SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

Tax Foods With High Fructose Corn Syrup & More, New York Times Suggests

My day is made! In today's New York Times, op-ed columist Nicholas D. Kristof made some bold, worthwhile suggestions to battle our "War on Sloth," as he puts it.

Kristof begins his piece, "Take a Hike," with a powerful introduction in which he laments the fact that, as one major study found, "the "vegetable" American babies and toddlers eat most is the french fry.

He then recommends banning soda, potato chips and other junk food snacks from our schools and discouraging them in the workplace, too.

Kristof writes: "It's unforgivable that our schools help to send children on the road to diabetes," he writes. "Obesity kills far more Americans than heroin does."

Strong words, but Kristof is right on target, in my opinion. That we let food companies invade our schools and hook our kids on sugary soft drinks and nutrition-deprived snacks is nothing short of unconscionable.

Perhaps Kristof's most provocative suggestion is a junk food tax, especially one on high fructose corn syrup, a near-ubiquitous sweetener that he rightly calls "a major culprit in the fattening of America." (I've pointed this out a number of times previously, such as here and here.)

Such junk food taxes already are being imposed in 19 states, New York Times opt-ed columnist Kristof points out.

A nickel-a-can on soft drinks, he notes, would yield a hefty $7 billion in revenues. (Just think of all the wonderful anti-obesity measures that income could fund!)

Kristof offers other great ideas, too, including selling cigarettes only in pharmacies and raising cigarette taxes; promoting jogging and biking; encouraging exercise breaks; distributing fruits and veggies to certain low-income people; expanding P.E; and designing better stairways.

I absolutely adore his wildly creative-- though implausible -- ideas of offering subsidies for running shoes, which he claims "make more sense than subsidies for corn" (he's right, too).

And he offers another outrageeous suggestion: To develop TVs powered by Exercycles. (Darn, that's a tantalizing idea! Are you listening, manufacturers of TVs and exercise machines? I love it! You only get to watch TV if you walk, jog or bicycle a few miles!)

Whether or not any of Kristof's ideas come to fruition, he makes the important point that we desperately need to come up with imaginative solutions to our growing obesity problem.

You simply must read Kristof's provocative, insightful op-ed column now.

Deep-fried Snickers bars? Disgusting! Other "Worst Foods"

Gee, I've been missing all the fun! Guess I was too busy organizing tele-seminars, coaching self-described sugar addicts and going to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to catch these two intriguing articles last month.

First came Sue Gilbert's informative article, "The Ten Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat," which came from iVillage and appeared on MSN.com.

For those of you in the dark about what foods to avoid, check out her story for a quick lesson on some of the major additives or food products to avoid, including hydrogenated fats, Olestra and nitrates.

The writer also comes down on raw oysters (yeah, she says they "can carry deadly bacteria that can cause severe illness or death"), alcohol, saturated animal fats, soda, home-canned foods, high-fat snacks and chips and liquid meals.

The article did contain some good selections although that's tricky to tell people to "consume alcohol wisely and safely."

But whatever was this writer thinking? Gilbert completely and totally omitted sugary foods -- ones containing lots of fat or not. Whatever happened to candies, cookies, cakes and ice cream?

Next came a very clever un-scientifical list of no-nos from Slashfood's Nicole Weston, who offered a much more fun taboo list.

She blasted deep-fried Snickers or Mars bars (whoah! more later); shelf-table "creamers"; pasteurized, processed cheese food; instant ramen noodles; movie theater popcorn; super-sized soft drinks and a couple of fat-and-calorie-laden, fast-food offerings from Burger King and McDonald's.

But, this Slashfood entry contained some confusing and potentially misleading information. On the one hand, Weston described ramen noodles as "very high in both sodium and saturated fat," but then stated as a "plus" that "there is little, if any sugar in these, though you’ll be reaching for something sweet to get the salt out of your mouth."

