SUGAR BUSTERS
Sugar Busters! advocates taking the sugar out of your diet. Collaborating doctors and experts H. Leighton Steward, Dr. Morrison Bethea, Dr. Sam Andrews and Dr. Luis Balart developed this diet to address the added sugar that is prominent in our every day diets. While the authors acknowledge that it is nearly impossible to eliminate it completely, they require dieters to cut out refined and processed sugars; and even some high-glycemic fruits and vegetables. The team co-authored a book, Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat that has been very successful on the market.
Foods Emphasized: Whole grains, vegetables, lean meats, and fruits
Foods Restricted: Potatoes, bread, refined flour, carrots, white rice, beets and sugar in most of its forms
Premise and Guidelines: With diabetes a prominent health concern in America, it’s no surprise that the book Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat is so popular. In the book, the authors discuss how the low-fat phenomenon has actually caused us to become overweight. Most low-fat foods are full of sugar and sugar replacements, such as corn syrup and fructose, to make up for the ingredients removed. Sugar causes insulin levels to rise higher than normal, which ends up inhibiting the breakdown of fat. Any excess sugars will be stored as fat, making high sugar consumption a double threat to weight loss. On the Sugar Busters diet, eating fat is still allowed, but sugar intake will be limited.
Depending on your current diet, this program could be a major lifestyle change. Besides cutting down your sugar consumption dramatically, you must also choose healthy replacement foods. Moderate eating is encouraged, and so is staying hydrated, so drinking water is a must on this diet! Snacking is allowed, as long as it’s used to keep you from being hungry, and uses healthy foods. The Sugar Busters team also has a different viewpoint on exercising; while they maintain that it is necessary and will boost your weight-loss efforts, you should transition slowly if you aren’t used to intense exercise. This way, you won’t burn yourself out and get discouraged or lethargic.
The Sugar Busters Diet states that it is not a diet, but a nutritional lifestyle, and the experts would tend to agree. The main issue with adhering to the diet is that we are confronted with sugar in almost every direction. This diet could be restricting, considering your lifestyle and food availability. Although it could be time-consuming, once you are on the ‘lifestyle’ regularly, it becomes much easier.