Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit And The Simple Way To Beat It by Jeff O'Connell

Jun 15, 2012 Ngaire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: health-and-wellness

Jeff O'Connell was pretty angry when he wrote this book - he'd seen the end result of diabetes in his father, and had been diagnosed as prediabetic himself, despite having the stereotypical perfect physique, tall and slim. In Sugar Nation, he sets out to figure out the cause of America's diabetes epidemic and why conventional treatment (drugs and low fat diets) are so inadequate. What he finds is that diabetics, instead of being helped to manage their disease by cutting out the very things that...more Jeff O'Connell was pretty angry when he wrote this book - he'd seen the end result of diabetes in his father, and had been diagnosed as prediabetic himself, despite having the stereotypical perfect physique, tall and slim. In Sugar Nation, he sets out to figure out the cause of America's diabetes epidemic and why conventional treatment (drugs and low fat diets) are so inadequate. What he finds is that diabetics, instead of being helped to manage their disease by cutting out the very things that were causing the problem - carbs and sugars (essentially the same thing, I know, but they're not really treated that way in our society) and exercising to increase their insulin sensitivity, are instead just being loaded up with drugs which often don't work particularly well, and are quite toxic in the long run. So we have all these wonder drugs for diabetes and yet the disease continues its devastating march across America (and the rest of the world) - O'Connell is continually pointing out this absurdity in the book - many doctors and nutritionists know how to treat diabetes through diet, but are reluctant to dispense this advice because it goes against the guidelines of the ADA and other organizations that propagate the low fat diet as a cure for diseases like diabetes, and may expose them to malpractice suits.

For non-science people like me, Sugar Nation provides simple explanations for the effects of high carb lifestyles on the body and the way that insulin, which is constantly being released to combat high blood sugar, tells the body to store more fat. I was particularly interested to find out that people who are insulin resistant often become overweight - their excess weight is caused by the same thing that causes diabetes (and which is responsible for the whole host of diseases collectively referred to metabolic syndrome - diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and heart disease) - high blood sugar.

Some of this I already knew from Wheat Belly and the Sugar: The Bitter Truth video, but it was helpful to hear it from some one who directly experienced the effects of consuming too many sugars and carbs and not exercising enough. It also led me to an awesome little Canadian documentary called My Big Fat Diet (which I watched on Youtube - make sure you search for the Canadian version) about the inhabitants of Alert Bay in British Columbia and their attempts to regain their health by returning to a more traditional high fat diet.I did find O'Connell's embrace of processed low carb foods such as protein shakes kind of crazy, and kind of wanted to slap him for his refusal to learn to cook (it's a life skill, mate, not a hobby), but there's some really eye opening stuff in this, such as a couple of doctors who describe Alzheimers disease as "Type 3 diabetes." If that's not reason enough to give up sugar and processed carbs, I don't know what is.

Sugar Nation is pretty gripping overall, although it could have been a bit shorter. Some of the later chapters were a bit repetitive. The book ends with the death of Jeff O'Connell's father from diabetes complications. It's a sad ending for what is a pretty sad book in some ways - Jeff's father left his family when Jeff and his brothers were young children and started a new family. Jeff carried a lot of anger towards his father and then, just as they were starting to reconnect, was denied the chance at a real relationship by the fact that his father's untreated diabetes ate away at his body very quickly. Seeing his father die this way left Jeff with a fear of going the same way and a sense of being cheated, partly by his father's refusal to acknowledge his disease and treat it accordingly.

After reading this book, I'm pretty sure that two or three years ago, I would have been considered prediabetic. In fact, a blood sugar test about two years ago was high enough that my doctor mentioned that I might have a "little bit of diabetes," though how someone can have a "little bit of diabetes" is beyond me. When the fasting test came back alright, I was relieved, but if I'd read this book then, I would have known that that should never be the final word. I suspect I've had high blood sugar since high school, which would explain my lack of energy, severe headaches, rage when I didn't eat at regular times, constant hunger, bad skin, and inability to loose weight, despite walking every day and eating a low fat diet. I was doing it wrong, as I've found out - cutting out the meat and fat (for a while there, I was practically a vegetarian, and the fattest I've ever been), and eating a ton of pasta, rice, bread, and other garbage. Carbs make you fat, but I had been fooled by the low-fat advice being dished out in the 80s and 90s. Interestingly, my doctor never mentioned changing my diet when all of this was happening. I had to do all this research myself to really understand how to get better.

