SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Features 3 Hot Experts Next Week: Science Journalist Gary Taubes, Melissa Lafsky and David Ludwig

Next week, you'll have a chance to get valuable advice, tips and insights from three very different, hot experts on the Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show.

You'll have a chance to get pearls of wisdom from:

• Renowned science journalist Gary Taubes (Thurs., Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. EST)
• Revered children's obesity expert David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. (Tues., Sept. 25 at 4 p.m.)
• Acclaimed blogger Melissa Lafsky (Wed., Sept. 26 at 4 p.m.)

Now, here's some info about each of the exciting shows.

Title of Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show: "The Low-Fat, High-Carb Diet Hoax: Why Conventional Dieting Wisdom Is Wrong"

Guest: Award-winning science journalist Gary Taubes, author of the groundbreaking new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories.

Date: Thurs., Sept. 27 at 4 pm EST. (If you miss the show, remember, you can listen afterwards, at your convenience.)

Gary -- who spent 7 years researching and writing his book -- will debunk that long-cherished, misleading myth that a low-fat, high-carb diet is the way to go. (You may remember his much-acclaimed New York Times article, "What If It's All a Big Fat Lie?", which caused quite a stir in the health community.)

Gary will tell us that:

• Those fast-acting, "culprit carbs" (as I call them) lead to a host of chronic diseases, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. (You may remember Gary's much-acclaimed New York Times article about the subject in 2005.)
• Exercise doesn't lead to weight loss.
• Obesity isn't caused by overeating and sedentary behavior!
• Salt does not cause high blood pressure.
• Fiber isn't a necessary part of a healthy diet.
• Saturated fat and cholesterol don't cause heart disease. (Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D., contributing author to SUGAR SHOCK!, also makes that point in our book.)
• Obesity is caused by our hormonal responses to the carbs in our diet.

Topic of Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show: "Finding Yourself Through Blogging: Unlocking Self-Expression Online"

Date: Wed., Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. EST (Remember, you can listen afterwards if this time is not convenient for you.)

If you're a veteran blogger or a wanna-be blogger, you've surely heard of Melissa Lafsky, a non-practicing attorney, who began her sharp-witted Opinionistas blog in March of 2005 about her experiences while working at a hot-shot law firm.

But her beautifully written, astute observations and behind-the-scenes revelations -- which, incidentally, began as an exercise recommended by her therapist -- quickly snagged the blogosphere's attention.

In particular, on April 15, 2005, the super-hip blog, Gawker, linked to her blog's telling post in which she revealed that she'd witnessed "...enough bad lawyer behavior to fill a full season of reality TV. Partners hurling f-bombs, staplers and Blackberrys at cringing subordinates, sleep-deprived mid-level associates screaming at paralegals to recopy massive boxes of documents in thirty minutes or else file for unemployment, male partners engaging in the full gamut of "inappropriate workplace touching" of young female employees, all before the morning coffee break."

Readers then flooded her site by the thousands, and by December of 2005, Opinionistas.com had been profiled in the New York Times, which her blog as "funny, angry, cynical, acidulously and avidly read."

Anyhow, Melissa -- who I had the pleasure of meeting recently -- will offer insights into her ascent to popularity, and she'll offer tips to help you, too. (More details coming soon.)

And now for info about the third show of the week.

Topic of Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show: "How to Help Your Kids Slim Down"

Guest: Renowned children's obesity expert David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., author, Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World. 

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 4 pm EST (Podcast available afterwards.)

As you may recall, Dr. Ludwig, who is director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) Program, a renowned pediatric weight management program for children at Children’s Hospital Boston, recently offered 6 tips to readers of the SUGAR SHOCK! Blog.

On the upcoming Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show, you'll get to receive pointers directly from Dr. Ludwig, in which he'll teach you how to help trim down your kids and how to get them to cut back on those tempting desserts.

Dr. Ludwig also is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a revered researcher, who has come up with some eye-opening conclusions about the role of culprit carbs to weight gain. During our interview, Dr. Ludwig will, for instance, help teach you:

• How to explain to your youngsters the differences between “real food” like veggies and fruits and “fake food” like sugary soda and processed chips, crackers, cakes, etc.  
• How to help your kids make friends with crunchy, savory vegetables.
• How to wean your kids off soda – the nutrient-lacking sugary drink that can pack on those pounds.
• How to get your kids to eat healthy meals and snacks even if they now swear they’ll never have them.
• How to introduce your family to tasty, fiber-filled whole grains such as brown rice, steel cut oats, millet and quinoa.
• How to transform food conflict into food cooperation.
• What do when your children bug you for candies, cookies, chips, pizza or fast food.
• How your children can have fun becoming food label-reading experts so they can make better food choices.
• What to tell your children to combat peer pressure to eat junk food.
• How to help your kids enjoy getting active.
• How to inspire and help your kids to eat healthy, even if they’re on the run. 

