SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

Wanna Be Sugar-Free? "Look at Things As They Can Be"

Today's daily motivation from Max Steingart, I hope, will inspire those of you trying to kick sugar, lose weight, and become a great success in all that you undertake.

Your range of available choices right now has no limits.
The only limits you have are in your mind.
You've got it in you to succeed.
Just make up your mind and stick with it.

You weren't born with any limits on your powers
or any set limits to your capacity.
At any moment, you have more possibilities than you can act upon.

Imagine your possibilities and your vision expands.
Capture your dreams in your mind and your life becomes full.
Reach out and touch the limits of your being in your mind. Max Steingart

You can, because you think you can.

FYI, this kind of attitude is what enabled me to kick sugar and, for that matter, to research and write my incredibly labor-intensive book, SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley Books, Dec. 26, 2006).

Copyright © 2006 by Max Steingart
Reproduce freely but maintain © notice

Is Sugar a Gateway Subtance: Expert Says So

This article makes me wish I'd been in Minnesota this week to hear a lecture from Margaret Adamek, Ph.D., founder and director of the Sugar Project and Special Projects Director at the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

Sounds like a fascinating evening as Dr. Adamek spoke about, as the Crookston Daily Times explained, "dysfunctional foods - refined carbohydrates and sugars in particular - and their profound effects on people."

Dr. Adamek, who is a fan of Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. (a pioneer, who has done much good work to educate people about sugar sensitivity in the field of addictive nutrition), is another success story herself. Once plagued by some of the same symptoms that many of us have been battling, Maggi -- who I had the pleasure of interviewing for my book SUGAR SHOCK! -- changed her diet and now is a wonderful advocate to get the word out about the dangers of sugars and refined carb.

Hooked on Soft Drinks? Check Out My Article, "8 Tips to Lose Weight Easily: Just Cut Out Soda & Sugary Drinks"

Are you too often bewitched by sparkling, nutritionally empty, high-fructose-laden soft drinks? Do you guzzle them without dwelling on the potential long-term consequences? Are you yearning for a way to get this horrible habit under control?

Check out my article on "8 Tips to Lose Weight Easily: Just Cut Soda & Sugary Drinks: Research Shows Those Sweet Beverages Pack on Pounds," which was just published on WomenOf.com and Garden and Hearth.

Need more help to squash your soda habit? Join me in my upcoming four-part tele-coaching program, beginning Oct. 11, in which I'll present my 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown Diet™. Stay tuned for details.

Big Sugar Spending More Than $1.8 Million to Disqualify Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Davis

Check out this eye-opening piece entitled "Big Sugar Rules Florida," in the The Hotline: National Journal's Daily Briefing on Politics.

It gives you a bit of flavor about how the sugar industry's political committees could actually influence election outcomes and put into power officials favorable to policies that help them.

For instance, "Big Sugar," as The Hotline reports, is allegedly spending $1.8-plus million on "a subterranean campaign to disqualify Dem gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, who has a narrow lead going into his 9/5 primary against Rod Smith."

The Miami Herald also provides some context for these very un-sweet, behind-the-scenes political manuevering.

The Orlando Sentinel also talked about how Davis confronted Smith about his campaign's extensive ties to the sugar industry. Reporter Jason Garcia wrote:

"Long reviled by environmentalists for polluting the Everglades, sugar growers have contributed thousands of dollars to Smith's campaign, with one company in particular -- U.S. Sugar Corp. of Clewiston -- funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars more into groups supporting Smith."

All this political wheeling and dealing is very irksome. Can the sugar industry really wield this kind of power by its extensive lobbying? As I discovered while working on my book SUGAR SHOCK!, apparently so. It'll be interesting to see who wins this election, and if, in fact, Big Sugar's investment pays off for them.

Brazilian Lady With Diabetes Gives Birth to 14-Pound Girl

A Brazilian woman with diabetes delivered a 14-pound baby by Caesarean section, and she's so large that her feet each over her small crib, hospital officials reported Tuesday.

"Isabel Vitoria, who was born Sunday, measures nearly 23 1/4 inches, reported CNN, noting that "doctors said it was common for women with diabetes to give birth to large babies."

Perhaps the lesson here is that if you're pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, it's very important to keep your blood sugar under control.

Help For Kitchen Klutzes Like Me: How to Keep Your Fingers Intact While Cooking (Article)

I just couldn't help myself. Because of my recent fiasco in the kitchen, I just had to write something to help others avoid my painful experience. Here's an article that will be published on various websites.