Look, low-carb diets may not work for everyone (my husband is one of those, unfortunately, at least in the short term, but we're going to persevere, since undoing years of damage probably doesn't happen in a few months) but for me, it's been an absolute godsend. I finally feel like I'm in control of my health and my body. I feel lucky that I found this out now, before developing Type 2 Diabetes, but kind of gutted that I didn't find it out ten years ago before destroying my gall bladder with my carb-laden diet. Since cutting out carbs, increasing my consumption of meat, good fats, and veges, and upping my exercise to an hour and twenty minutes a day, I've lost quite a lot of weight and feel so much better. Incidentally, when I got my eyes checked last time, my prescription didn't change. That's the first time in more than ten years that I haven't had to go up a strength. Not surprising, given that high blood sugar causes macular degeneration.

I guess my only quibble with this book is the lack of an easy-to-follow low-carb diet plan. I'm already following the diet recommended in Wheat Belly, so it wasn't a problem for me, but I think for others who are just learning about how terrible sugar and carbs are for you (only the causes of most Western disease, including diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, gall bladder disease, PCOS, Alzheimers and a host of other nasty nasty things), it would be nice to have it laid out for you. O'Connell does talk about specific high intensity workouts that yield great results in terms of improving insulin sensitivity, so I'll give him points for that. For those wanting a low-carb diet that's easy to follow, see this: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2011/10...

I'll admit that the first few weeks on this diet were a bit challenging in terms of figuring out what to eat, but now that I've been on it for a few months, it's so easy. Breakfast is eggs or homemade coconut muesli/granola (unsweetened coconut flakes, dried currants, pumpkin seeds, chopped almonds, cashews and pecans, with unsweetened almond milk), lunch is usually a combination of carrots, celery, nuts, cheese, and a boiled egg, or a spinach salad, and dinner is often roasted veges with baked salmon or homemade grassfed beef patties, or a mushroom omelet. It's easy and good, and I never feel deprived, which is the key to sticking with this lifestyle. I don't feel hungry much either. I do indulge in dark chocolate in the evenings, but only chocolate over 85% cacao - very low sugar content. Endangered Species 88% cacao is my favorite. (less)

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Feb 13, 2012 Martha Smith rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: medical-and-health

The author takes the reader on his personal health journey. He takes you inside his visits with his "medical" doctors and the medications they prescribe to him. He indicates how difficult it is to find accurate information. The drug industry has saturated most of the literature in the doctor's office. Doctors in general do not teach prevention or reversal. They pedal pills.

Sadly, the author did not find the "cure" for his diabetes or answer he was looking for. He did not know that John McDougal...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I expected this book to be more about what you could do about this Sugar Nation of ours -- not an expose on the author's personal experiences (and other than saying that what he does to control it only specifically works for him because he has a unique type of situation, he doesn't go any further than that in terms of how others in this sugar nation world can deal with it). It was also severely bogged down in facts, studies, blah blah blah, that was just way over my head in terms of what I could...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was referred by a friend to read this book and I was a bit hesitant.
My husband has been prediabetic for many years and we have learned quite a bit about diet, exercise and medication control of diabetes.

Because Jeff had not dealt with the diabetes issue before, and he was dealing with his estranged dad having diabetes, I think that he gave me a fresh perspective regarding diabetes.

