SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

See Snazzy, Revised Book Cover for SUGAR SHOCK!

I'm pleased to show you the final cover design for my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! It now features the wonderful endorsement that bestselling author Dr. Mehmet Oz (YOU: The Owner's Manual) was kind enough to give.

As I've mentioned previously, after five years of researching, writing and editing my book, it will finally see the light of day in a few months! Yeah!

Tadum... Drum roll... After 5 long years, Berkley Books will release it Jan. 2007.

What do you think of the book cover design? The cover's pretty classy, isn't it? (I hope you agree! Wasn't the Berkley designer pretty creative? I thought she did a stupendous job.

Revised Cover for My Book SUGAR SHOCK!

I'm pleased to show you the final cover design for my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! It now features the wonderful endorsement from bestselling author Dr. Mehmet Oz.

As I've mentioned previously, after five years of researching, writing and editing my book, it will finally see the light of day in a few months! Yeah!

Tadum... After 5 long years, Berkley Books will release it Jan. 2007.

What do you think of the book cover design? The cover's pretty classy, isn't it? (I hope you agree! Wasn't the Berkley designer pretty creative? I thought she did a stupendous job.

New Research Links Type 2 Diabetes to Alzheimer's Disease

More new evidence is emerging that if you have type 2 diabetes and don't control it -- or if you have pre-diabetes -- that you can increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Indeed, new research findings linking the two diseases were presented Sunday by the Alzheimer’s Association at the 10th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (ICAD), an event in Madrid that drew 5,000 researchers from around the world, according to the organization..

New York Times reporter Denise Grady wrote about this alarming phenomenon, which I pieced together four to five years ago while researching and writing my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! (Jan. 2007, Berkley Books). (I even wrote a chapter about how too much sugar and refined carbs can mess with your memory and possibly contribute to Alzheimer's.)

See Grady's excellent, insightful, well-researched Times article, in which she explains:

"The connection raises an ominous prospect: that increases in diabetes, a major concern in the United States and worldwide, may worsen the rising toll from Alzheimer’s. The findings also add dementia to the cloud of threats that already hang over people with diabetes, including heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, blindness and amputations."

Reporter Grady makes sure to point out that "some of the studies also hint that measures to prevent or control diabetes may lower the dementia risk, and that certain diabetes drugs should be tested to find whether they can help Alzheimer’s patients, even those without diabetes. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s can provide only a modest improvement in symptoms and cannot stop the progression of the disease." (As you may have guessed, I'm a big fan of seeing if diet could help.)

It's simply mind-boggling to think of the consequences of people not taking better care of their diabetic or pre-diabetic condition. Although some select researchers were hip to the connection, now the rest of the world knows about this new scary link.

People out there -- especially those of you who are overweight or obese or diabetic -- please begin to take better care of yourself so you don't develop a whole bunch of other diseases, too, including Alzheimer's!

Begin by kicking or at least drastically cutting back on sugar and refined carbs to help get your blood sugar under better control. Make sure to exercise, too.

The other consquences of diabetes are bad enough. You don't want to develop memory problems, too, especially when just changing your diet and exercise could help so much!

Famous Film Producer Harvey Weinstein Endorsed My Book, SUGAR SHOCK!

How exciting!

Harvey Weinstein, one of the most important film producers now working today -- who is behind so many wonderful films ("Chicago," "The English Patient," etc.) -- has endorsed my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! (Jan. 2007, Berkley Books).

Just read the wonderful words Harvey had to say:

“This book is long overdue. Millions of people, including, me have been plagued by their relationship with Sugar, and Connie Bennett has done a superb job bringing the topic into the public's eye. I wholeheartedly recommend SUGAR SHOCK! to anyone interested in improving their health.” 

- Film producer Harvey Weinstein ("Chicago," "The English Patient," "Pulp Fiction," "Good Will Hunting," and many more)

I'm so incredibly thrilled!

If you're a movie fan, you've likely seen one of his films over the years, as the above list will attest. You can read more here about Harvey's impressive roster of films over the years.

As Harvey mentioned in his endorsement of my book, he -- like millions of Americans -- has found it hard to say no to sweets, but he's now closely watching his diet, as I recently pointed on this blog.

He also was diagnosed a few years ago with type 2 diabetes, which provided the impetus to begin to make many wonderful, new lifestyle changes. You can read more about his former sugar habit and more in tthis fascinating New York Magazine article.

FYI, right now, Harvey has many films in production and a number, which will be released this summer,

For instance, "Clerks II," from director Kevin Smith, opens this coming weekend (July 21, 2006). In it, Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran reprise their roles as Randal Graves and Dante Hicks.

The plot outline is described this way on the IMDB website: "A calamity at Dante and Randall's shops sends them looking for new horizons -- but they ultimately settle at Mooby's, a fictional Disney-McDonald's-style fast-food empire."

Image, copyright © 2006 MGM, The Weinstein Company

It should be fun to see how this movie pokes fun of the fast-food industry. (I saw one trailer in the movie theater which was incredibly funny -- and quite unhygienic!) You can watch trailers of "Clerks II" here.

Take Harvey Weinstein's Lead: If You're Newly Diabetic or Just a Sugar Addict, Take Action!

Getting type 2 diabetes might actually be cause for celebration.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but movie producer Harvey Weinstein -- whose known for such wonderful films as "Chicago," "Shall We Dance," "Life is Beautiful," and "The English Patient" -- apparently had exactly the attitude you need to face and deal with diabetes. 

You see, in 2004, Weinstein -- who used to overdose M&Ms quite regularly, along with skipping breakfast and maybe even lunch -- was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

But he toook the news in stride and launched upon some massive lifestyle changes.