Kudos, Slash Food, for putting ramen on the list, but you've overlooked something important. Guess I need to do some explaining here. While sugar might not be added per se, ramen is a highly refined carb, which is digested quickly into your bloodstream, thereby operating as what I call a "much-like-sugar food." Not only that, but in all likelihood all the fiber, minerals, nutrients, etc. have been processed right out. So, while you may not find the sweetener on the ingredient list, this quickie carb food really works in our bodies in a manner similar to sugar.

Despite the minor oversight, I loved Slashfood's list, especially the deep-fried Snicker's bars. How incredibly disgusting, as you can see in this candy addict's blog.

To get grossed out and educated, check out both "The Ten Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat" on MSN and Slashfood Ate (8): Worst foods you can eat.

By the way, as one person remarked on SlashFood, whatever happened to Twinkies?

As this person wrote, "why weren't Twinkies listed? I left one in the yard for 1 month, and it didn't even dry out. And nothing ate it. (including me, I don't touch the stuff anymore)."

And I'd like to know why these empty-calorie, nutrient-robbed items never made the Slashfood list:

• Cotton candy
• Hard candies
• Red licorice (my former favorite)
• Rich ice cream
• French toast (using white bread), drowned in butter and powdered sugar, and cinnamon toast (piled with sugar, butter and cinnamon) -- (my favorite ways to "sin" as a child)
• Ice cream floats that combine soda and fatty, rich ice cream

I'm getting a little nauseous! How the heck did I used to eat all this stuff? No wonder I developed hypoglycemia!

Oxymoron: "Healthy" Junk Foods

I welcome scrutiny of cookies, cereals and chips from major food companies, but, seriously, how can these products be deemed anything but unadulterated junk food?

They sure don't have the nutrient value of wholesome foods that grow on trees.

But check out this entertaining story from endocrinologist Renu Mansukhani, M.D., which has the oxymoronic title, "The New `Healthy' Junk Foods."

Bonnie Liebman of the food industry watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest has the right idea.

She's quoted in the story as saying: “Chips are chips, and they shouldn’t take the place of fresh fruits and vegetables” as healthy snacks – even if they happen to carry a green “Smart Spot.”

Big Soda in Europe Ponders Less Marketing to Kids

Soft drink companies in Europe are thinking about curbing their soda-pushing to children 12 and under, Reuters and BBC Health Online report.

The companies unveiled proposals to the European Union's health commission to:

• End ads in all media targeted to kids 12 and under
• Ban vending machines in elementary schools, unless parents are foolish enough to request them
• Offer healthier drinks in secondary and “appropriate” container sizes
• Remove corporate logos from school vending machines

Talk about wishful thinking.

PepsiCo Europe executive Stephen Kehoe, described these plans as a "significant move by the industry,” when talking to the BBC and other reporters.

"This is the first time ever that the major beverage producers in Europe come together to jointly define their commitments related to responsible sales and marketing practices, especially to children and schools.”

What do these soda guys want, a prize?

They’re finally planning to stop pushing sugary, health-damaging drinks on young kids, and they congratulate themselves for doing it? It's sort of like patting yourself on the back for not stealing from your boss.

Besides, Big Soda isn't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.

Rather it seems they're being pressured. Indeed, Markos Kyprianou, EU's commissioner of health and consumer protection, gave soda companies a nudge by warning that he might introduce legislation to force the beverage makers to change their marketing practices if they didn't do something, according to Reuters. What’s more, Big Soda seems to have no qualms about marketing soda to children over 12, as if they don’t also suffer the ill effects of soda consumption.

Lastly, why won't Big Soda take these same steps in the U.S.?

American children are suffering even higher rates of obesity and diabetes, but they don’t deserve the same kinds of protection from the onslaught of junk food advertising that European kids will get if these ideas are enacted? 

Ridiculous.

- Jennifer Moore

Diet Controls, Not Reverses Diabetes

People from the Pritikin Longevity Center moved quickly to clarify a researcher's claim that following their diet and exercise plan for 3 weeks could reverse diabetes.

