We all love to add sweetness into our lives. When we feel happy, we want to treat and greet ourselves with sweets. When we feel sad, sweets act to boost our moods. When we show our thankfulness, we prefer to treat others with sweets. Whenever guests visit us, we won't leave them before they do the traditional "Moo-Mitha". When we pass, we take sweets, when we fail; others bring sweets for us to cheer us up. So, will there be anything to worry about with all these sweetness "surrounding" us? Yes, too much of sweetness may bring bitterness in our lives in the form of diabetes. This explains why we see the emergence of various concepts which claim to battle your sugar cravings. And this explains why we get to come across popular concepts like the Sugar Buster Diet, designed by Samuel S. Andrews, M.D (endocrinologist), Morrison C. Bethea, M.D (cardiac surgeon), Luis A. Balart, M.D.(gastroenterologist),H. Leighton Steward (a corporate CEO).
The Salient Features of the Sugar Buster Diet
· It is about how, what and when to eat and exercise.
· It encourages you to avoid refined sugar and processed grain products.
· It encourages you to make a commitment in choosing the right carbohydrates - the low insulin-producing carbohydrates. Insulin causes you to convert and store excess sugar as fat and to also store the excess fat as fat.
· It involves eating high fiber vegetables, fruits and whole grains. The fiber in both of these food products has a beneficial effect on your digestive process and overall health. Meats are an important source of protein but should be lean and trimmed.
· It encourages the intake of low-fat products while choosing milk and cheese while strongly advocating careful attention to saturated fats. Too much saturated fat and trans fats and those oils used in fast foods, are very harmful not only to your waistline but also to your heart and blood vessels.
· Hydration is important and everyone is encouraged to drink six to eight glasses of water daily.
· It is important to eat three regular meals daily and appropriate snacks are allowed. But moderation in portion size is most important. If you are not careful enough, then you may end up eating too much of healthy foods as well.
· Late night snacking is not allowed. Eating at night before going to bed only raises your insulin level and encourages cholesterol production since most of the cholesterol is manufactured while you are sleeping.
· Exercise is an important part of any successful nutritional lifestyle. You should strive to exercise at least twenty minutes daily for four days a week so as to raise your resting heart rate.
· It encourages the voice of moderation.
· If you choose alcohol, you should drink red wine.
· And fruit is preferred over fruit juice and best eaten a half hour before the meal.
What Should You Avoid?
· All refined sugar products and sugar itself
· Potatoes
· Corn
· White rice
· Bread from refined flour
· Beets
· Carrots
· Refined sugar
· Corn syrup
· Molasses
· Honey
· Sugared colas
· Beer
· Baked beans
· Ripe bananas
· Raisins
· Bacon
· Fried chicken
What Should You Include?
· Lean meats , fish , poultry, dairy products, whole grains and cereals.
· Vegetables like beans, lentils, peas, spinach, lettuce squash, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, artichokes, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplant and onions.
· Fruits like apples, lemons and limes, pears, cherries, raspberries, kiwis, grapefruits, apricots, melons other than watermelon, tomatoes, tangerines and oranges.
The Pros and Cons
· In the short term, the Sugar Busters plan is likely to result in weight loss because it eliminates many foods including baked goods and other sweets. And your food choices will be better, such as substituting whole grains for white bread, for instance.
· You may become irritable and tired due to restriction of carbs. You may also feel low in energy. This may not be the case with everyone, but it may trigger lethargy.
· Sugar Busters stresses eating healthy foods, such as whole grains, legumes and beans and lean meats. And cutting out refined sugars in processed foods is a plus point.
· Counting calories or measuring food is not a part of the Sugar Buster Diet, but it may become confusing for a layman without any portion size mentioned.
· The authors themselves caution that the diet is not for exercise fanatics.
· High protein diets increase calcium excretion and possible side effects include kidney and liver damage, fatigue, weakness and irritability.
It's good to stay "sweet" while imparting this "sweetness" to other people's lives, but it's not sweeter to go overboard with it. In fact, we don't know what brings "sweetness' in each individual's life. What may work fine for one, may not go well with others. Sugar Busters diet may truly restrict unnecessary or extra fat, sugar or refined carb intake in some, while many others may just fail and surrender to the "calls" of their taste buds.