Recently, Weinstein talked about the benefits of making drastic diet changes and exercising more. In fact, he told a reporter that "the weight has just fallen off" to the tune of 80-plus pounds since he started taking better care of himself and is keeping "a close eye" on what he eats.

Congrats, Harvey Weinstein. I hope that your story encourages and inspires others newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to take charge just as you have done.

By the way, I talk more about Harvey Weinstein and his sugar story in my upcoming book, SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley, Jan. 2007). (In fact, I'm actually posting this now, because I just had to fact check something in the chapter where I talk about him.)

More Endorsements Received For My Book SUGAR SHOCK!

Previously, I told you about some exciting endorsements I've received from the generous, influential Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, nutritionists Oz Garcia, Jonny Bowden, JJ Virgin, and Joshua Rosenthal for my upcoming book SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley, Jan. 2007).

Here are some more endorsements for SUGAR SHOCK! Bet you can easily guess that I'm thrilled! Thank you, all you wonderful people!

“For years, I've been warning my patients about the dangers of sugars and refined carbohydrates. At long last comes a book that tells the full story! SUGAR SHOCK! is hard to put down – it’s a fascinating, easy-to-read, very well-researched book. I’ll be recommending this to all of my patients.”   
- Fred Pescatore, M.D., author of The Hamptons Diet and The Hamptoms Diet Cookbook

“This book is like none other. SUGAR SHOCK! tells it like it is – in a pure, simple, non-sugar-coated way. Everyone, whether hypoglycemic or not, will benefit from these provocative stories, powerful information, and health-healing messages.”

– Roberta Ruggiero, founder and president of The Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, Inc., and author of The Do’s and Don’ts of Low Blood Sugar

“Wish this book had been around when I was a teen – my whole life would have been better. Connie's done enormous research, and millions of sugar addicts and hypoglycemics all around the world will benefit from this enlightening, entertaining, fun book. SUGAR SHOCK! is a great read!”

– Naura Hayden, author of # 1 New York Times bestsellers How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time…and have her beg for more! and Everything You’ve Always Wanted To Know About Energy…But Were Too Weak to Ask 

“The world has been waiting for a book such as SUGAR SHOCK!  It contains powerful, cutting-edge and very accurate information that can help millions. The next time you're about to sit down to a piece of cheesecake or a soda, SUGAR SHOCK! will certainly make you think twice.  I predict that SUGAR SHOCK! will be a huge bestseller because of the copious and understandable information provided. If you care about your own health, or those among your family and friends, read this book and buy it for them!  Disregard the majority of non-nutritionally trained doctors’ counsel, or so called experts, who tell you `all sugars are alike and metabolized alike’; it's simply NOT true.”

- Russ Bianchi, Managing Director of Adept Solutions, Inc., a global food and beverage product development firm

“SUGAR SHOCK! insightfully, humorously and convincingly presents a fresh look at what sugar can do to your body, mind and spirit. You will laugh, you may cry, but you will definitely learn surprising facts that you will long remember and that can help you and those you love avoid a lot of future problems. This is an eye-opening book that should be in every home and doctor's office.”

– Barbara Reed Stitt, Ph.D., President of Natural Ovens Bakery; author, Food & Behavior and Roadmap for Healthy Foods in Schools; and former Chief Probation Officer in Ohio, who helped probationers kick sugar and stay out of trouble with the courts

“SUGAR SHOCK! is a totally empowering look at a very disempowering problem. WOW of a topic! This book is more yummy than any sweet `treat.’ Everyone who struggles with sugar will see herself or himself in it. This truthful, courageous look at the dangers of sugar and refined carbs will help millions. The mind-bending info and unique approach will open everyone’s eyes to something that we all suspected was true – but didn't want to see.  Thank you for putting your stories and research out there.”   

– Devorah Cutler-Rubenstein, President, Script Brokers and Noble House Entertainment, and producer of “The Substitute,” starring Tom Berenger

“Oh, my goodness, you're describing my sister! I bet all the sugar she eats often makes her act quite unlike her sweet self. Maybe she simply needs to stay away from sweeteners! I've been telling her for years that sugar disrupts her emotional balance and makes her look unhealthy. SUGAR SHOCK! is amazing!”

- Facial Fitness and anti-aging expert Cynthia Rowland

From Fat to Fit: Gov. Mike Huckabee Featured in ADA's Diabetes Forecast Magazine

Hurrah to the formerly obese Gov. Mike Huckabee for taking time out from his busy schedule to be interviewed for the August issue of the American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Forecast magazine,

(Photo from eDiets.com)

I'm so incredibly impressed by Gov. Huckabee, who is now using his former weight problems and his diabetes diagnosis as a springboard to help others.

As mentioned previously, not only is the politician taking time to support diabetics nationwide, but he was gracious enough to look at my book SUGAR SHOCK! and write an endorsement for it. (Thank you so much, Gov. Huckabee!)

In fact, Gov. Huckabee -- who has made the leap "from fried food to early morning fitness" -- offers one heck of an inspirational story, as he recounts in his new book, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork.

A mere three years ago, he weighed in at more than 280 pounds. Today, at age 50, he weighs 110 pounds less has his diabetes under control.

If people listen, Gov. Huckabee's remarkable transformation could motivate them to do likewise.

After his doctor told him he had less than a decade to live unless he began to manage his diabetes, Gov. Huckabee kicked sugar, changed his diet, and began to follow a rigorous exercise program. He now walks, rides his bike and even does long-distance running. What's more, the governor has completed three marathons and is now training for his fourth in the fall.

See the interesting Newsweek story about Gov. Huckabee, too.