Guess the Pritikin folks got embarrassed by the press release from the American Physiological Society, in which Christian Roberts of UCLA, lead author of a recent study, is quoted as saying: “The study shows, contrary to common belief, that type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome can be reversed solely through lifestyle changes.”

In fact, I got quite excited about this study and posted about it here.

Well, the British charity, Diabetes UK, jumped to refute that claim, according to NutraIngredients.com/ Europe. No, no, the organization insisted, you can't reverse diabetes but you can control it.

So now the lead UCLA researcher is backing away from his earlier statement.

Roberts, who's also Research Director of the Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation and Pritikin Center, Dr. R. James Barnard, now is opting for the "control" word versus the "reverse" word.

He now says “These [new] data are similar to other studies on the Pritikin Program (Diabetes Care Vol. 17 pp. 1469) showing that diet and exercise can control Type 2 diabetes.”

This squabbling over the word "reverse" versus "control" sort of misses the point.

If you eat right, cut the culprit carbs and exercise, you can get your diabetes under control. End of the story. Now, if we can just get those millions of Americans to sit up and pay attention to this!

Last Night's Tele-Seminar Was Amazing

Again, when talking about a tele-seminar, I like to give someone else's take on it.

Here's Nancy's take on the call last night with nutritionist Jonny Bowden:

"Wow! Another great phone call! I was struck by what cool people Connie knows...everyone she has had on her program just sounds so authentic and nice, even with their success and noteriety in the nutrition world. Jonny was so knowledgeable and I found a lot of what he said helpful. For one, I realized I'm probably eating way too many calories, and maybe that's part of why my wt. loss is at a standstill for almost 2 wks. Just because I'm not eating sugar I expected the wt. to fly off. I guess that getting rid of the sugar was the first step, and most important. Now, tomorrow, I'll begin decreasing the portion sizes and the free snacks..."

Next week's tele-seminar takes place next Thursday night at 8:30 EST. To get in free, sign up at www.KickSugarSpecial.com.

In it, Jill Vollmuth -- an amazing, knowledgeable nutritionist -- and I will tell you how to read food labels, and we'll discuss which supplements have been known to curb sugar cravings.

Sign up now for free for my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program tele-seminars and other interesting information.

Tomorrow Night's Free Tele-Seminar With Low-Carb Expert

Low carb isn't dead, as the media like to tell you.

Sure, you can't find many foul-tasting, processed, low-carb products any more. But cutting back on culprit carbs is very much alive, and you're invited to learn how.

Join my free tele-seminar tomorrow night (Thursday) featuring weight-loss guru low carb expert Jonny Bowden, who will tell the total truth about low carb and how you can peel off the pounds this way.

This complimentary tele-seminar is sure to open your eyes to low-carb myths and mistakes.

During the program, entitled “Learn the Fiction & Facts About Losing Weight on a Low-Carb Diet,” I'll interview renowned nutritionist Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N., C.N.S., author, Living the Low Carb Life: Choosing the Diet that's Right for You from Atkins to Zone.

Jonny, the "Weight Loss Coach" for both eDiets.com and iVillage.com, will tell the truth about how kicking refined carbs and low-quality carbs can enhance your health and life.

By the way, I've had the pleasure of interviewing Jonny several times for my upcoming book, SUGAR SHOCK! and I even took a class from him, and he's one articulate nutritionist, who has a unique ability to make nutrition come alive and sound simple. You're really in for a rare treat to listen to him.

Mark your calendars now: Tomorrow night's eye-opening tele-seminar begins at 5:30 pm Pacific / 7:30 pm Central / 8:30 pm Eastern.

To attend, just sign up at www.KickSugarSpecial.com and the phone numbers and pass codes will be sent to you.

-          Half hour coaching with Connie (4 prizes)

-         The book Living the Low Carb Life (2 prizes)

Can’t Make It? Don’t fret. You’ll be able to purchase the MP3s within a day or two of the tele-seminar. (It's the next best thing to being there live! Details coming soon.)