Help For Kitchen Klutzes Like Me: How to Keep Your Fingers Intact While Cooking

By Connie Bennett

www.SugarShockBlog.com

I'm not a chef. Not even close. More to the point, I'm a bona fide Kitchen Klutz. Specifically, I need to be super vigilant if I'm near knives. A mere week ago, I learned this painful lesson. It was a Friday evening, and eager to sautee some scrumptious, organic sweet potatoes to get healthy "fries," I accidentally chopped right into my left thumb and nearly totally took off the tip. Ouch!

Suffice it to say that my ensuing evening was unpleasant and memorable: Bleeding profusely for half an hour; the bulging eyes of the two EMS guys when they saw the large, suspicious knife (I've retired the utensil forever); the ambulance ride to a nearby hospital; learning that I narrowly missed my bone; agonizing, made-me-scream injections to numb the pain enough so the ER doctor could sew back together my finger. You get the idea.

If, you, too, are prone to being a Kitchen Klutz, you don't have to befall my sharp, dangerous fate before you change your chopping ways and learn how not to cut your digits. Rather, let two of my favorite chefs guide you to cutlery safety.

First, I turned to Alexandra Jamieson, a certified holistic health counselor, who cooked a scrumptious meal for some girlfriends about three years ago. Incidentally, Alex—better known as "Healthy Chef Alex"—plays a pivotal role in the much-acclaimed documentary, "Super Size Me," written and directed by her husband Morgan Spurlock. You also may recognize Alex—author of The Great American Detox Diet: 8 Weeks to Weight Loss and Well Being—because she has appeared on "Oprah."

The amiable Alex admitted that she, too, used to hurt herself "all the time" in the kitchen. (That reassured me!) But attending the Natural Gourmet Cooking School in New York City made her realize the frame of mind you need to have while in the kitchen.

"I realized that if I slowed down and took more time to enjoy the process that I wouldn't cut and burn myself so much," Alex observes. Which is why her pointer # 1 is: "Take your time" while fixing your meal. She also advised:

• "Use sharp knives, not blunt ones. Since you use less pressure when you have a sharp knife, you're less likely to slip and cut yourself.
• "Make sure to keep plenty of cloth towels and paper towels around so that you can clean up spills as they happen. 
• "Have clean, dry hot mitts on hand so that you're not picking up hot pans with a wet towel. Otherwise, the water in the towel turns to steam and/or conducts heat, which can burn you." (Hmm. That's an easy change. I can do that.)

Next, I turned to "Natural Foods Chef" Andrea Beaman -- also, a certified holistic health counselor who attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition -- for more pointers on how to keep your fingers intact while wielding those sharp objects. Andrdea may look familiar to you, because she was a contestant on Bravo's "Top Chef" TV show. She also wrote the self- published The Whole Truth: How I Naturally Reclaimed My Health, and You Can Too! and The Whole Truth Eating and Recipe Guide.

If, you, too, are prone to being a Kitchen Klutz, you don't have to befall my sharp, dangerous fate before you change your chopping ways and learn how not to cut your digits. Rather, let two of my favorite chefs guide you to cutlery safety.f, you, too, are prone to being a Kitchen Klutz, you don't have to befall my sharp, dangerous fate before you change your chopping ways and learn how not to cut your digits. Rather, let two of my favorite chefs guide you to cutlery safety. 

Interestingly, Andrea's initial advice echoes Alex's. "First and foremost," she insists, "it's imperative that you are 'present' to being in the kitchen. Take a couple of deep breaths, and get centered. You are about to use sharp tools to cut, chop, slice, and dice. Get focused on the important task at hand (literally)." (Hmm. Did I zone out? Is that why I inadvertently attacked my thumb?) Andrea also suggests other techniques to prevent kitchen-knife disasters:

"Purchase a knife that feels comfortable in your hand. One that's not too big and not too small. It should fit in your hand as if it were an extension of your body. Go to a kitchen supply store to 'try on' a few knives. How is the weight?  Is it too heavy for your wrist?  Is it balanced?  Is the handle too large or too small? Go with one that feels comfortable.

Tips to Ward Off a Diet-Busting Binge

My friend Julia Havey, the "Master Motivator" over at eDiets.com, can help you if you're on the verge of a splurge. Check out her "10 Ways to Ward Off a Diet-Busting Binge" article.