America's love affair with sugar and grains is killing many of us. The solutions as Jeff points out are making inf...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: health, healing, medical-advice, diabetes, hypoglycemia, borrowed-from-the-library, autobiography-memoir, families, medical-procedures, medicine, self-help, low-carb-diets, diet-nutrition, dieting, sugar

Jeff O’Connell started researching alternative methods of controlling diabetes when he learned that his blood sugar levels were “pre-diabetic,” and that his father was dying of diabetes. That’s when he discovered that his condition could be controlled through changes in his diet and exercise. Most doctors and even the ADA (American Diabetic Association) don’t stress this. They have a tendency to prescribe first – assuming that people won’t or can’t follow a diet/exercise plan (and possibly they...more Jeff O’Connell started researching alternative methods of controlling diabetes when he learned that his blood sugar levels were “pre-diabetic,” and that his father was dying of diabetes. That’s when he discovered that his condition could be controlled through changes in his diet and exercise. Most doctors and even the ADA (American Diabetic Association) don’t stress this. They have a tendency to prescribe first – assuming that people won’t or can’t follow a diet/exercise plan (and possibly they aren’t aware of how effective these changes can be on their own – if people want to control their “disease” without having to take pills). In Jeff’s particular case, he discovered he was also hypoglycemic, so his diet needed some further tweaking in order to control his out of control blood sugar levels (which would surge and then fall alarmingly). Eliminating most carbs from his diet normalized his glucose levels, and eating 8 small meals a day kept his hypoglycemia in check. What worked for him could well work for many other diabetics.

This book was really a revelation to me. Some people will be more sensitive to carbs than others, but Jeff’s account makes them seem almost poisonous – not something you want to be putting into your system. Can we relabel donuts with those Mr. Yuck stickers? This isn’t a book about weight loss, although that’s one of the (happy) side-effects of low-no-carb diets, it’s one about saving your life if you’re pre-diabetic or diabetic already. It will also make you mad, too – at the amount of unnecessary sugars that are added to our foods (why?!), and how the drug companies would rather have diabetics hooked on expensive prescription medication when their conditions can likely be improved/eliminated through diet and exercise alone. Successful business should not rely on keeping the populace sick to maintain a profit. That should infuriate you. Not everyone will need to be as meticulous as Jeff with regards to their diet, but this could/should be a wake-up call about the dangers of consuming too much sugar. Required reading for everyone.(less)

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Oct 24, 2011 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really hate to give bad reviews, and I know this author spent a great amount of time and research on his book. For me the biggest problem is that the book is mistitled -- it's really a book about Diabetes in America -- how to spot it, prevent it, and how pervasive it is becoming. Every chapter focused on another aspect of the disease. While I understand that this is a major outcome of America's sugar addiction, I found myself wanting more content that was directly applicable to my life -- or e...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Tamia rated it 4 of 5 stars

After discovering that he is prediabetic, Jeff O'Connell is determined to learn more about diabetes in order not suffer the fate of his father whose leg was amputed due to diabetes complications. O'Connell takes a hard hit at physicians who are influenced by pharmaceutical companies as well as the American Diabetic Association, discovering that these entities provide misinformation to inviduals with diabetes. After investigating the prevelance and methods of treatment for diabetes, O'Connell was...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Socraticgadfly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some of this book is very common sense, and shows that the American Diabetes Association isn't. Why is the ADA pushing MORE carbs for the average diet, even if it's saying high-fiber carbs should be part of that.

O'Connell pushes, rather, a high-fat and high-protein diet. He's careful to say, though, that he doesn't endorse a full-blown Atkins diet, and to note that it often doesn't work so well as a diet tool in general, let alone an anti-diabetes tool. And, O'Connell also pushes exercise, with...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Edy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

A few weeks ago when I told my friend that I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, she recommended this book with the caveat that it would scare me. She was right! It did scare me. But it also gave me information that I need to manage this challenge.