--->>> So Here's A Quick Recap For Tomorrow Night <<<---

Get secrets to peeling off pounds and kicking sugar just by calling in tonight to a special free tele-seminar with Jonny Bowden. Just sign up here now to get in on this call and more.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Coming Up In the Next 2 Weeks

(Module 5) Thurs., Feb. 2, 2006: “Become a “Savvy Sugar Sleuth” by Decoding Food Labels.” Guest: NNutritionist Jill Vollmuth, B.S., C.N.C.

(Module 6) Thurs., Feb. 9, 2006: “Are Artificial Sweeteners Such as Splenda A Smart Way to Wean Off Sugar?” Interview with Janet Hull, Ph.D., nutritionist toxicologist and author of Splenda: Is It Safe or Not? and Sweet Poison

Click here to sign up for the free tele-seminars.

10 Diet-Destroying Habits to Avoid

If you're trying to shed some weight -- and have encountered obstacles in the past -- you've got to read this fascinating article, "10 Habits That Mess Up a Diet," that's running on eDiets.com.

In it, John McGran, eDiets editor-in-chief, interviews renowned nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., author of the intriguing book, 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman's Diet (McGraw-Hill).

If you want to peel off the pounds, I daresay you'll benefit from Somer's advice and her book. In fact, I bet her "Terrible Ten" list, as listed on eDiets.com, rings a bell to many of us.

Ever made these mistakes that Somer spotlights and eDiets.com recounts?

• Mindless Eating
• Putting Others' Needs Ahead of Our Own
• Not Being Honest
• Skip the Broccoli, Eat the Fries
• Setting Off Without a Plan
• Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
• I'm Moody -- Let's Eat!
• Give Me the Quick Fix, Now!
• Drinking Away Our Waistlines
• The All-or-Nothing Approach to Dieting

Kudos to Somer for putting down in black and white the many pitfalls that trap us!

I have to say my favorite part of the eDiets.com story was this section and quote about the dangers of mindless eating and noshing with consciousness:

"Responsible nibbling leaves little or no room for highly processed foods," Somer points out. "Most convenience foods -- from commercial cookies, candy, and breakfast bars to chips, flavored popcorn, and 'fat-free' desserts -- are low in fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals."

Well, first I recommend that you read the full eDiets.com article and then click here ASAP and get 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman's Diet so you don't ever make those disastrous dieting errors again. I'm getting it now myself.

Just 3 Weeks of Eating Better Could Reverse Diabetes or Metabolic Syndrome

After only 3 weeks of eating more healthy and exercising moderately, overweight and obese people suffering metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes showed significant health improvements -- even though they remained overweight, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Talk about totally fascinating news -- and yet the latest of many research studies, which show the importance of shunning refined, culprit carbs and the value of eating high-quality carbs (what I dub "qual carbs.")

"The study shows, contrary to common belief, that Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome can be reversed solely through lifestyle changes [and doesn't require substantial weight loss]," said lead researcher Christian Roberts of University of California, Los Angeles, who was quoted in Medical News Today.

What I find intriguing is that these participants followed a diet that was low fat (12-15% of calories), moderate in protein (15-20% of calories), and high in unrefined carbohydrates (65-70% of calories) and fiber (more than 40 grams).

Nancy's Awesome Interview Yesterday

Whenever I write about my previous tele-seminars, I like to let someone who attended it give her or his take on it. So, here is Louise's reaction to last night's call:

Hi All!

Hope everybody was able to take advantage of listening to venerable Nancy Appleton tell her story and share info on sugar studies. The point that impressed me is that she said sugar counteracts any good of taking supplements, or even eating a healthy meal.

She said, whatever mineral or vitamin supplements you take, the sugar depletes them in your body right away, so they never get absorbed. Therefore supplements don't compensate for the sweets. You're not protecting yourself by investing in supplements, so you can't say, `I took a multivitamin, so this sweet dessert won't bother me.'