Clearly millions need her (and my) help, because, as Julia mentioned in the lead to her piece, for an eDiets.com survey, "38 percent confessed to breaking their diets DAILY to consume them, while another 33 percent break their diets WEEKLY to indulge in them." Yikes! That's a lot of people dashing out for culprit carbs and fatty junk food!

I applaud Julia for some of her helpful tips. You should follow her advice to have breakfast every day, to drink ample water, and brush your teeth. And I especially like her pointer to "STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN" and to find a buddy on eDiets.com who's also in the midst of trying to ward off a binge.

Truth be told, though, I'm not sure if I agree with Julia's idea that you should begin writing a novel! (But that's the book-weary, exhausted Connie talking here. As I've discovered, it can be one very long process to pen a book -- at least a non-fiction one! I mean I began my research-intensive SUGAR SHOCK! in August 2001 -- five long years ago -- and it's not being published til December 26, 2006. Maybe I would have been better off writing a novel!)

While I'm a HUGE of Julia's -- she can be very motivational, and I even interviewed her in a well-received tele-seminar as part of my Fast-Track, Kick-Sugar Countdown Program -- I do NOT agree with most of her recommendations for "snacks that won't ruin your diet."

For a sugar addict or quickie-carb junkie, it's simply NOT a good idea for sugar-sensitive people to snack on animal crackers, low-fat crackers, Fat Free Fig Newtons, strawberries with Kool Whip, or sugar-free chewing gum. Frozen grapes and frozen banana are decent ideas, but it's best to eat them with some protein and/or at the same time to keep your blood sugar stable. As for air-popped popcorn, while it's not ideal, it could work as a snack, again if you have some protein and fat at the same time. (Also, I do not recommend any foods with artificial sweeteners such as she suggested, because so many dangers have been associated with these foods.)

Despite my disagreement with Julia's snack ideas, I heartily recommend this article to help you keep from caving into your cravings.

Columnist Wrongly Claims Sugar is Not the Dietary Villain! Oh, Please! My 5 Years of Research Indicate Otherwise

As I'm on deadline to read galleys for my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK!, which dishes the dirt on sugar's many, many dangers, I just had to smile when I came across this totally absurd, highly inaccurate column in an obscure publication (Megayacht and Superyacht Industry News) from a dietitian (Carol Bareuther), who claims -- or more like insists -- that sugar's not the "dietary villain" we've been led to believe it is.

Excuse me? Ms. Bareuther, how were you able to make this ridiculous conclusion?!!! I'm in shock! (And NOT "SUGAR SHOCK!")

Save the Date! My 4-Week Tele-Coachings Series Begins Oct. 11, 2006 To Present My 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown Diet(TM)

Save the Dates: Oct. 11, 18, 25, and Nov. 1, 2006

Break Free With The 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown Diet™

Many of you have been besieging me with requests for a guided program to kick your sugar habit and peel off those unwanted pounds, get better moods, improve your concentration, or derive other desired benefits.

Although a number of you raved about my winter and spring tele-seminars -- in which I interviewed a number of renowned experts who taught you all about sugar's dangers -- you expressed an even greater interest in a more hand-holding, step-by-step approach to taking control of your carb consumption.

So, stay tuned. I'll post details here soon about my 4-week tele-coaching program, which is designed to help you break free of your sugar addiction.

Remember: Save the dates: Oct. 11, 18, 25, and Nov. 1.

On those four Wednesdays, I'll teach you about The 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown Diet™ that I developed, with help from numerous experts.

Kick-Sugar Success Story: Spotlight on Jaime Jackson

Today marks the debut of a new feature, which I'm dubbing, "Kick-Sugar Success Story." The idea of this Q & A is to offer you some inspiring, motivating, possibly mind-boggling, real-life tales of people, who have achieved remarkable transformations in their lives just by kicking their habit.

To be interviewed for a Kick-Sugar Success Story, you need to have either completely cut out or heavily curtailed your sugar consumption and achieved wonderful results. Now, bear in mind that your transformation from stopping sugar could involve many different components. It might be the obvious, which is that you've lost weight. But I'm also particularly interested in telling your tale if you've found that properly maintaining your blood sugar and eliminating or reducing sugar gave you better moods, improved your concentration, or almost did away with your insulin resistance. Or perhaps confronting your quickie-carb consumption sent your severe PMS packing. Or maybe taking control of your sugar habit increased your sagging libido.