Naturally, the governor's home state is proud of the transformation of its model leading citizen. Arkansas News Bureau spread the news about Gov. Huckabee being featured in Diabetes Forecast.

Join me in thanking and applauding Gov. Huckabee for his important work, including speaking out on behalf of obese children.

Type 2 Diabetes Can Age You 15 Years Early

Alarming stuff. Lancet published a study, which revealed that a person with type 2 diabetes is likely to suffer stroke, heart attack, or cardiovascular disease 15 years earlier than a person who is diabetes-free.

You have to pay to access the study from scientists from the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada, but both Reuters and Medical News Today ran a story about this disastrous news.

"Diabetes confers the same risk of cardiovascular disease as aging 15 years," said Gillian Booth of the Institute of Clinical Evaluation Sciences in Toronto, told Reuters in an interview.

Special thanks to my research assistant Jennifer Moore.

It's Official. SUGAR SHOCK! To Be Published Soon - Foreword by Dr. Nicholas Perricone; Medical Consultant is Dr. Stephen Sinatra; Endorsements from Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Joshua Rosenthal, Dr. Jonny Bowden, Gov. Mike Huckabee & More

Tadum! It's finally official. I'm pleased to announce that my book SUGAR SHOCK! will be released by Berkley Books in January 2007.

I'm incredibly thrilled that a number of amazing people and pioneers have joined forces with me to get the word out about the dangers of over consuming sugar and refined carbs.

For instance, SUGAR SHOCK! will have a foreword by the renowned Nicholas Perricone, M.D., best-selling author of many books, including The Perricone Promise.

In addition, the acclaimed cardiologist and anti-aging specialist Stephen Sinatra, M.D. -- author of numerous books himself -- has come on board as medical consultant.

Actually, it was a literary match made in heaven, so to speak, to find Stephen, because not only is he personable and respected by his medical peers, but he's been warning his patients for 20 years about the dangers of sugar and refined carbs. So I was greatly honored that he decided to join forces with me to educate and motivate people.

In fact, when SUGAR SHOCK! comes out, Stephen and I will appear together to give interviews to the press. You'll see us, I hope, on all kinds of news shows.

Meanwhile, much to my delight, a number of recognized medical experts already have provided endorsements.

For instance, it's a thrill it is to have the much-acclaimed physicians and best-selling authors Christiane Northrup, M.D. (Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, etc.) and Mehmet Oz, M.D. (YOU: The Owner's Manual) say nice things about the book.

(I'm telling you -- first one, then the other -- made my day (week) when their comments came in!)

Meanwhile, the once-overweight Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas also endorsed my book. If you're not familiar with his story, it's quite an inpirational one. He peeled off pounds by kicking sugar, eating more healthily and exercising .

Now, he's playing an influential, leading role in getting people to realize that they need to change their sugary, sedentary ways. Not only does he now hellp bring about important new legislation that promotes a healthy liftestyle, but he's written a book advocating that you Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork.

I'm also so grateful to two other people, who said quite wonderful things about SUGAR SHOCK!

Firstly, I cannot rave enough about one of my favorite, go-to nutritionists Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. -- who has been graciously fielding my many, many requests from me over the years while I was working on this book.

It was truly exciting: Jonny kindly delivered a Wow! of an endorsement, too.

And I also found it especially gratifying that Joshua Rosenthal, founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition -- where I recently graduated as a holistic health counselor -- praised SUGAR SHOCK! as well.

Joshua is a man to watch. He is at the forefront a cutting-edge movement to educate people about healthy eating and healthy living. These students, in turn, will play an important role to educate the public. Anyhow, the fact that he said nice things about my book really touched me.

So, briefly, let me tell you how my book came about. The path from conception to publication has been a long one. SUGAR SHOCK! had its origins in spring 1998, when I kicked sugar on dotor's orders and was amazed to find that all 44 of my ailments vanished, including brain fog, crippling fatigue, mood swings, and heart palpitations.

Back then, while quitting sweets, I began researching the subject with a fervor. In fact, I became quite captivated with the subject. Anyhow, as I watched myself become transformed from a "Sugar Shrew" to "sugarfree sweetie" just by removing those offending "culprit carbs," I just had to know more. Hence, in August 2001, I began this book in earnest.

To be honest, researching and writing this book has been a challenging, at times frustrating, painstaking process. Of course, this is why I'm so incredibly jubilant that a little more than 5 years after I started it, my book will finally see the light of day!

And, to be frank, it's my greatest hope that this book will help millions.

Briefly, SUGAR SHOCK! is an expose about how over consuming sweets and processed carbs can lead to a whole host of problems, including heart disease, early aging, hypoglycemia, severe PMS, low libido, cancer, mood swings, depression, brain fog, and, of course, obesity. Ultimately, the book leaves you with hope for the future, and I provide all kinds of tried-and-true tips and tactics to help you break free of your sugar habit.

This book wouldn't have been possible were it not for the cooperation of hundreds of people around the world.

In all, I interviewed more than 300 medical experts, researchers, scientists, public health advocates, Wall Street analysts, attorneys and self-described "sugar addicts," who took time to explain and share their insights, findings, and conclusions. Then, I and a number of research assistants poured over one medical study after another to dig up the latest research that backed my theories. Ultimately, I was astounded at how much validation we uncovered. Of course, you'll hear more later, but I thought I'd whet your appetite a little first!

Stay tuned for announcements of more exciting endorsements from well-known people for SUGAR SHOCK!

Cut Portion Sizes,

A new report commissioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration makes a number of recommendations aimed at addressing the obesity epidemic. 