She said a person can do alright going out to dinner, enjoying a meal with a meat or fish, a potato with butter, a salad, a vegetable. Then the person thinks, `I ate a good meal, now I can indulge in a piece of chocolate cake.' Dr. Appleton says, not so, the cake will negate any good nutrients from the balanced meal.

The above point struck me, because forever I eat healthy 80% of time and felt sugar can't harm me, but now I see this is false reasoning.

Congratulations to those who won the raffle of a free book [Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton] or coaching session with Connie! Whoo-hoo!

Louise :)"

Non-Profit Group Blasts Kentucky Derby for Cozying Up to Yum Brands

Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit group based in Portland, Oregon, blasted Churchill Downs for picking Yum Brands as the historic first-ever presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s a shame that the Run for the Roses has been degraded into a run for junk food," complained Ruskin.

"Next year, will the thoroughbreds run at Taco Bell Downs? Maybe they’ll require that each of the horses must be named after a menu item. Here comes Chalupa down the homestretch, with Gordita one length behind.

“It’s ironic that Churchill Downs picked Yum Brands as a sponsor," Ruskin continued. "When people eat a lot of what Yum advertises, they get so fat they can’t run anywhere.”

You gotta hand it to Ruskin. He has a rather clever, creative way of conveying the irony of this situation and his condemation of the junk food choice for the derby.

Commercial Alert's goal is "to keep the commercial culture within its proper sphere and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and democracy."

Nancy Appleton Tells You How to Lick Your Sugar Habit

Tonight is an awesome opportunity for you! (But don't fret if you're not free tonight, because you can still benefit from this call.. Read on.)

Sugar expert Nancy Appleton, Ph.D. is appearing in my tele-seminar, and I'm going to ask her all kinds of questions about sugar's dangers and how to get rid of this addiction.

If you haven't heard about Nancy, she is one of the first people to speak out about sugar's dangers.

She's also author of Lick the Sugar Habit, Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter and others.

Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton

Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter by Nancy, Ph.D. Appleton

I'm so indebted to Nancy, because her book was pivotal in helping me to lick my sugar habit.

If you want to join the call, you can sign up for free at www.KickSugarSpecial.com. (This offer is good for a limited time only.)

Hope to have you join us in this exciting call!

Parents and Advocates File Suit Against Viacom and Kellogg To Stop Junk Food Marketing

Parents and advocacy groups plan to file suit in a Massachusetts court against Viacom, which owns the children's TV giant Nickelodeon, and Kellogg, a major seller of sugary, fatty foods targeted to kids, to stop them from marketing junk food to young children, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), one of the plaintiffs.

The suit -- filed by CSPI, the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and two Massachusetts parents, Sherri Carlson of Wakefield and Andrew Leong of Brookline -- contend that Viacom and Kellogg are directly harming children's health since most of the foods they market to kids are high in sugar, saturated and trans fat, or salt and are almost devoid of nutrients.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Viacom and Kellogg from marketing junk foods to audiences where 15 percent or more of viewers are 8 or under, and to stop the companies from marketing junk foods through websites, toy giveaways, contests, and other promotional activities aimed at kids.

The Massachusetts law under which the suit if being filed charges companies $25 for every instance of deceptive or unfair advertising. Thus, according to the suit, each time a child saw a junk-food ad for a Kellogg product on Nickelodeon or sees such beloved Nickelodeon characters like Dora the Explorer or Sponge Bob on packaged foods, would be considered a violation.

Interestingly, this announcement comes six weeks after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report, which found that food advertising aimed at kids gets them to prefer—and request—foods high in calories and low in nutrients.

"Nickelodeon and Kellogg engage in business practices that literally sicken our children,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Their marketing tactics are designed to convince kids that everything they hear from their parents about food is wrong. It’s a multimedia brainwashing and re-education campaign—and a disease-promoting one at that. And parents are fed up.”

“As a parent, I do my best to get my kids to eat healthy foods,” said Sherri Carlson, a mother of three quoted in the CSPI press release. “But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads. Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals. This irresponsible marketing to young children undermines my efforts as a parent and must be stopped.”