Now, I invite you to read this fascinating Q & A with the articulate, dynamic, personable, now-healthy, glowing Jaime Jackson, who I had the pleasure of meeting while we both attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Kick-Sugar Success Story: Jaime Jackson, New York, New York

Occupation: Attorney and Holistic Health Counselor, Website: www.TheNourishingBalance.com

Hobbies: Reading, playing with my dogs, outdoor activities

Age: 33; Weight Now: 124

Benefits From Kicking Sweets & Refined Carbs: Energy and overall wellness

Connie: What was your rock-bottom moment before you decided you needed to change your diet?

Jaime: When I had arthritis that no one could successfully diagnose and I became tired of taking drugs for an unexplained ailment. After doing my own research, I found a disorder called bacterial dysbiosis, which is a gastrointestinal disorder often caused by too much sugar in the diet. The sugar provides the perfect environment for the growth of bad bacteria in the intestines, which crowd out the good bacteria.  The result is a gastrointestinal system that no longer functions properly: it doesn't properly remove toxins, it doesn't properly digest food, and it doesn't properly utilize nutrients in the food one eats.

Connie: Just how bad were you feeling? What ailments did you have? Please be specific.

Jaime: I could never get enough sleep. I would get 12 hours of sleep and still be exhausted. My body just ached liked I'd been working out hard for days on end. I felt nauseated almost all the time and had serious acid reflux. And I developed arthritis, starting first in my pinky finger on my left hand. Within a month, I found it difficult to write and to walk, with arthritis affecting my hands, feet, hips, shoulders, and back.

Connie: Describe any pivotal moments in a doctor's office, an embarrassing event that made you decide to tackle your sugar habit, etc.

Jaime: My internist told me to cut out all foods that were "hard to digest." She suggested that I NOT eat whole grains or leafy green vegetables! I practically ran out of her office, and I've never been back. That was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, even though I didn't really know why it was ridiculous at the time.

Unlike my internist, my first rheumatologist did not see a connection between any of my symptoms and my diet. When I suggested that perhaps my arthritis was connected to my sugar consumption (which was a connection I was beginning to make), he merely rolled his eyes and told me the two "were not related." His solution: "Take this Vioxx twice a day."

My second rheumatologist was not much better. She did make a concerted effort to try to diagnose my arthritis, but when she could find no diagnosis other than "unspecified arthritis." She prescribed an even more serious arthritis drug: Enbrel, a drug that is given by injection. Enbrel is what my mother takes -- she has had crippling rheumatoid arthritis for the past 45 years.

Coca-Cola Co. Sued As Part of Effort to Force Soft Drink Makers to Eliminate Ingredients That Can Form Cancer-Causing Benzene

For those of you behind on the news, sugar isn't the only ingredient that makes soda dangerous these days. There's a new concern percolating bigtime, and it's called benzene. And this substance -- as you can learn here -- can be quite dangerous. In fact, benzene is linked to leukemia and other forms of cancer. 

In the latest round, Coca-Cola Co. was sued today as part of an effort to force soft drink makers to get rid of ingredients in their drinks that can form this cancer-causing benzene, the AP's prolific writer Libby Quaid reported.

Interestingly, the action against soft drink giant Coke comes as two smaller companies settled a lawsuit over benzene, which can form in soft drinks containing vitamin C (also called ascorbic acid), and either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. In fact, scientists heat or light exposure or other factors can actually trigger a reaction that forms benzene in beverages.

Phew! My Thumb is Recovering: Help Soon For Kitchen Klutzes Like Me!

Yeah! I survived the horrible pain after nearly lopping off the top of my thumb, racing to the hospital, and getting five stitches. And I've finally emerged from the cloud that seems to have hung over me since I began taking Pergoset! (Never again will I take that! It may have helped me get through the injury the first three days, but it gave me a whole new set of problems, from dizziness, to the worst brain fog and muddied thoughts, to headaches, to a feeling of general awfulness!)

Anyhow, my thumb, thank goodness, is recovering, and I'm on the computer again and back to blogging. Hurrah! How weird to be away almost totally from my keyboard for several days! So, while my thumb still hurts some, I've now switched to natural painkillers like Arnica Montana and White Willow Bark.

