Weight Loss

Sugar Busters is all about chucking out all sugar, especially refined sugar which is the number one cause of all our weight problems. They even advise against sugary fruits and vegetables, because they believe sugar is toxic and harmful for our biochemical system. Sugar Busters, authored by three doctors and a CEO, was published in 1995 and is still a rage.

Foods you can eat:

* Fruits and vegetables
* Whole grains
* Lean and trimmed meat, fish
* Red wine
* Canola oil
* Nuts
* Dairy products
* Spices
* Dark chocolate

Foods to be avoided:

* Refined flour
* Refined sugar, corn syrup, molasses, honey
* Beer
* Bacon
* Chicken
* Potatoes
* Baked beans
* White bread, pasta, rice
* Carrots, beets
* Corn
* Ripe bananas
* Raisins

Eat three meals a day and snacks if desired. Have fruit or nuts for snacks. Although calorie counting isn't part of the plan, limiting portion size is recommended.

The diet they recommend consists of 30% protein, 40% fat, and 30% carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are to be reduced because their building blocks are sugar. Foods high in carbohydrate raise glucose levels in the blood. The pancreas release high amount of insulin and the authors say that too much of insulin is not good. The glucose does not get converted into glycogen and instead results in body fat. All that fat stored around the belly and thighs is this fat. There is no limit to this storage - it can go on and on. This system of fat storage was needed when humans did not know where there next meal was going to come from. Unfortunately we have to live with this system in the age of fast-food restaurants.

All this can be avoided with a diet low in carbohydrate and high in protein. It causes only marginal increase in the levels of glucose and thereby in the insulin produced by the pancreas. It also allows another hormone, glucagon, to work on mobilizing stored body fat for conversion into energy.

Negatives:

* While the authors claim that this diet prevents diabetes, experts disagree. They go on to say that it is the number of calories that matter for weight gain/loss and not where they come from.

* Experts say that the body cannot differentiate between natural sugar and artificial sugar, and this diet only perpetuates the myth.

* High levels of proteins in the diet could lead to calcium excretion, damage to kidney and liver, fatigue and irritability.