The 136-page report prepared by The Keystone Center, an education and public group based in Keystone, Colo., made some obvious suggestions such as cutting portion sizes; marketing more low-calorie foods and making them more available; and increasing fruits and vegetables.

I need to look at the report in more detail, but it does make one very interesting finding, of which you may already be aware: Americans consume one-third of their daily calorie intake outside the home.

That's why it's so important for restaurants to start doing things like shaving down those humongous portions, offering better-quality foods, adding fruits and veggies to meals, and even offering a calorie count to their meals.

The report also pointed out that as of 2000, the average American took in 300 more calories a day than was the case 15 years earlier, according to Agriculture Department statistics cited in the report.

This is a good first step for the FDA to fund such a report.

“We must take a serious look at the impact these foods are having on our waistlines,” said Penelope Slade Royall, director of the health promotion office at the Department of Health and Human Services.

When Americans dined out in 2005, guess what topped the last?

Hamburgers, french fries and pizza, according to The NPD Group, a market research firm.

A side salad was the # 4 choice for women, but # 5 choice for men, according to the eating pattern study.

Join me in taking a closer look at this study.

One Third of Americans -- Some 73 Million Americans -- Either Have Diabetes Or They're on the Way There

When will Americans wake up and change their sugary, sedentary ways?

In case you're wondering I'm so morose, just check out this latest news:

A whopping one-third of Americans -- or 73 million Americans -- either already have diabetes or they're on their way to getting it, according to a study published in the June issue of Diabetes Care, the peer-reviewed journal published by the American Diabetes Association.

While the news is quite alarming, I believe that the figure stated is low. I contend that more than 73 million Americans have dangerous blood sugar conditions such as diabetes, pre-diabetes and hypoglycemia, which I collectively refer to as "SUGAR SHOCK!"

...Anyhow, back to the Diabetes Care study.

Specifically, researchers from the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 19.3 million people (9.3 percent of adults aged 20 and older) had diabetes in 1999-2002.

They also found that the number of people diagnosed with the disease has risen -- from 5.1 percent between 1988-1994 to 6.5 percent of the population from 1999-2002. (The number of undiagnosed people remained the same -- at 2.8%.)

Meanwhile, in addition to the number of diabetics increasing, the researchers discovered that another 26 percent of American adults had "impaired fasting glucose (IFG)," a form of pre-diabetes that's generally considered a precursor to diabetes.

(If you have pre-diabetes, it means your glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetes. Unless you change your diet and lifestyle, pre-diabetes often leads to diabetes within a decade.)

What's incredibly alarming is that --  as we've been hearing repeatedly -- in  many cases, people can stop diabetes in its tracks.

Bear in mind that I'm referring to the 95 percent of people with the disease who have type 2 diabetes, which means they experience a loss of insulin production and sensitivity that's usually linked to overweight and obesity.

The study's lead author pointed out as much.

"Despite the fact that we now know how to prevent type 2 diabetes in many cases -- through lifestyole changes that include weight loss and increased physical activity -- we continue to see this disease climb," Dr. Catherine Cowie, director of the diabetes epidemiology program at NIDDK,said in prepared statement.

You have to credit the ADA's Robert Rizza, M.D. -- president of the Medicine & Science division -- for rightly admitting, "Obviously, we aren't doing enough to convince people they need to make changes in their lives."

What gives? Why aren't Americans getting the message?

As Dr. Rizza pointed out, "Diabetes is a chronic and often debilitating disease that can cut short your life. The fact that we know how to prevent type 2 diabetes and we're still seeing this kind of increase is devastating."

Please, folks, take care of yourselves now before it's too late!

Are you overweight? Hooked on sweets and refined carbs? Suffering other mysterious symptoms. Let us help you.

Join my free, online, KickSugar support group now.

Shame on the U.S. Government for Dismal Diabetes Funding: Call to Congress June 7 to 9

Diabetes advocacy groups are understandably horribly upset and furious that the U.S. government is slashing funds to help fight diabetes in this country just as the number of diabetics has been increasing.

In order to attract the public's, media's and legislators' attention to this worthwhile cause, the American Diabetes Association is hosting a "Call to Congress" event June 7 to 9, when hundreds of diabetes advocates will descend on Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress to ask the government to increase funding for diabetes research and prevention and to take a greater role in treatment and prevention.

In addition, a grassroots rally or "Call to Congress" day will be held at the US Capitol June 8, beginning at 10 am.

Members of Children with Diabetes will be there, and a huge Quilt for Life that features the handiwork and experiences of diabetic children will be on display at the National Mall.

The events in D.C. are intended to point out the fact that diabetes has risen by over 14 percent in the last two years so that 20.8 million Americans have diabetes (or 7 percent of the U.S. population). That's up from 18.2 million people in 2003. So this is certainly not the time to cut diabetes funding.

Despite the news that diabetes is on the rise, in its 2006 appropriations bill last year, Congress cut funding to the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) by $9 million. It also slashed money to the.CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation by $300,000 -- the first time this division's funding was cut. (Does this make sense to you? Sure amazes me!)

Now, the proposed budget for 2007 calls for another cut for the second year in a year -- an $11 million cut to the NIDDK.

Special thanks to the Diabetes Blog and the Diabetes Education and Research Center for helpful background information.

More & More Adolescents Getting Type 2 Diabetes, Researchers Say

Absolutely horrifying -- and completely unnecessary.

Some 39,000 adolescents may already have obesity-linked type 2 diabetes and and more than 2.5 million of our nation's young may have impaired fasting glucose levels, which could lead to diabetees and other health problems.