The M.D. at the hospital reexamined it, and it's looking good. I'm even dressing my own wound now. Thanks to those of you who wished me a speedy recovery.

Oh, you may find it amusing that I've decided to put my near thumb-loss catastrophe to put use. I'm now writing an article on "How Not to Injure Yourself in the Kitchen" to help other kitchen klutzes like me! LOL! Aleady, a couple of chefs shared their tips. Just waiting for a few more pearls of wisdom. I'll post the piece here soon.

By the way, you better believe I'm being super careful around knives now. And, yes, as my cousin asked me over the phone, I'm still very much into eating sweet potatoes -- I just have to ever-so-carefully cut them when I decide to make sweet potato fries.

You can read about my embarrassing thumb injury here and here.

Spotlight on Chef Ann Cooper, One of Nation's Leading Advocates for Healthy School Lunches in The Nation Magazine

Check out this interesting Q & A in The Nation about Chef Ann Cooper, the acclaimed "Renegade Lunch Lady" or advocate for healthy school lunches.

Chef Cooper -- who I had the pleasure of interviewing for my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! -- is making huge inroads now over in Berkeley, Calif., where she serves as director of nutrition services for the Berkeley, Calif. Unified School District and supervises food and gardening programs serving 10,000 kids. Previously, she transformed school food at the Ross School in East Hampton, New York.

The Nation contributor/writer/author Anna Lappé (author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen) asked Cooper some insightful questions, and the chef offered appropriately blunt replies about the nightmarish school-lunch situation facing most schools across the nation. She pronounces:

"The welfare and health of our children are being mortgaged by big business. We need to see school lunch as part of a health initiative, not just as a dumping ground for agribusiness. School food service is now administered by the US Department of Agriculture, which is basically a marketing arm for agribusiness. Really, school food should be housed in Health and Human Services or the Centers for Disease Control."

8 Tips to Lose Weight Easily: Just Cut Out Soda & Sugary Drinks: Research Shows Those Sweet Beverages Pack on Pounds

Here's a copy of my most recent article, which is currently being published on various websites, including SheKnows.com and FamiliesOnlineMagazine.com.

8 Tips to Lose Weight Easily: Just Cut Out Soda & Sugary Drinks: Research Shows Those Sweet Beverages Pack on Pounds

By Connie Bennett

www.SugarShockBlog.com

Soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks are on my mind lately. Not because I drink them myself, but because just cutting out the non-nutritive, sugar-filled, potentially harmful beverages is a highly effective way—if not the most easy way—to lose weight and improve your health.

That’s right. Just making that one simple diet change---removing chemically created soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks such as sports drinks and juice drinks—could enable you to peel off the pounds – possibly to the tune of 15 pounds in one year.

In fact, a recent scientific review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition -- and which I reported about on my www.SugarShockBlog.com -- pointed out that a mere 12 ounces of sugar-laced soda a day could pile on 15 pounds in a year.

Just do the math. The most popular soft drink sold nowadays is a 20-ounce bottle or can, which comes to 250 unnecessary calories and about 16.87 teaspoons of sugar. (Usually, you’ll be getting high fructose corn syrup, which some researchers now finger as a leading cause of obesity and other health woes.)

Bear in mind that I’m not even talking about those popular 42-ounce soft drinks promoted at some fast food restaurants and many convenience stores. If you order one of these gargantuan drinks, you’ll get about 410 calories and around 35.28 tsp. of sugar.

It’s also well known that if you drink soft drinks, you just don’t get full or satisfied the way you would from regular food so you may end up overeating and packing in more extra calories. (Incidentally, diet drinks aren’t any better. Some studies even suggest that the sweet taste in an artificially sweetened soft drink could trigger sugar cravings and lead to weight gain, too.)

If you’re a soda drinker, I urge you to tackle your habit right now, whether it’s to lose weight or improve your health. Here are 8 tips to curtail your soda guzzling when you hanker for this empty-calorie beverage:

