The Sugarbusters Diet :: Science Scientific Medical Essays

The Sugarbusters Diet History of the Sugarbusters Diet One of the Authors, H.Leighton Steward, began eating "bad" foods such as steak, lamb, and cheese after fifteen years of obstaining and found that his cholesterol dropped by fifteen percent and triglycerides by fifty percent. Baffled by this, steward talked to his doctor about the possibility that insulin must have been provoking the liver to produce cholesterol. His doctor, Bethea, another author of the book enthusiastically agreed. He sighted proof by explaining that insulin injections in diabetics tend to elevate cholesterol levels (Steward,Andrews, Bethea & Balart, 1995). Pledge of the Sugarbusters Diet. The diet will allow for most foods to be eaten in normal quantities or possibly larger ones. One will be able to eat many foods which have been considered "non-diet", such as meat, cheeses, and eggs. The foods to be avoided will be any foods which stimulate large amounts of insulin to regulate blood sugar. Sugar is targeted, not fat, as the culprit for extra pounds (Dawson, 1997). "By simply doing this, one can get slimmer and healthier simultaneously" (Steward, 1995). One author, Dr. Balart, even states that the diet is easy. He believes that after two to four days on the diet the desire for sweets will disappear and after ten to fourteen days they will be intolerable(http://www.sugarbusters.com:80/balofe.html). Following the Diet The basis of the sugarbusters diet is to trim fat by eliminating extra sugar. Sugarbusters states that lowering extra sugar is achieved by avoiding white rice, white bread and refined pastas. Other foods to be avoided are carrots, beets, and bananas. Dieters should instead eat foods which are high in protein such as nuts, steaks, eggs and also some fruits, vegetables and whole grain cereals and breads (Steward, 1995). The discerning factor between which foods can be eaten and which can not depends on the particular glycemic index of the food. Glycemic Index The glycemic index is the classification of food based on their blood glucose response relative to a starchy food, usually white bread. "A glycemic index is calculated as the weighted mean of the glycemic index value of the individual carbohydrate food, with the weighting based on the the proportion of the total carbohydrate contributed by each food"(Wolever, Nguyen, Chiassen,& Hunt, 1994). In total there are nearly six hundred separate entries including values for most common Western foods, yet these are not available on the Sugarbusters web site.