CSPI came up with some startling figures:

"Of 168 ads for food that appeared on Nickelodeon during CSPI’s review, 88 percent were for foods of poor nutritional quality. The September and October issues of Nickelodeon magazine contained seven full-page food ads, all of which were for junk foods. Of 15 foods bearing Nickelodeon characters at a Washington, DC, supermarket, 60 percent were junk foods, including Fairly Odd Parents Orange & Creme Miniatures Kit Kat bars and SpongeBob SquarePants Wild Bubble Berry Pop-Tarts.

"CSPI also reviewed 27.5 hours of Saturday-morning programming to analyze Kellogg marketing. CSPI found 54 Kellogg ads, 98 percent of which were for nutritionally poor foods. (Another Kellogg ad, for Apple Jacks cereal, had previously come under fire from CSPI for disparaging apples, of all things.) Of 80 Kellogg foods found in the supermarket with kid-friendly on-package marketing, 84 percent were for nutritionally poor foods. CSPI found 21 kid-friendly web sites for Kellogg products, all of which highlighted junk foods. And of 92 child-oriented branded items Kellogg had for sale on the web, 82 percent had a logo or mascot from a junk-food brand."

Hurrah to CSPI, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the two parents for taking a stand against a major food and TV company for acting irresponsibly by aggressively marketing sugar-filled food to children.

Perhaps the threat of a lawsuit will induce Viacom and Kellogg to change their intensive marketing practices.

February Shape Magazine Suggests Shaking Sugar Habit & Quotes Me

A small article entitled "Shake the Sugar Habit," in the February issue of Shape magazine (on p. 135) includes a quote from me about the value of keeping a food diary to see how ingesting sweets affects you.

The short article by veteran journalist Lorie A. Parch spotlights a point I repeatedly emphasize -- that your consumption of sweeteners may be linked to your headaches, fatigue and mood swings, depending upon your sensitivity.

Parch (whose photo appears at left) quotes me: "After the [sugar] high, for many people, comes the low. And you can get really low."

The writer Parch continues, paraphrasing me: "If you find yourself feeling moody, note that in your diary. Seeing the effects of eating sweets will motivate you to steer clear of them more often."

By the way, the article features a tantalizing photo of three brownies (!), with the caption, "Feeling grumpy? Cut out sweets!"

I'm not too enamored of the idea of a photo of enticing desserts (to "torture" readers), but I applaud Shape magazine for tackling this important issue.

Incidentally, reporter Lorie A. Parch writes a bunch of interesting health stories so you may want to keep a lookout for future stories from her.

Interview with Chiropractor on L.A. Radio Station

Today, at noon EST, chiropractor Dr. William Thornton interviewed me on the Inglewood, California-based radio station, KTYM 1460 am, on the show, "Natural Health Clinic."

Dr. Bill quizzed me about my sugar addiction days and my former demeanor as a "Sugar Shrew" and about the minimal support I received upon kicking sweets and about the dangers of over-consuming these low-caliber foods.

We then discussed how you can drastically improve your health just by cutting out these culprit carbs. He also let me spread the word about how I'm helping people through my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program.

I then made an offer just to the show's listeners to get in free to this Thursday's tele-seminar with Nancy Appleton, author of Lick the Sugar Habit.

Questions? Just post here on the blog and I'll get back to you.

The radio show will be aired in other markets around the country as well.

As If the Sugar Wasn't Bad Enough! Now Lead is Poisoning Our Candy-Eating Latino Kids

Consuming lots of candies with sugar certainly offers enough dangers as it is.

But now Mexicans living in California are getting lead poisoning at alarming rates due to kids ingesting toxic treats from their native land -- tamarind candies, lollipops dipped in chile powder and, among Oaxacans, dried grasshoppers tossed with lime, garlic, chiles and salt.

So reports Carolyn Jones in the San Francisco Chronicle today in an eye-opening article, "Effort to remove lead form Mexican treats: Candies, chiles, dried grasshoppers can poison children."