Thus report researchers in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Steps to prevent and treat the substantial number of adolescents who have impaired fasting gluocse from developing type 2 diabetes are required now," lead researcher Glen E. Duncan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of epidemiology of the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, told HealthDay News' Steven Reinberg.

"These steps are well known and well established preventative measures -- namely to increase daily physical activity levels and improve nutrition, and to avoid excess body weight."

Hurrah to Dr. Duncan for pointing out this important and scary phenomenon in JAMA's important publication.

What's frightening is while most adolescents with diabetes have type 1 diabetes, increasingly more and more kids are getting type 2 diabetes, a condition known until recently as adult-onset diabetes.

Now, Duncan told HealthDay, "roughly 29 percent of all adolescents with diabetes now have type 2 diabetes, and the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose -- a risk factor or precursor to developing type 2 diabetes -- is substantial in this population." .

To draw their conclusions, the researchers looked at data of 4,370 teens from a national survey of the U.S. population, the University of Washington's press release pointed out.

Nationwide, we need to pay particular attention to the nearly 2.7 million kids with impaired fasting glucose. This means that their blood glucose is higher than normal but not high enough to be deemed diabetes.

In an accompanying editorial, recognized endocrinologist Arlan L. Rosenbloom, M.D. wrote that adolescents who are overweight or at risk for being overweight -- "are going to require the kind of monitoring for cardiovascular risk factors that has been considered standard of care for older adults.

"It is to be hoped that the recognition of the public health time bomb reflected in the report by Dr. Duncan will lead to a pervasive societal effort to prevent obesity, a daunting task of such magnitude that enormous community and governemental commitments will be required," Dr. Rosenbloom wrote.

Around the world, we're seeing this alarming trend. For instance, within the last decade, the rate of type 2 diabetes jumped 16-fold among overweight adolescents in Australia -- with most of the kids diagnosed when they hit puberty.

* * *

Need I explain why I'm posting this here?

Much of our nation is in SUGAR SHOCK! from consuming all of those nutrient-deprived, fiber-lacking carbohydrates, or what I call "culprit carbs." And an abundance of research suggests that being overweight can ultimately trigger type 2 diabets.

Which is why, for starters, it's important to start feeding kids better in school, a move that's afoot in many school districts across the country. And we adults also need to pay an example to our nation's youths by exercising and eating right ourselves.

Need some help overcoming your habit of consuming sweets and refined carbs? Join my free, online KickSugar support group.

Blogger Calls for ADA Accountability to Diabetics

I am currently working round the clock (despite being very sick) on very tight book deadlines, but I thought I'd quickly draw attention this this very intriguing item that my blogging colleague Regine Wilshire posted on her Weight of the Evidence blog.

Regina -- who I respect for her dedication to getting the word out about the value of restricting carbs -- calls the American Diabetes Association to task in an entry, entitled "Diabetics Must Demand Accountability from the ADA."

She cites the new ADA's new Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes--2006, where the organization professes that "Glycemic control is fundamental to themanagement of diabetes" and then insists that "Low-carbohydrate diets (restricting total carbohydrate to <130 g/day) are not recommended in the management of diabetes. (E)."

Regina then rails:

"The “E” noted after the statement indicates this recommendation is based on “expert opinion.” A clever double-speak for “there is no research evidence available for us to present that proves low-carb diets are bad for those with diabetes.”

"For decades, the ADA has maintained that diabetics need carbohydrate in their diet – the very macronutrient that aggravates and complicates their condition – and recommends 45-65% of their total calories each day come from carbohydrate. What boggles my mind is how we as a nation continue to put up with such a counter-intuitive, illogical, obviously flawed recommendation!

"Let me be clear here – excessive carbohydrate is the very thing that destroys a T2 diabetic’s endocrine system and metabolism permanently – so there is no reversal and only progressive degeneration of the whole body from within if the diabetic continues to eat excessive carbohydrate each day."

Read Regina's piece either here on lowcarbnewsline.com or at her blog.

Obesity Confirmed As Leading to Diabetes

Of course we already knew this, but now it's official.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine confirmed that obesity is a major factor in the development of diabetes, FoodNavigator.com reports.

They warn that we need to take measures to prevent obesity to hold back the diabetes epidemic.

The CDC researchers looked at reasons behind a 41 percent increase in diabetes in American adults from 1997 to 2003. They wrote:

"Among US adults aged 18–79 years, the incidence of diagnosed diabetes increased 41% from 1997 to 2003. During this period of rapid change, incidence increased at a greater rate among obese people, resulting in obesity being more prevalent among incident cases at the end of the time period than at the beginning.

“Altogether, these data suggest that obesity is a large factor - although not the sole factor - in the increasing incidence of diagnosed diabetes."

Get some help kicking those culprit carbs to lose weight by joining my free, onlne KickSugar support group now.

Twice As Many Kids Now Take Type 2 Diabetes Meds

Sad, sad news.

Twice as many teens and children are taking medication to treat or prevent Type 2 diabetes than four years ago, according to a study released from Express Scripts Inc., one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported.

As we often hear, obesity is a major cause of diabetes, and this study coincides with government research, which found more U.S. kids are overweight.

Apparently, this study is "the first of its kind nationally to reveal the long-suspected national increase in prevalence of children with or at risk for diabetes," said Emily Cox, Express Scripts senior director of research and one of the study's lead authors.

The American Diabetes Association even ran this important article on their website.

Tragically, not so long ago, type 2 diabetes was called "adult-onset diabetes," because it most often would strike middle-aged adults and seniors. But now, as gets are gaining weight, more and more are becoming diabetic -- which means they will typically have their life span shortened by about a decade.

Please, if you have overweight or obese children, try to help them to lose weight so they won't face horrific health consequences such as a stroke, heart attack, blindness, or amputation.