1. Have a glass of sparkling water, with lemon, lime, or even a piece of orange tossed in for flavor.
2. Drink a glass of good old water instead. It’ll quench your thirst like a soft drink never can.
3. Steep a couple of bags of tasty herbal tea (from Yogi Tea, Celestial Seasonings or Good Earth) in hot water for a couple of minutes. Then add a bunch of ice cubes. This is much more flavorful and satisfying than a soda.
4. Make your own lemonade or orangeade. Just squeeze a lemon or two into a glass of water. You don’t even need to add a sweetener. Or take an orange and hand squeeze half of it into water. (Eat the other half.)
5. If you’re really adventurous and really want to get out from under your soda habit, drink a glass of green vegetable juice instead. (As you’ll notice, I’m not recommending fruit juice, but that can be quite high in sugar, too.)
6. Be daring and concoct your own blended goat’s milk yogurt beverage with cinnamon or nutmeg. Then, if you like, add a few strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries. (Don’t add too many berries, because even though you’re getting natural sugar from fruit, you don’t want to get too much.)
7. When you’re absolutely desperate and insist on having a soda, then share it with a friend so you get half the calories, half the sugar, and half the caffeine that you’d otherwise get.
8. If you’re just not ready to say no to soda just yet, then make yourself “earn” that empty-calorie, nutrient-lacking beverage. First take a walk for a half hour. Then jump rope for 5 minutes. Then play with a hoola hoop for another 5 minutes. Then drink a glass of water. Next, before downing that soda, chew on an apple, pear, or some strawberries, with a handful of almonds. Hey, by the time you’ve done all of this, you may find that you’re not in the mood anymore for that soft drink...

While initially it may seem a bit overwhelming to give up a long-standing habit of drinking soft drinks, sweetened teas, or sports drinks, rest assured that your life will be so much better just from saying no. Indeed, the benefits could be many just by following these simple steps. You may lose weight more readily, get more sustained energy, concentrate better, feel more even-keeled mood-wise, and even get a boost in your  libido. So go get ‘em! Kicking soda and other sweetened drinks is a great first step in the right direction. 

Former sugar addict Connie Bennett, M.S.J., C.H.H.C. is the author of SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley, Dec. 26, 2006). Connie—who now jokingly calls herself a “Sugar Shrew No More!”—also is an acclaimed kick-sugar coach, certified holistic health counselor, creator of The 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown Diet™ and experienced journalist, who has been widely published in such outlets as The New York Times, Los AngelesTimes, The ChicagoTribune, eDiets.com, and SheKnows.com. Visit Connie’s lively, provocative www.SugarShockBlog.com. Also, make sure to get your free report, “Sly Hidden Sugars,” at www.SugarShock.com. Feel free to publish this article, but make sure to first get permission.

PBS Will Include Ads on Its Websites

PBS announced today that this fall, commercial advertising will be included on its websites, including PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go!

This move captured the ire of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which insisted that the "last thing children need is more commercial media."

The CCFC -- which does some wonderful work aimed to counter the harmful effects of marketing to children -- contacted its followers to urge them to write to PBS to ask that its websites remain commercial-free. In fact, the organization invited fans to "Tell PBS: Don't Sell Out Children on the Web!"

The organization notes that parents look to PBS "to provide quality commercial-free media for their children," but it insists that increasingly, it's "getting difficult to distinguish PBS from for-profit companies whose primary mission is deliver kids to advertisers.

"PBS' children's programming already includes commercials. Beloved characters like Elmo and Clifford have been licensed to market thousands of products. And now children will be targets for commercial marketing whenever they visit PBS websites."

In imploring fans to write PBS, the children's advocacy group was zeroing in on one of society's most important problems. Excessive marketing to kids has been blamed as a prominent factor in the development of childhood obesity.

Incidentally, the organization is now gearing up for its 5th Annual "Consuming Kids" Summit to help "Reclaim Childhood from Corporate Marketers!"

Here's more info about this event, which takes place at Wheelock College, Boston from October 26-28.

A Few Extra Pounds Can Kill You, Study Says

Wow! If you think the reason to lose those few extra pounds is for your vanity, think again. That little bit of excess weight could flat out kill you.

I'm still trying to grapple with a very painful thumb so rather than comment more now, I'll just send you to this fascinating AP story, which reports about the fascinating new study from scientists at the National Cancer Institute, who looked at a huge sample size -- more than half a million people, ages 50 to 71 -- who ere participating in a research project by the National Institutes of Health and AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons.

Beyonce Admits Folly of Maple Syrup Diet

This piece is overdue. I was about to post this a few days ago before I inadvertantly sliced off the top of my thumb...

Beyonce Knowles publicly denounced the the maple-syrup based liquid diet that she followed to quickly lose lose 20 pounds for her role in the movie Dreamgirls.