During the 10 weeks since my diagnosis, I have been amazed at the amount of time and effort it takes to keep on top of this disease. I have to analyze everything I put in my mouth to make certain that I keep within my carb allowance. O'Connell's d...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Ryan Hansen rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked this book up because I want to get information about how to improve my diet. The main thing that I take away from this book is that it made me scared to eat anything. His idea is that carbs cause diabetes. I don't doubt that and most people eat way too many carbs. I do like his idea that diabetes should be controlled with diet and exercise. I'd say that the reason I don't like the book is that it made me feel like anything I eat is going to be bad. It didn't have good info or inspiratio...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Demi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Although the title suggests this book is an investigative piece on the food industry, I found it focused more on the author's self-journey of his impaired glucose tolerance diagnosis. I appreciate the author's desire to share his story with others, however his skepticism about the health profession as a whole is concerning. His way to "beat" his diagnosis is based on his research and his own trial and error. The author's conspiracy theories do not help the individual. In fact, it crumbles the fo...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Shauna rated it 4 of 5 stars

More fuel to add to the "you better watch what you eat" fire. It's rather alarming just how much sugar and simple carbs the average American eats, and how devastating this can be on a person's body. Reading this book has made me look at my own diet a little more closely, though I have yet to do anything about it.

Also alarming is the way Jeff O'Connell portrays much of the U.S. health care system as not very informed -- and led, one way or another, by the nose by the pharmaceutical industry.

I d...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sugar Nation is Jeff O'Connell's personal journey, but his health issues, I now realize, are my health issues, and this book has ripped the scales from my eyes.

I suppose to really explain my reaction to this book, there has to be a little background about me. Last month, right after Thanksgiving, I saw my doctor who asked why I had put on so much weight since the last time I saw her. The answer was stress and junk food, and she said, "Well then, you know what to do there, but you may also want t...more Sugar Nation is Jeff O'Connell's personal journey, but his health issues, I now realize, are my health issues, and this book has ripped the scales from my eyes.

I suppose to really explain my reaction to this book, there has to be a little background about me. Last month, right after Thanksgiving, I saw my doctor who asked why I had put on so much weight since the last time I saw her. The answer was stress and junk food, and she said, "Well then, you know what to do there, but you may also want to look at quitting starchy carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes) and sugar." It was the right message at the right time; I was feeling miserable. I cut them from my diet and dropped 7 pounds in the first 3 weeks and even more shocking found that my near daily headaches disappeared. Moreover, I wasn't having any more hypoglycemic episodes. I was starting to think that maybe sugar is evil, and so I picked up this book hoping to find some reasons to justify and reinforce my new commitment to a sugar-free lifestyle.

What I got, however, was a face-first dive into the specter of diabetes. So, yeah, I knew the hypoglycemia wasn't great, but I always just figured it was the opposite of diabetes, not the other side of the same coin. It's the precipitous drop that follows the spike; it's the reason that two donuts can put me down for an involuntary nap two hours later. Maybe willfully, I had never made the connection that my reaction to sugar was a symptom of insulin resistance. This is particularly ridiculous because my mom was diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic at 52. I just figured that her health problem didn't apply to me because her worst weight was still 90-100 lbs greater than my worst weight. If there's anything that this book taught me, it's that while obesity is an indicator for diabetes, it's not the only one, and being in a mostly normal weight range isn't the protection from insulin resistance that you might think that it is.

My whole maternal family is hypoglycemic--my grandmother, mom, aunt, cousin, sister, all. I've had episodes of it since elementary school and always have to remember to not go too long between meals, or else fight grogginess, shakes, anger, etc. Moreover, I've always treated it with a quick dose of sugar, which I now know is about the worst thing you can do. So when I say that this book has changed my entire perspective on having a good diet and regular exercise, I'm not joking. I'd always felt that those things were good but somewhat voluntary. I'm now treating them as if they're as necessary as my feet, which by the way, I have no interest in losing. I think the most horrific thing I learned in this book is that every nasty sugar-induced spike was causing small vessel damage. That's why diabetics have issues with their kidneys and vision and feeling in their feet. Think about that, you do not have to be diabetic to damage yourself with a spike in your blood sugar.

Some of what O'Connell explores is also how insidious drug prescriptions for diabetes can be, and now sometimes the side effects are worse than what they're curing. I don't think that I made the same connection about my mom as he did about his dad for a pretty simple reason. My mom died two years later at 54, so I never had to watch diabetes tear her apart, but the way she died has taken on new significance for me. She died of an accidental overdose, a bad drug interaction from her diabetes meds. They determined that it was accidental because she hadn't exceeded the daily recommended dosage for either drug. So yay, go diabetes drugs.

