomorrow.
Later, I learned that someone else had offered Donyale more money for the ticket than the amount she and I had agreed upon.
But Donyale turned down the higher offer and followed through on her agreement with me. She wouldn’t even take more money from me when I offered!
Wow is about all I can say! I was so touched.
Anyhow, Donyale demonstrated such amazing integrity, she is Today’s Woman of the Day.
Thank you so very much, Donyale!

Sugar Shock Blog Turns 5 Years Old

A month ago, Sugar Shock Blog turned five years old, but I forgot to announce it, because I was busy blogging about other things.
I also was in the middle of creating another new blog, my Write a Book Before You Die Blog
Anyhow, I hope you like the Sugar Shock Blog. See the first entry here on June 7, 2005.
FYI, at present, I’m seeking short, concise, compelling guest entries, because I’m on doctor’s orders to rest my head.
What would you like to contribute? I want to hear from you.
Please follow me on Twitter, where I’ll be posting shorter items and links to interesting articles, etc. — it’s easier to send tweets than write blog entries with a head that hurts.

Jeff Garlin & Ellen DeGeneres Set Sugar-Shunning Trend – AOL Runs My Opinion Piece

You know the expression, “Love is in the air?”
Well, thanks to comedians Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Garlin, kicking sugar is in the air!
For instance, Jeff Garlin, Jeff Garlin, the star and co-producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm, recently talked about his sugar-stopping activities on Regis and Kelly while publicizing his new book, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World.
Before that Ellen DeGeneres, who, of course, hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show and is now also a judge on American Idol, announced to the world that she, too, is shunning sugar.
Please visit AOL now to read my opinion piece, in which I praise both comedians for the wonderful examples they’re setting for the rest of the nation and world.
As an advocate of leading happy, healthy, energy-filled, sugar-free lives, I applaud the two comedians for what they’re doing.
I invite you to read my my op ed piece now: Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Garlin Could Inspire Others to Kick the Sugar Habit – AOL News.

Twitter: Are You Following Me Yet? Catch Up Via Short Updates

Many of you write to me often, asking for more posts, more information, more links to medical studies, more tips to kick sugar and more words of inspiration — in other words, you want more!
Usually, you can get a variety of fun things to read here, at the Sugar Shock Blog — unless I’m off at a conference or vacationing, as I was recently.
But you also can get more frequent, shorter tidbits from me as all.
Just follow me on Twitter to get quick, 140-character updates from me. FYI, I’m known on Twitter as the “Smart Habits Girl.”
If you haven’t signed up for Twitter yet, you should It can be fun, helpful and eye-opening. Just form your own account at Twitter.com to see what it’s all about.
So follow me on Twitter, where I post regularly (unless I’m on vacation, as I was recently).

Britney Spears: Does She Have Low Blood Sugar & a Sugar Addiction?

Britney Spears may be a victim of the blood sugar blues, according to the National Enquirer, which attributes a source stating that she collapsed while rehearsing..
The 27-year-old singer suffers from low blood sugar, according to the Enquirer source, who revealed that Britney’s father has been trying to keep her condition a secret.
I’m baffled. Why would Britney’s father want to keep it hush-hush that the singer has low blood sugar?
Having low blood sugar or hypoglycemia is not a condition you want to hide, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it.
Millions of Americans have low blood sugar, including Nichole Richie, as I also mentioned back in 2007.
In fact, more people have low blood sugar than have diabetes, but many experts believe that low blood sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes.
The good news for people with low blood sugar is that you can have a perfectly normal life, but you will need to take good care of yourself.
If you have low blood sugar, you should quit sweets and refined carbs, eat frequent meals and get plenty of rest, among other things, as I explained in Sugar Shock! (I learned all of this myself in 1998, when I was deep in the throes of my sugar addiction and suffered from many confusing ailments, including feeling faint and low on energy.)
If Britney Spears does have low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, this might explain her alleged interest in sweets, diet pills and alcohol.
Back in 2007, I posed the idea on this Sugar Shock Blog that Britney might be a sugar addict. I even posted a press release about it. I raised the issue again here.

Sugar Addiction Could Lead to Macular Degeneration

As my book SUGAR SHOCK! reveals, eating too many sweets and refined carbs leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and many other illnesses.
But did you know that a diet high in sugary foods can also make you blind?
Yes, high-sugar diets can significantly contribute to vision impairment. In particular, you can get Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which is now the # 1 cause for vision loss in the United States.
The following is a post that was contributed by LensShopper.com.
Sugar Addiction Could Trigger Macular Degeneration by Anders Wedin, OD.
Research shows that excessive sugar consumption is a contributing factor to AMD. At Tufts University, 4,000 people between 55 and 80 years old were studied to test the alleged connection. The results strongly indicated that high blood sugar levels increased the risk of AMD.