Jones writes about this outbreak of lead poisoning that has alarmed doctors and public health officials, who've now launched an aggressive campaign to warn Latinos in the Bay Area and beyond to the problem.

Why the concern?

Well, kids chomping on these candies can get astronomical levels of lead, and this lead poisoning can can have horrifying consequences, as the San Francisco Chronicle points out. It can:

• Lower IQ
• Stunt growth
• Damage kidneys
• Cause seizures and even
• Kill its victims

"The scale of the epidemic is staggering," Jones reports.

"At least 75 percent of new cases of lead poisoning in California are among Latino children, according to state figures."

If you know anyone consuming these alleged treats, please spread the word about these dangers.

The catch is this, Jones points out: "Lead poisoning is hard to detect because its initial symptoms -- irritability, fatigue and weight loss -- often are attributed to other causes."

Read the full article here.

Low-Cal, Nutrient Foods Make Your Heart Younger, Study Shows

Well, we already know that we shouldn't pig out on bad foods, but now a new study shows that if we eat a nutritionally balanced low-calorie diet our hearts actually get younger, according to a new study from investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis!

Indeed, cutting out empty-calorie, low-quality processed, refined foods (such as fast foods, fries, desserts and soda) and instead eating nutrient-dense foods (such as veggies, olive oil, beans, whole grains, fish and fruit) on regular basis actually they could make your heart behave as if it were 15 years younger.

Talk about exciting information!

More specifically, the hearts of 25 members of the Calorie Restriction Society who limited their food intake were shown to have hearts that function like the hearts of much younger people, the scientists found.

The findings appear in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Ultrasound examinations showed that the hearts of people on caloric restriction appeared more elastic than those of age- and gender-matched control subjects," explains a press release

"Their hearts were able to relax between beats in a way similar to the hearts in younger people," explains a press release from Washington University in St. Louis.

"This is the first study to demonstrate that long-term calorie restriction with optimal nutrition has cardiac-specific effects that ameliorate age-associated declines in heart function," says principal investigator Luigi Fontana, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and an investigator at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy.

It's simply mind-boggling how much the subject about the dangers of sugars and refined carbs is accumulating. Likewise, you can hardly keep up with the new studies showing the benefits of eating those qual carbs (quality carbs).

Wanna make a diet change to improve your heart?

Join my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program. For a limited time only, the course is free.

In it, you'll get to hear all kinds of tele-seminars with top nutrition and medical experts. In fact, in the spring, I plan to bring on a top cardiologist, who will talk about the health benefits to your heart by curbing those culprit carbs.

Great Tele-Seminar Last Night With Ann Louise Gittleman

Last night's tele-seminar with Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman was amazing! Here are a couple remarks that attendees posted to my online KickSugar grouop:

"Hi group! That was fantastic!!! Oh my gosh, I feel so excited, and so special to be a part of this program that Connie has put together. Ann Louise Gittleman's interview was so informative. Connie is a real pro -- you cantell she's a journalist. The interview went so well, and I learned so much about my sugar addiction. I've read "Before the Change", and just purchased "The One Day Detox" and am reading that and will do the detox soon. This program is so good. It is day sugarfree and flour and wheat free, and I could not be doing it without your support (this Kicksugar group) and the fast-track program... Mombonana"

"I totally agree... Fantastic does describe the teleseminars, this program, AND Connie! Dulcy"

If you're wondering what the heck we're talking about, you can learn more at www.KickSugarSpecial.com. We'd love to have you join us!

Coming to America Can Mean Higher Rates of Diabetes

Yesterday's final installment in the New York Times' brilliant diabetes series covers how Asian immigrants and their children are increasingly vulnerable to the disease after coming to live in the United States.

This news is especially alarming because, according to journalist Marc Santora's piece, far-Eastern Asians develop type 2 diabetes at lower rates than people of other ethnic backgrounds. For example, a Japanese man who's 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs only 156 pounds is twice as likely as a white man that size to contract diabetes. Overall, people of Asian descent are 60% more likely than whites to become diabetic.