So, perhaps it's a tad dramatic, but Jeff O'Connell has changed my life. He's made me realize that diet and exercise are something that I need to work on every day and that sugar is not a harmless pleasure. He's also made me very grateful that I have a doctor willing to take the time to give me not only dietary advice, but good dietary advice. I'm seriously writing her a thank you note for putting in that extra bit of effort. I'm also giving a copy of this book to all the hypoglycemics I know and love.

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Oh, I do need to add one caveat on this, which as I mentioned at the top of the review, and the author states several times in the book, this is his personal story and a record of what worked for him. I don't agree with everything he does. For instance, I wouldn't touch processed food like diet soda and soy protein with a ten-foot pole. Additionally, he takes time to ridicule housework as aerobic exercise.

I very much suspect that dude doesn't do his own cleaning. Even if he does, I don't think that a single man who travels extensively for work and doesn't cook can even conceive of the kind of destruction that my sister's four kids can wreak in a couple of hours. He specifically conjures up the image of "your great-grandmother...washing the floor on her hands and knees." Yeah, great, and how do you get the bottom of your shower clean? Anyhoo, I've read a lot about HIIT training outside of this book, and I think that he was just making a poor argument for how much more effective it is, but seriously, don't knock how much work maintaining a home is if you've never done it. If you want to say that interval training is more effective, fine, I agree. If you want to say that five hours of cleaning is the same thing as five hours of sitting on the couch? You can go screw yourself. ;)
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Dec 16, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you or someone you care about has diabetes or is prediabetic (or it runs in your family) this book could prove to be the most important book you have read this year. If I had the money I would send it to every family and internal medicine doctor in the country. No medical double speak or Latin mystery talk, it tells you clearly what the author has learned and experienced and what you can do. Drug companies will not like it or want you to read it. You may not like all of it (I really miss some...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Krenner1 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Outstanding book on the discrepancies in diabetes self-care. The person who is thin, fit, yet with prediabetic numbers may not concern a physician; a referral to a dietician may still result in a lack of correct information. There are cofusing, differing verdicts on diabetes treatment, and a tendency toward little intervention until the disease is full-blown and in control. The author, a thin, fit prediabetic, has researched this in-depth, and suggests his own physical salvation through a diet t...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very interesting book that at its heart is about the failings of the parts of the medical establishment in dealing with prevention of chronic disease; in this case diabetes. Even though the responsibility for our health is ultimately our own, it is near impossible given the misinformation and focus on symptom treatment rather than lifestyle change. I disagree with other reviewers who thought that the writer was bitter. I thought sharing the personal story that was weaved through was ve...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book "scared the starch out of me," to borrow a quote in the book.

The book gave me new insight into the dangers and social/physical/market complexities of diabetes. It draws a compelling portrait connecting blood sugar as the tie between all our major killers (heart disease, cancer, stroke, etc.).

It also provided a solution, which can be summarized as "avoid carbs and work out daily".

I recommend this to anyone interested in living a healthy lifestyle and understanding how the diabetes ep...more

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Sep 01, 2011 The Joy of Booking rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Author Jeff O'Connell is a fitness journalist, a healthy eater, and a regular exerciser. So why is he diagnosed with pre-diabetes when he's the exact opposite of the stereotypical diabetes patient?

He takes readers along on his personal journey to discover what causes his blood sugar to rocket sky-high and then drop like a rock - and it's not just genetics. He speaks with diabetes doctors and researchers, attends conferences, and reads dietary guidelines for diabetics. His findings are scary. The...more Author Jeff O'Connell is a fitness journalist, a healthy eater, and a regular exerciser. So why is he diagnosed with pre-diabetes when he's the exact opposite of the stereotypical diabetes patient?