Stay tuned for more updates. Hope you can join us either live or after the fact.

Roomba Robot Sucks Up Your Dirt: Should We Dance Around Behind the Clever Contraption to Get Exercise?

Whoever thought that a blog entry about a snazzy, high-tech, vacuuming robot with an eagerness and voracious hunger to suck up your dirt could be such a hoot?

Gotta hand it to Farhad Manjoo of the Machinist, a technology writer at Salon.com, for making me crack up and even laugh out loud because of his Roomba writings?

Darn, Farhad's informative, entertaining item is making me greatly tempted to buy this glorious, dirt-digging Roomba from iRobot. Sure sounds like the new incarnation of this revolutionary household gadget could help me out, especially because it pays attention to the clock and clearly won't keep me waiting for hours like my annoying, perpetually late cleaning lady, who I no longer use.

But I have a couple of dilemmas that I need to resolve before I fork over my $350 for a Roomba 560.

First off, I'm now resolved and determined to get much more fit because these days (1) Yeah, I'm not sitting on my butt so much anymore working on my book SUGAR SHOCK! and (2) I got greatly inspired Tuesday night by "Celebrity Fit Club's" Harvey Walden, IV to not make any excuses for why I can't work out. (Mark your calendars, because I'm interviewing Harvey on my Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show on October 16.)

Well, Harvey advised those of us attending his Learning Annex talk -- given on the pub date for his new book No Excuses! Fitness Workout -- that one clever, viable way to make sure you get ample exercise is to carefully clean your house.

Harvey told us to even get on our hands and knees, scrub and vacuum with voraciousness. (He even regaled us with a story about how he gleefully "tricked" his grandmother into exercising by luring her into moving furniture around!)

Anyhow, here's the catch: If my dutiful Roomba is happily roaming about my two-bedroom apartment ferreting out grime while I'm getting a bigger butt just sitting in front of my computer (working as usual), then how am I to get more lean, mean and trim while Roomba gets the exercise that I should be getting myself?

On the other hand, wouldn't it be a hoot and more svelte-creating for my much-in-need-of-exercise body if I just took a study break, put on some music, cranked up the volume, boogied a bit and ran around my place following Roomba?

Hey, Roomba and I could even do a dirt-sucking dance together. (Honest, I'm being very decent and clean here!) Ah, working alone at home does make one resort to desperate measures to amuse oneself. LOL!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Repititive Strain Injury? Learn How to Help Yourself on Sept. 26

If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury or other joint pain, you'll definitely want to catch a teleseminar that I'm hosting on Sept. 26 at 3 p.m. EST with my friend Julie Donnelly, L.M.T.

In this class via phone, Julie, author of How To Be Pain-less... A Beginner's Guide to the Self-Treatment of Muscle Spasms, will actually teach you to work on yourself using her groundbreaking Julstro™ technique of deep muscle therapy.

Yes, over the phone, Julie will reveal to you how to help relieve your own pain. Pretty cool, eh?

Interestingly, much like my interest in the problems of sugar overload began with my own horrendous ailments, culminating in 1998, Julie's concerns about repetitive strain injury intensified when, as a hard-working massage therapist in 1996, she herself developed a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome, which threatened to end her career.

Attachments: Rise Up With Me & Stop Sending Them Unless Absolutely Necessary

Unless absolutely necessary, I absolutely detest, despise and loathe attachments when I'm trying to get things done quickly (which is all the time).

You see, I'm the absolute opposite of a geek. I'm a techno dummy. I really do appreciate my new high-powered HP computer, because I can rapidly write down my thoughts (90 wpm, I think).

But that's where our love affair ends. I don't know how to use my computer as well as I should, especially when it comes to new programs (especially the updated ones on my spanking new computer).

Anyhow, my repugnance for these annoying, tough-to-download, computer-crashing attachments just seemed to have the opposite effect -- more of them arrive.

Take, for instance, the responses to my recent ad for a sharp, savvy, sweet research assistant. Now, I specifically posted my ad on a website designed to draw graduates of the master's degree program at the Columbia University School of Journalism. Just my kind of worker.

Angelina Jolie: Is She Eating the Low-Carb Way?

Is actress Angelina Jolie following a low carb food plan, as The Skinny Website wonders?