How to Find a Nutrition-Minded Doctor

Often, I hear from people in my clients and members of my free, online KickSugar group, who are at a loss as to how to find a nutrition-minded doctor, who's savvy about the dangers of sugars and reefined carbs.

Today, coincidentally, I ran across information from two of my favorite, "with-it" M.Ds.

First off, I just got off a wonderful tele-seminar with the knowledgeable Dr. Mark Hyman, author of Ultra-Metabolism. (More about the call shortly.) On his website, he offers a specific section that answers the question, "Where can I find a doctor who thinks like you?" For instance, he offers links to a number of organizations which offer this information, including The Institute for Functional Medicine.

Then, Fred Pescatore, MD, MPH, CCN, another nutrition-minded physician, wrote an article that's currently posted on SheKnows.com on "Finding a low-carb friendly healthcare provider." He recommends, for instance, contacting The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM).

By the way, a couple of months ago, I, too, posted an article, "How to Find an Open-Minded, Sugar-Savvy Doctor & Nutritionist."

As you'll notice, the three of us certainly list some of the same resources.

Hope this helps those of you who need a new, in-the-know doctor.

Passive Smoking Increases Risk of Developing Diabetes, Study Suggests

A fascinating study -- conducted over a period of 15 years -- revealed that smokers are at higher risk of developing glucose intolerance, which is a precursor to diabetes, the BBC reported.

Even more disturbing: Even though they never smoked themselves, 17 percent of those studied who were around second-hand smoke, went on to develop diabetes.

The researchers, led by Professor Thomas Houston of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Alabama, concluded -- as they wrote in the British Medical Journal:

"We identified passive tobacco exposure in never smokers as a new risk factor for glucose intolerance.

"If confirmed by further research, these findings provide further documentation of the deleterious effects of tobacco smoking, and policy makers may use them as additional justification to reduce exposure to passive smoking."

Yikes! And most of us probably thought lung cancer was the main concern we should have about smoking.

Sure gives you more good reasons not to smoke and not to hang around smokers. Glad I quit years ago! (By the way, if you're hooked on cigarettes, as I once was, try SmokeEnders -- it worked wonders for me.)

Diabetes Care in the U.S. Needs Major Improvement, Report Says

Sometimes I let the not-so-sweet news bum me out. Today is one of those days. Just read about what I just learned.

Diabetes care has improved in the past decade in the U.S., but more advances are still needed, according to a new report by researchers from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HealthDay reports.

The findings appear today in The Annals of Internal Medicine.

Co-author Dr. K. M. Venkat Narayan, chief of the CDC's Diabetes Epidemiology & Statistics Branch in the Division of Diabetes Translation, notes that the past 10 years, people with diabetes have made substantial improvements at controlling their cholesterol. They've also made small improvements in maintaining blood sugar control and yearly eye and foot examinations.

"The discouraging news is that blood pressure control and blood sugar control have remained fairly constant," Dr. Narayan said. "It has not changed in the last five to seven years."

The report concludes: "Diabetes processes of care and intermediate outcomes have improved nationally in the past decade. But 2 in 5 persons with diabetes still have poor LDL cholesterol control, 1 in 3 persons still has poor blood pressure control, and 1 in 5 persons still has poor glycemic control." 

In addition, according to HealthDay, Narayan found that "two in five people with diabetes have poor control of their cholesterol, one in three have poor blood-pressure control, and one in five has poor control of blood-sugar levels."

Please, those of you out there with diabetes, take good care of yourselves. Make some lifestyle changes. Start exercising. And please quit those culprit carbs -- or at least, cut back on them. I'm happy to help. Just join my free, online KickSugar group, and we'll give you support to take those positive steps.

Concerned? Get Your Ticket Now to Dr. Weil's Fascinating NYC Nutrition Conference

For members of the public and forward-thinking medical professionals interested in learning about cutting-edge health and nutrition information, you'll want to check out the upcoming 3rd Annual Nutrition & Health Conference from April 30 to May 3, in New York City.

This year's conference is sure to be an exciting one, if last year's event is any indication. You see, for the 2005 conference, I hopped on a plane to Arizona for the amazing gathering, which is the brainchild of Dr. Andrew Weil and the University of Arizona's Program in Integrative Medicine. (It was exciting for me -- while there I interviewed Dr. Weil, Dr. Walter Willett and Dr. David Ludwig for my upcoming book, SUGAR SHOCK!)

Anyhow, this fabulous nutrition event -- which is co-sponsored by Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine -- features a fascinating line-up of panels and speakers, as you can see in the event's brochure.

If you're a physician, nurse, dietitian and other health care professional, you'll have a chance to attend talks about the following subjects during the May 1 to 3 program:

• "Omega 3 Fatty Acids: A Major Tool in Health and Disease"
• "Breast Cancer: Nutritional Strategies in Prevention and Treatment"
• "Nutrition for Children"
• "Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergies"
• "Vegetarian Nutrition in Practice: Big Blunders, Simple Solutions"
• "The Nutritional Management of Diabetes"
• "Evaluating Popular Diets"
• And much more...

If you're just a concerned citizen and want a program geared toward members of the public, you can go to the Public Forum, which includes talks from the following:

Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis to the sure-to-fill-up public event so if you want to go, I highly recommend that you register right now for the Public Forum.

By the way, if you go, look for me and make sure to introduce yourself. I'd love to meet some readers of this blog.

