Sugar Busters! Diet Review

Diet Review

By Myatt Murphy

No nutritionist can argue that eating less sugar is probably one of the healthiest—not to mention, hardest—decisions you can make. Some of the diet’s principles are even sound, since they’re the typical healthier nutritional choices most diets always stress: avoid saturated fats, eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day, eat more fiber-rich foods, don’t eat 2-3 hours before going to bed, etc. The plan also bans dieters from eating most—if not all—processed foods because many of them contain sugar (even though they should equally be avoided for their unhealthy preservatives, lack of nutrients and a list of other nutritional flaws).

What makes the diet questionable is that some points that it addresses are strange—if not altogether incorrect—according to many nutritionists. For example, the diet stresses that sugar is toxic and that eating too much sugar—not fat—is the reason for obesity . Experts will tell you that eating too much of any type of food (fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, etc.) can create an excess of calories that leaves your body little choice but store those calories as unwanted fat. It also suggests eating fruits and drinking fruit juices separately from meals. Not only is this logic lost on nutritionists, but many wonder why fruit juice is allowed in the first place—since many contain high amounts of sugar.

Other issues to consider: The diet is so simple in its’ approach—avoid all sugar and eat low-glycemic foods—that it lacks enough structure to help dieters who need more guidance feel secure. It’s also severely low in calories—around 1,200 calories a day. This low amount may help dieters lose weight, but it also means dieters could be skipping out on important nutrients by not eating enough each day.

Is the diet healthy?

Yes and no. The diet is high in fiber, low in saturated fats and addresses some of the nutritional mistakes many people make when it comes to their diets—the biggest being eating too many refined foods and too much sugar. By eliminating both refined foods and sugar from your diet—which is the entire premise of Sugar Busters!—dieters will definitely lose weight, plus, trigger less insulin surges, which it what the body releases in response to higher amounts of sugar (The problem is your body also tends to store more excess calories as unwanted bodyfat when this happens as well.)

What could make it unhealthy at times is how many calories you’re allowed to eat each day (it averages around 1,200 calories), plus believing many of its’ skeptical claims, such as eating fruits by themselves or that the diet can prevent diabetes (which many experts disagree with entirely).

What do the experts say?

Only eating 1,200 calories a day is the first concern, since “It’s difficult to get all of the essential nutrients your body needs on a diet that low in calories,” says Susan Moores, M.S., R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. But it’s the book’s ‘science’ about sugar that raises red flags for those in the know.

Judging foods by the glycemic index also ends up giving some healthy fruits and vegetables a bad reputation they don’t deserve. “Carrots and beets are just two examples of great, nutrient-dense foods that get squeezed out of your diet because they rank too high on the glycemic index,” says Moores, “This may prevent some dieters from getting certain important minerals and vitamins.”

Who should consider the diet?

Because it’s such a short diet (14 days), it may be worth trying if you’ve ever wondered how much sugar-laden foods you eat. But if you simply can’t give up your sweets, this diet is definitely difficult.

Bottom line

Sugar Busters! is hard-to-follow at times because of its’ lack of structure. It also focuses too much on one thing (the dangers of sugar), yet doesn’t place enough emphasis on all the important elements that make up a healthy diet. That said, many of those important elements are still a part of the diet—eating more veggies, whole-grain foods and lean meats, eating less refined foods and sugar, etc. Trying the program for 14 days may get dieters to pick up a few of these healthy habits, plus, understand some of the unexpected foods they may be getting excess sugar from in their daily diet.

Foods

You’ll be saying a fond farewell to probably many of the foods you love, including: refined sugar, products made from refined flour (such as white bread, white rice and pasta), ripe bananas, raisins, fried chicken, jams and jellies, sauces and salad dressings that contain sugar, non-diet soda, certain cold cuts such as ham (since it’s cured in sugar), honey, potatoes, corn, carrots and even beer.

Foods on the “recommended” list? Expect to eat plenty of low-glycemic vegetables (including beans, spinach, squash, cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce), low-glycemic fruits (from apples, pears, grapefruits, raspberries, tomatoes and oranges) whole-grain flour products (pasta, breads, etc.) and whole grains (like oatmeal and whole-grain rice). Nuts, eggs and low-fat daily products—with no added sugar—are also on the menu. Dieters can expect to eat a lot of lean meat as well, from chicken, game meats (bison, venison, etc.), fish, and even leaner cuts of pork and beef.

See the Sugar Busters! Diet at a Glance