Samuel S. Andrews, M.D.
Morrison C. Bethea, M.D.
Luis A. Balart, M.D.
H. Leighton Steward

Thanks guys for educating me about the role of sugar in diet. It's pretty simple. The body uses sugar as energy, when you have too much sugar in your blood stream your pancreas releases insulin which helps store the sugar as fat. When you have too little your body releases glucagon which gives you access to the energy stored in fat.

Over the past 300 years our diets have steadily changed to include more and more highly processed food made from sugar and highly processed simple carbs. Obesity is a major consequence of eating too much sugar and flour.Some people eat so much sugar and flour they damage their ability to regulate their blood sugar levels. Type II diabetes (adult onset) is a serious consequence.

The answer is to change your diet by eliminating most of the high impact carbs. If you just don't eat anything that is white you'll be most of the way to a healthy diet. Sugar and white flour are the obvious culprits. Potatoes, corn and bananas are white on the inside too even though some may have colored skins.  The authors rely on the more scientific "glycemic index" rather than simply the color of the food.  If it causes an insulin response it is too intense to be a regular part of your diet. Stone ground wheat and brown rice are better but meat, fish, dairy and green vegetables are best.

FYI : Milk and cauliflower are OK even though they appear to be white. Brown sugar is still sugar and bad. So is honey. Beets are bad even though they are not white. Alcohol is OK but the malt in beer is a problem (several sites I've read dispute this idea claiming that fermentation converts the malt to alcohol). Baked goods, even low sugar items are still high flour and not allowed. Most packaged foods sold as low fat, low calorie and even low sugar rely on carbs and should be avoided.

The idea behind the Sugar Busters lifestyle that seems so odd is that fat is OK. You just need to watch those carbohydrates very carefully. Simple carbs are deadly and have not been a regular part of the human diet except in the past couple hundred years.

You can actually feel the impact when you eat to avoid simple carbs. You don't crash an hour or two after a meal but the food doesn't seem to have that "kick." It doesn't satisfy your hunger as fast, but you still get comfortably full. If you skip a meal and let yourself get really hungry you really notice. You want quick satisfaction and know a cookie or some chips and a soda would satisfy the craving. Don't do it. Sugar Busters does not work if you cheat, even a little.

In New Orleans you are giving up a lot to go low carb. So many recipes start with a roux based on flour. Fried foods have that corn meal or flour crust. PoBoys depend on the bread. Even a seafood boil can be a problem. The main course is fine, but the corn, potatoes and beer are the problem.