Another worrisome statistic: 14% of Asian children in New York are obese, which is more than double the rate of their parents. The Times article attributes this to several factors:  the bombardment of American kids with TV ads for sugary, fatty, unhealthy foods; the easy availability of fast food (Santoro writes that there are five fast food joints--McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Joe's Best Burger--in a 100-yard stretch of a street in Flushing, a neighborhood in Queens), and the appalling lack of exercise New York kids get, largely due to budget cuts that curtail physical education programs at schools.

While Santora's piece centers on Asian Americans, the issues it raises are relevant--and frightening--for anyone. For starters, it seems government has little or no sense of urgency about the diabetes epidemic. The Times also reports that only $1.9 million of New York's $100-million budget goes to diabetes prevention and control.

Further, Santora reveals that 31,000 U.S. schools are so desperate for cash to fund exercise programs that they let McDonald's underwrite them--a mindboggling irony, since many experts believe that fast food is a primary culprit for rising rates of obesity and diabetes. In exchange for McDonald's largesse, these schools must allow the fast-food giant to stamp the Golden Arches on every single piece of literature the children in these programs see. 

Again, this is an irony too painful to contemplate, linking physical fitness to junk food in the minds of impressionable kids.  Nationwide, Santora writes, daily particpation in gym classes has dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003, according to statistics he got from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Santora's article, like the the first three in the series, is simultaneously enlightening and infuriating, and I hope together they are a wake up call to all individuals and parents, not just medical professionals and government officials.

The good news is that people can be empowered to change their lives and reduce their risk of diabetes.  Maybe the sobering statistics and sad profiles the New York Times revealed this week will inspire more people to change their lives. 

Thanks again to Jennifer Moore, for writing this while I'm steeped in work relating to my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program. To get in free to the program for a limited time, just visit www.KickSugarSpecial.com.

Top Nutritionist Tells You How to Lose Weight & Kick Sugar in FREE Tele-Seminar Tonight (Thursday) -- Limited Spots Open

Tonight (Thursday) at 5:30 pm (Pacific) / 7:30 pm (Central) / 8:30 pm (Eastern), you get to take advantage of an incredibly exciting, one-of-a-kind opportunity. And all for FREE!

You will get cutting-edge information, advice, tips and insights from the well-known, internationally recognized nutritionist  Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S., who I will interview for Call # 2 of my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program.

This is an RARE, RARE treat... You will want to be there, on the phone, to hear this extraordinary tele-seminar with this visionary health pioneer, weight loss expert and award-winning author of 25 books.

I cannot stress enough what an awesome opportunity this is!

Even if you haven't signed up yet for my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program, you can get in on this call. (Just sign up at www.KickSugarSpecial.com now and the call details will be promptly e-mailed to you.)

For those of you wanting to lose weight, kick sugar, lick those sugar cravings and feel better, Dr. Gittleman will have all kinds of pearls of wisdom to dispense.

Just think about this remarkable offer: You get to participate in a tele-seminar with a renowned, respected nutritionist, who has written such acclaimed books as Get the Sugar Out, the Fat Flush Plan and her latest,The Fast Track ONE-DAY Detox Diet, which takes the age-old method of fasting and incorporates it into a moden-day detox diet.

Dr. Gittleman will give you awesome, practical pointers to help you lose weight (if you need to) and to detox your body -- of course, sugar is a part of that.

If you're truly serious about getting more healthy, losing weight or kicking sugar, then you will want to listen to this FREE call.

To get in on the exciting calll, just sign up for my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program at www.KickSugarSpecial.com. Your phone number and access code for tomorrow night's call will be e-mailed to you right away.

Join us! Tonight could change your life -- and health! -- for the better, of course!

Be forewarned: We already have more than 400 people registered, but the phone company only has 200 lines available. So you'll need to call in early, because those spots will disappear first-come, first-served. So act now to sign up now and call early tonight!

You can get Dr. Gittleman's latest book here now.