Busting the "Sugar Busters"
For: Protein—Striking a Balance, May 2002
Can you believe a weight-loss diet that warns you off carrots but regards a 10-ounce beef tenderloin or a pound of shrimp cooked in a quarter stick of butter as a reasonable serving for one person? Or that offers a recipe for chocolate mousse made with egg yolks and heavy cream? Have you died and gone to heaven? No, you've picked up a copy of Sugar Busters, the best-selling diet book from a trio of New Orleans-based doctors, plus one tycoon. Avoid sugar (including honey) like the plague, they say, because sugar causes obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Eat a lot of meat. Avoid carrots and potatoes because they boost the production of insulin, which, according to Sugar Busters, is bad for you. Scientific evidence backing up this advice is thinly distributed, carelessly cited, or missing altogether.
With its claims to manipulate your metabolism for the better, Sugar Busters is not too different from The Zone diet, which we reviewed (unfavorably) in our June 1998 issue. But besides being simpler in its concept, Sugar Busters is many times more permissive. If you are really trying to lose weight, the authors tell you, substitute a four-egg cheese omelet (sautéed in butter, of course) for a three-egg cheese omelet with a slice of toast. The additional egg will keep you from feeling hungry, they say.
While taxing your powers of belief, the book is also pretty tough on your food budget. Antelope, pheasant, quail, partridge, and even alligator are on the recommended list. Some of New Orleans' priciest restaurants supply recipes, which are predictably lavish with Creole sausages, crab meat, and heavy cream.
Like most "magic bullet" diet books, this one bubbles with half-truths, theories, borrowings from other fad diets, enthusiastic testimonials from people who say they have dropped 124 pounds in six months, plus the occasional sound suggestion. It tells you, for example, to eat whole grains—an excellent idea—and to prefer whole fruits to fruit juices. It suggests trimming the fat from meats—another good idea. Still, we advise you not to trust Sugar Busters as a guide to weight loss and/or healthy eating. Here are a few facts to counter some of the wild ideas in Sugar Busters:
• Calories do count. The idea that consuming excess calories can lead to obesity is not outmoded and it is not a theory. It is a law of physics, a law not likely to be repealed even in New Orleans (which, by the way, has the highest percentage of obese citizens of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas).• Insulin does not make you fat. It is true that eating carbohydrates boosts the body's production of insulin, but insulin plays an essential role in the utilization of energy.
• Sugar is not a toxin. Sugar in and of itself does not cause weight gain, heart disease, or diabetes. Of course, sugary foods (such as pastries) may be high in calories and fat, and some (soft drinks, for example) are devoid of nutrients. Sugar does promote dental decay. Americans should certainly consume less sugar and sugary foods than they do. But to say that omitting sugar and a few other foods will leave you with a healthy diet is simplistic and untrue.
• Mistrust any diet book that tells you not to eat carrots and potatoes. They are good sources of vitamins and minerals and belong in any healthy diet, even a weight-loss diet.
Final thoughts: A high-fat, high-cholesterol diet puts you at risk for heart disease, colon cancer, and other ills. Diets high in meat and animal fat are not associated with longevity. The Sugar Busters diet is about as far as you can get from healthy eating.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, November 1998