Dr. Andrew Weil Founder & Director, Program in Integrative Medicine

Dr. Marion Nestle, Professor, New York University, Department of Nutrition and Food Studies

Dan Barber, Organic Chef and Owner, Blue Hill Restaurant and Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Dr. Joan D. Gussow, Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

6 Million Americans Now Have Diabetes But Don't Know It -- "Sound the Alert"

Are you at risk for diabetes? Let the American Diabetes Association help you find out now today.

March 28 is the ADA's annual public--awareness "Alert Day," which is intended to reach undiagnosed diabetics and those at risk of getting diabetes.

Millions of people currently have diabetes but don't even know it.

Right now, nearly 21 million Americans (20.8) already have diabetes, with another 41 million Americans, who have pre-diabetes. (That means their blood gloucose (sugar) is higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered diabetes.)

The ADA has a couple of partners in its efforts to identify diabetics. Beginning today and continuing throughout the year, Rite Aid pharmacies nationwide will offer Diabetes Risk Tests to their customers beginning on March 28 and continuing throughout the year.

In addition, the Discovery Channel will air three 60-second spots about diabetes; the first is set to air today.

Take the Diabetes Risk Test now.

For more info, call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).

Wake Up, Americans! Diabetes, If Untreated, Is Deadly, But Cutting Culprit Carbs, Losing Weight & Exercising Can Help

A few days ago, a very smart consultant was giving me advice regarding my book SUGAR SHOCK!, and he mentioned that he'd recently been diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes.

What he next said surprised me. He said that up until recently, he wasn't aware of just how dangerous diabetes can be. In fact, he'd many people, and even doctors, being very nonchalant about it and therefore had no idea of its potentially deathly implications.

I'm baffled.

The American Diabetes Association does a magnificent job getting the word out about this disease (even if I don't agree with their lenient stance on sugar and artificial sweeteners).

These days, I thought everyone -- or at least most intelligent, aware adults -- knew that diabetes is deadly.

So, please, wake up Americans!

Diabetes can cut your life short -- there's no doubt about it.

If left unchecked, you could get a heart attack. You could go blind. One of your legs might require amputation. The list goes on and on.

There's a reason why I'm so insistent on telling the world about the importance of losing weight, exercising and the horrific dangers of overconsuming sweets, which could lead to diabetes and other blood sugar related conditions.

But, as I've reported here many times, if you make lifestyle changes, you could keep your diabetes under control. This means you need to exercise and eat right -- including cutting out (or at least curtailing) those culprit carbs and adding lots of veggies, some fruits and quality proteins and fats.

So, please get educated about diabetes, my fellow Americans -- especially those of you who are overweight or obese.

To help out those of you unaware of diabetes dangers, here's some vital information from the American Diabetes Association, dubbed "The Dangerous Toll of Diabetes."

"Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death, but people with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.

"...There are an estimated 20.8 million people in the United States, or 7.0% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 6.2 million people are not aware that they have the disease."

More and more, as our kids and adults take in more sugary beverages and quickie-carb crap, type 2 diabetes is becoming commonplace, too, which, I find, incredibly scary.

Eat Spuds & You May Have a Higher Diabetes Risk

Ah, pity the poor spuds. They get such flack for being high glycemic. Now they're getting blamed -- from scientists, no less -- for increasing your risk of diabetes, Reuters tells us.

I shouldn't be taking this so lightly, because this is a serious study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Indeed, the research from Harvard scientists sought to explore whether the high-glycemic potatoes increase insulin resistance and the risk of type 2 diabetes. 

The researchers concluded: "Our findings suggest a modest positive association between the consumption of potatoes and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. This association was more pronounced when potatoes were substituted for whole grains."

Guess we better skip the spuds more often than not. (Darn, they're so good, too.) And french fries -- well, sad to say, but you're opening a whole can of fatty woes by making it a habit to eat them.

So let's hear it for fresh veggies instead of potatoes.

ADA Urges Congress to Up Federal Funding for Diabetes Research & Prevention

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) this week called on Congress to increase federal funding for diabetes research and prevention, pass stem cell legislation and protect diabetes health coverage -- changes that could help reverse the increase in diabetes prevalence and reduce the nationwide burden of diabetes and its complications on the healthcare system.

The ADA -- the U.S.'s leading voluntary health organization that supports diabetes research, information and advocacy -- also pointed out something of which I daresay many Americans are unaware.

Despite the growing diabetes epidemic, last year, Congress passed a budget to cut federal funding for diabetes research and prevention for the first time.

Wait, there's more.

The Bush Administration's proposed budget, recently announced, would further cut funding for diabetes research and prevention at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Seriously, why would Congress choose to cut back on funding at a time when diabetes is soaring out of control?

What is more important than the health of our nation's children and adults?

FYI, in its announcement, the ADA rattled off the new figure of which many are unaware (and which I wrote about recently). Recently, the number of Americans with diabetes has surged considerably. Now nearly 21 million Americans have the disease; back in 2003, 18.2 million people had it.

Even more scary:

• The cost of diabetes in the U.S. in 2002 was at least $132 billion.

• One of every 3 Americans born in 2000 and one of every two minorities, will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

Let me repeat and rephrase this: Given those horrifying figures and the growing diabetes epidemic, would someone please explain to me -- as the ADA rightly pointed out -- why last year Congress chose to cut federal funding for diabetes research and prevention for the first time?

Mothers-to-Be Getting More Gestational Diabetes

See this important New York Times article about how more and more women who are developing what's called "gestational diabetes" -- in other words, they become diabetic while they are pregnant.

This disorder appears to be growing fast, journalist N.R. Kleinfeld reports, and in New York, it's risen by nearly 50 percent in about 10 years.

What does this signal?

Well, as Kleinfeld notes, there's a "broader recognition that in the lives of many pregnant women, the arrival of the condition is significant and its impact can be grave..."