As a trained journalist -- i.e., I'm not a gossip columnist -- I'm hesitant to indulge in such idle diet speculation, but what the heck, let's go for it for a change.

Of course, lately, there's been chitchat all about Angelina Jolie's ultra-slim body. She reportedly denied being anorexic, insisted that she doesn’t have to worry about her weight and claimed that can eat anything she wants. (Lots of women, I suspect, would groan in jealousy upon hearing that!)

Anyhow, Angelina Jolie even allegedly admitted that she eats plenty of foods, especially "fried eggs, bacon and sausage."

The Skinny Website took that admission to suggest that a low-carb way of eating appeals to the actress.

Of course, low carbing certainly means you're eating a whole lot more than just fried eggs, bacon and sausage. My low-carb blogger buddy Jimmy Moore would vigorously nod his head in agreement. (Like whatever happened to noshing on veggies and not going hogwild on fatty foods?)

For that matter, several years ago, to prepare for the 2001 movie "Tomb Raider" (and while still married to Billy  Bob Thornton), Angelina Jolie reportedly followed a sugar-free diet, too.

South L.A. May Put a Halt to New Fast-Food Outlets

Note from Connie: I'll be darned. South Los Angeles may put a two-year moratorium to stop the proliferation of fast-food joints in South L.A. Karen James gives you a quick update.

 Los Angeles may enact what national food and health experts believe would be the first health-zoning law in the country if the city council votes to put a two-year moratorium on new fast-food outlets in South Los Angeles.

Harvey Walden IV: We Got Inspired On the Pub Date for His New "No Excuses! Fitness Workout" -- He's Coming to SUGAR SHOCK! Radio to Motivate You, Too

The acclaimed fitness instructor Sgt. Harvey E. Walden, IV is one amiable, energetic, inspirational speaker.

Of course, I didn't t expect anything less from the popular, impassioned  trainer on the hit TV show, Celebrity Fit Club on VH1 (You can watch the show here if you're unfamiliar with it.)

You see, tonight, thanks to the Learning Annex in New York, I had the rare privilege and honor to listen live in the flesh to the former U.S Marines drill instructor expound on the value of a healthy, fit lifestyle.

It was quite exhilarating to be in an intimate group (of around 40 or 50 of us) and then listen to Harvey urge us to get off our butts, take control of our exercise schedule and quit making so many silly excuses about why we can't work out!

For instance, he asked us (I'm paraphrasing): "Why would you want to shorten your life and not stick around longer on this wonderful earth just because you don't take time to stay fit?"

Anyhow, the timing of his talk was certainly well orchestrated. The good-hearted, well-intentioned work-out guru just happened to be motivating us on the very first stop of a multi-city tour to promote his fresh-off-the-press book, Harvey Walden's No Excuses! Fitness Workout.

Low-Carb Mood Swings Are a Myth, Study Claims

Note from Connie: People often like to badmouth the Atkins diet for making you spacey and cranky. Well, a new study, which I asked my capable SUGAR SHOCK! Blog writer/researcher Karen James to report about, completely debunks that theory. Interesting stuff!

Despite jokes that Atkins-style, low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) dieters suffer from mood swings and reduced cognitive function, adherents to such diets experience the same psychological and cognitive effects as those on traditional high-carb, low-fat (HCLF) diets, according to a new Australian study we read about in the Insight Journal Online Magazine.

Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio -- Liz Lipski Interview Online Already, Thanks to BlogTalkRadio.com

Already, within minutes of concluding my interview with acclaimed nutritionist Liz Lipski, Ph.D., C.N.S. on my Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show, the podcast of the interview is already up.

This fancy techological stuff is thanks to the innovative, user-friendly BlogTalkRadio.com, which I'll write more about shortly. This platform really is quite amazing.

Listen to my interview with Liz Lipsi now.

Liz will enlighten you to the fact that wheat and dairy are the two biggest allergins.

Next come soy, corn, citrus and nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplant). (They can cause particularly problems for people with joint issues.

Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio -- Liz Lipski, PhD., C.C.N.

My guest on today's Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show is the internationally recognized nutritionist Liz Lipski, Ph.C., C.C.N.

Liz is author of the fabulous book Digestive Wellness, which is actually the most frequently stolen book from doctors' waiting rooms.

Today, Liz and I will chat about "Food Sensitivities: The Hidden Culprit." This will be a chance for you to find out if everyday foods that you're eating are making you sick.

Incidentally, nearly two years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Liz speak at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which I attended.

Since then, I've become a fan of her books and programs, which include a wonderful Access to Health Experts. (If you join, tell Liz I sent you.)

Remember, if you miss the show, you can always listen afterwards at your own time frame.