He takes readers along on his personal journey to discover what causes his blood sugar to rocket sky-high and then drop like a rock - and it's not just genetics. He speaks with diabetes doctors and researchers, attends conferences, and reads dietary guidelines for diabetics. His findings are scary. The new American lifestyle of bad diet - high in carbs, even "good" carbs like whole wheat bread and Gatorade - low exercise and high stress have caused a diabetes epidemic. I was guilty of many of the bad decisions he enumerated, and even worse, I could see real consequences in my health. On days I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, I crash in the morning, and the "healthy" granola bar (25 grams of carbs) I have causes my blood sugar to spike and crash again - an all day cycle. Those are the days I don't feel like working out and get frazzled trying to get through my day. On the other hand, the days where I focus on protein and carbs with lower glycemic indexes, I am able to stay focused and more likely to work out and make better decisions throughout the day.

Jeff's writing is accessible and engaging. I wish there had been a little bit more prescriptive recommendations in terms of what TO eat instead of just what to avoid, but then, Jeff's not a doctor or a nutritionist (although, from his research, they may not be able to help me either - they served sugar glazed salmon at a diabetes conference. Huh?!). What I really took away from it is that I need to eat more less-processed foods in general, as close to the original form as possible, and to focus on more protein early in the day. I'm also giving up those "healthy" granola bars, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drink a soda ever again.

In short, a really great look at one facet of what's wrong with the American diet.(less)

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Apr 16, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: health, memoirs, non-fiction, nutrition, food-culture

I'm not quite sure how to characterize this book... it was mainly a semi-memoir terribly overgrown magazine article. The author writes about his own struggle with pre-type-2 diabetes (based on a men's health article called "The Thin Man's Diabetes") and goes into the history of the disease and its treatment and today's approach to it. The problem though is that he doesn't really spell out how to manage the illness, other than to exercise (short bursts of high intensity workouts every day) and to...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Deborah Biancotti rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fic

I was torn between calling this book 'One Man's Journey into His Own Metabolism' - or 'Jeff O'Connell's Non-Unified Theory of Everything'.

Although O'Connell's research is interesting, & his stats on the dangers of diabetes (so prevalent it runs the risk of becoming disregarded except as a 'normal part of getting old') compelling, in the end I was left with two questions.

a) What really **is** the 'simple way' to beat diabetes? I've read the whole book & I'm not exactly sure.
And,
b) Who ca...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Kim rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: health-and-well-being

This is one man's journey and how he has dealt with being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. HE has figured out how to deal with it in a way that works for HIM and while I am not saying that he has a point or that his way will work, I feel that it is HIS way of dealing with it and that not ALL people with benefit from his take on things. Very heavy handed about the American Diabetes Association (ADA),doctors,and drug companies being in each others back pockets and the author comes across as smug th...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I, too, as other reviewers have said, thought this book was going to be more of an expose of the food industry. It wasn't, but that didn't stop me from liking the book. It's almost more of an expose of the pharmaceutical industry and American health organizations. The author, after learning that his father is dying of type 2 diabetes, gets tested for diabetes and discovers that despite his somewhat healthy lifestyle, he is pre-diabetic. He begins to research what the various health organizations...more

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Oct 09, 2011 J.C. Hart rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this title up from NetGalley a few months ago, and it’s taken me a fairly long time to make my way through it – but then, I find that’s often the case with non-fiction. I wanted to be shocked, and warned off sugar, and this book certainly did that. It showed with great detail just how bad the situation is with diabetes and the foods we eat, as well as how the treatments are lacking.

While most of the stats were from America, there were several instances that gave a global picture of the...more I picked this title up from NetGalley a few months ago, and it’s taken me a fairly long time to make my way through it – but then, I find that’s often the case with non-fiction. I wanted to be shocked, and warned off sugar, and this book certainly did that. It showed with great detail just how bad the situation is with diabetes and the foods we eat, as well as how the treatments are lacking.

While most of the stats were from America, there were several instances that gave a global picture of the increasing number of people world wide who suffer from this. But the book also highlighted that there is a shift of mind set that needs to happen before we (globally) can really tackle the problem, because this isn’t something you can just medicate and expect to go away. You need to make real lifestyle changes, and that’s not always easy.