"I would not recommend it if someone wasn't doing a movie, because there are other ways to lose weight," the singer, 24, told Kate Garraway of Britain's GMTV morning show when quizzed about rumors that she'd lost weight for the film on this sugar-filled regimen.

Well, that's nice that Beyonce saw the folly of her ways -- but unfortunately, now other people who want to lose weight are trying to learn more about the potentially dangerous sugar-filled diet, which reportedly involves drinking maple syrup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and water for up to 10 times a day.

Oh, horrors!

"I would not recommend it if someone wasn't doing a movie, because there are other ways to lose weight," Beyonce said, a story also picked up by People's Monique Jessen.

Oh, pleeeeaaaaasssseeee. I wouldn't evern recommend such a potentially health-havoc-creating regimen to anyone, whether you're going to do a movie or not!

The irony is that after Beyonce quickly lost the weight, she says she then put it back on "...so I am no smaller or bigger than I've always been. It was strictly for the movie."

Eeks! What can I say? I've already written about the folly of a maple syrup diet a almost exactly a year ago when actress Rachel McAdams ("Red Eye") cited maple syrup as a diet secret.

At the time, I tried without success to educate the actress about the dangers of such a diet and ran this item, when I interviewed experts: What's the story with maple syrup?

...Gotta go now back to the hospital to get the medical verdict on how my thumb is healing. Well, at least, while painful, it's not as painful as it was the last three days.

At the time, I tried without success to educate the actress about the dangers of such a diet and ran this item, when I interviewed experts: What's the story with maple syrup?

...Gotta go now back to the hospital to get the medical verdict on how my thumb is healing. Well, at least, while painful, it's not as painful as it was the last three days.

Introducing Kids To Sweet Potatoes & More

See this well-researched article in tomorrow's New York Times Magazine from prolific writer Lisa Belkin about what's being done at schools across the country to improve school lunches.

Hurrah to the New York Times for drawing attention to this important subject when 17 % of our nation's children are overweight, the obesity rate of adolescents has triped since 1980, and some 30 to 40 percent are expected to develop diabetes (according to the CDC) if the trend continues.

Unfortunately, I really can't write more about this right now, because my thumb is horribly throbbing and hurting.

Follow-Up: My Harrowing Night In The ER & Ambulance Journey

Off topic again...

Yeah! Finally. despite the intense pain from accidentally almost slicing off the tip of my thumb -- with the help of Pergoset -- I finally slept almost 12 hours!

Actually, by light of day, the incident was funny -- well, more like quite picturesque!

Me bleeding all over the place (in sink, on towel, etc.) for 1/2 hour; going in an ambulance to a hospital but paramedics bandaging me first; getting a painful tetanus shot and excrutiatingly painful anesthia shots (which made me scream!); waiting in "Urgent Care"; etc.

Good news, though -- which I'll tell you about by typing ever-so-slowly, with one hand:

• I cut my left hand (and I'm right-handed). Phew!
• Missed slicing through my bone (by about 1/16 of an inch)!
• I got an experienced M.D. with 9 years' of ER experience
• Friends, people have been very nice to me
• Still have one good, functioning hand (thank God)
• The 5 stitches put my thumb back together
• I'll be able to still sort of work (well, tomorrow, slowly, with one hand), when pain subsides

One dramatic moment: By the time I got home, I cleaned the large knife and put it away forever!

Too much pain now... Bummer. My best friends are out of town. Uh-oh. Feeling dopey. Nap time.

Ouch! In Pain! Accidentally Sliced My Thumb... Missed Much of "Food Fight"

Confession Time.

I am in horrible pain!

Yikes! I feel silly! Chopped off a chunk off the top of my left thumb! -- accidentally, of course.

Seems the knife went for my thumb instead of the sweet potato I was cheerfully cutting and planning to sautee.

Slowly typing with only one hand. Was in the hospital for nearly FIVE hours tonight!! And the doctor used FIVE stitches to put my thumb back together!

Can't sleep because of my throbbing thumb. Also, I'm kind of spaced out, because I lost a lot of blood, got kind of spooked by the incident, and, well, I succumbed -- I almost never take meds or even aspirin, but darn I'm ready for my next Pergoset.

Bummed because I missed much of that TV special, "Food Fight," although people in the hospital waiting room let me turn it on. Hope NBC will send me a copy. It looked interesting -- the parts I saw.

Think I'll go meditate. Need something. Hope you're doing better than I am!