One thing that really stood out for me was when he said something along the lines of: if you told a cancer patient that all s/he had to do was stick to a certain diet and exercise a certain amount in order to save their lives, they would do it – we know that cancer can kill us. Doctors say the same thing to diabetes or pre-diabetes patients, and they simply don’t/can’t seem to make the changes, even though it could very well save their lives.

It’s as if while we’ve been told that diabetes can kill, because the process can be so slow, we don’t really see it as a threat to our health in the same way that we view cancer. As an exhausted mother who frequently props herself up on sugar, I know just how hard it can be to wean off the wrong foods. Books like this help give me the incentive to change the way I consume.

This is a big book to work through. I’ll confess to skimming through parts of it, but I think there are some interesting points in there. It seems to be well researched, though I find it hard to believe that the medical professionals in America are as behind the eight ball on diabetes as they are shown here – I hope that’s not the case for all Doctors.(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Phyllis Jennings rated it 4 of 5 stars

Plugging through this book only reminded me that if I 1) don't want to be overweight; 2) don't want to be diabetic; and 3)don't want to die of heart disease and other ghastly ailments, then 4) I need to stop eating sugar- well maybe, processed foods, in general.

OK I'm convinced by all the remarkable research that I shouldn't eat sugar, but hey, it IS January and I just HAVE to bake something sweet! Hopefully I won't get diabetes as the kind of motivator this author has...I do agree that this is...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Bill Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some good ideas but very repetitive. I would like to have seed more development of what people can do to help themselves be healthier. The author started this book with the thesis that it was about him and his father but that aspect was very poorly developed. After reading the book it appeared that the author's goal was to establish that we are all encouraged to eat to much sugar containing foods. he could have done much better.

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Feb 10, 2012 Milissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some of the information about the pharmaceutical industry is incorrect...and that annoyed me...but the clinical information presented was well researched and very interesting. The author certainly opened my eyes to how bad sugar really is and the underlying consequences that many consider "unrelated." I have (and will continue) to change my food choices based on some information in this book. You only get one body...take care of it!

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Aug 15, 2011 Lynneth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. Really interesting "food" for thought. I did expect to see an eating plan at some point in the book, but there wasn't one. I think the author is encouraging the reader to venture out on this diabetes-fighting journey individually- to use what info works specifically for him or her. Understanding the why behind the concepts in this book are more important than being handed a list of what to eat. I liked that at one point this book refers to Willet's book: Eat, Drink, and be Healthy -...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm rather surprised that I enjoyed a book authored by someone who used to work at Men's Health Magazine (hands-down my LEAST favorite periodical -- well, among non-pornographic, anyway). What I was most pleasantly surprised by was the fact that he doesn't assume that all fat people have blood sugar issues, nor that all people with blood sugar issues are fat (of course, the latter was the case with him, so he wouldn't be able to assume that, of course). This and a nutrition podcast I am currentl...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good book about why it is important to watch how much sugar we consume. Some of the chapters were better than others. Overall it was compelling enough to get me to make some changes to my diet and lifestyle (example: eating more eggs + vegetables for breakfast instead of cereal + fruit) because of my family history of the disease.

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Sep 22, 2011 Spook Harrison rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Basically everyone.

Recommended to Spook by: New Book Shelf

Shelves: health-physical

At first the tone of the book, definitely written by a magazine writer!, put me off, but the information was so compelling I continued reading and am beyond glad I did! Extremely well-researched and examining the issue from multiple angles, this is an excellent text. Also, I'll be able to recommend it to my friends who don't like slogging through academic literature!

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title link	preview: Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit And The Simple Way To Beat It
avg rating	preview: Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit And The Simple Way To Beat It Goodreads rating: 3.45 (294 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/12023289-sugar-nation?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328301706l/12023289.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/12023289-sugar-nation?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit And The Simple Way To Beat It by Jeff O'Connell[/url]

Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit And The Simple Way To Beat It

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