Indeed, he explains, "not only does [gesttational diabetes] identify those women at particularly high risk to develop permanent diabetes, but it may contribute to their babies' eventually getting diabetes as well."

Again, as I've remarked repeatedly, it's vital to make significant lifestyle changes, especially before pregnancncy. That, of course, means exercising regularly, getting weight within normal ranges, trimming the culprit carbs, and eating more healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, ample decent protein and healthy fats.

Are Insulins on the Market Safe?

If you'e an insulin-dependent diabetic or know someone who is, you'll want to read this fascinating article from the February issue of Diabetes Health Magazine.

The investigative piece by reporter Daniel Trecroci examines how the six million-plus Americans who take insulin are in a quandary as leading insulin manufacturers have taken effective, less-expensive insulin medications off the market and instead began selling newer, more-pricey meds.

He also raises questions about the safety of the remaining insulin options. For example, Trecroci asks if Lantus is really all that safe and if it has long-term cancer potential.

After briefly telling the stories of two people left confused when the insulin they bought was taken off the market, reporter Trecroci raises the important issue:

...people like Hirst and Frazer [the two consumers he quoted] are beginning to think that Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi-Aventis are no longer looking out for the best interests of insulin-using diabetics trying to keep in optimal control of their blood glucose. Instead, they and others feel that insulin manufacturers are mostly looking out for the bottom line."

Ah yes, when it comes to foods and meds, the bottom line always rears its ugly head and sure seems to play a much more important role than that of the health and welfare of our nation's citizens.

Read this important story now.

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!

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).

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.

Money Keeps Diabetics from Getting Optimal Care, New York Times Says

Anyone whose read this blog regularly knows how serious diabetes and its complications can be.  Left unchecked, diabetes can lead to heart disease, kidney failure, loss of limbs, and premature death. So you'd think the medical establishment's number one priority in diabetes care would be providing patients the information, counseling, and supplies they need to keep this dread disease under tight control.  But, after you read the excellent feature on diabetes in today's New York Times, the third of four such articles, you'll learn you might very well be wrong.

Writing under the headline, "In the Treatment of Diabetes, Success Just Doesn't Pay," reporter Ian Urbina catalogues the ways that money apparently comes before good patient care for New York City's type 2 diabetics. Urbina notes that four major New York hospitals opened diabetes care centers in 1999. 

These centers were staffed with nutritionists, diabetes educators, podiatrists, opthamalogists, and endocrinologists, whose role is to provide coordinated, intesnsive education, advice and treatment to patients.  Unfortunately, all but one of these centers shut down, Urbina reports, because they didn't make enough money. 

What does make money in diabetes care? Amputations, for one thing, for which insurers will pay more than $30,000, according to Urbina's revealing piece. Oh goodness!

By contrast, the Times article states, insurers will often refuse to cover $150 visits to podiatrists, specialists whose intervention could help patients avoid amputations in the first place. In other words, health doesn't pay, sickness does. (Or to put it bluntly, and perhaps crudely, insurance companies aren't into saving legs; they'd rather pay to chop them off.)

This is just one of several discouraging examples of how money trumps patient well-being that Urbina reveals in his outstanding article.  I urge you to read it as well as the first two installments in the series, which you'll find here and here.

Much thanks to my editorial assistant Jennifer Moore, for keeping me caught up with important news on this blog.

Another Must-Read Article about Diabetes in the New York Times

Today, the New York Times published journalist N.R. Kleinfeld's second powerful article in its four-part series on the terrible epidemic of diabetes.

This piece focuses on East Harlem, a New York City neighborhood that's been devastated by diabetes. The article is chock-full of sad, cautionary tales about the perils of a high-sugar diet that anyone, anywhere would do well to heed.

According to Kleinfeld's story, East Harlem residents die of diabetes twice as much as people in the city as a whole. There are more diabetes-related hospitalizations of East Harlem residents than in any other section of New York.  It has the city's largest percentage of obese people. Amputations due to diabetes are more frequent there than in any other New York neigborhood.

Medical professionals think several factors are responsible for the prevalence of diabetes in East Harlem, according to the Times article. Ninety % of its residents are black and Hispanic, and some experts believe those groups have a genetic predisposition to the disease. It also has a high rate of poverty, and too many East Harlem residents lack access to good medical care and healthful food choices. 

For example, the Times piece cites a Mt. Sinai hospital study, which found that stores on the Upper East Side, an affluent neighborhood immediately to the south of East Harlem, are more than three times as likely to stock fresh fruit and veggies, low or fat-free milk, high-fiber bread, and diet soda than stores in East Harlem. Too many people struggle to afford their diabetes drugs, and so skip them or take only partial doses. Poor eating habits also play a huge role, at least with most of the people profiled in the piece. 

Just how poorly some of the people interviewed ate--and sadly, continue to eat--after being diagnosed with diabetes, is astounding. A 57-year-old diabetic named Juan Concepcion told Kleinfeld:

"I'm trying to give up beer. I would drink at 7 at night until 3 in the morning, watched boxing and baseball, drinking beer. I drank 15 or 20 beers in a night."

Concepcion also reveals that his father was diabetic, and continued to "take sugar" and drink beer after his diagnosis. Eventually his father lost both legs to the disease, and died of it.

Another diabetic, Elsie Matos, told the reporter:

"Listen, if I want to eat a piece of cake, I'm going to eat it. No doctor can tell me what to eat. I'm going to eat it, because I'm hungry. We got too much to worry about. We got to worry about tomorrow. We got to worry about the rent. We got to worry about our jobs. I'm not going to worry about a piece of cake."

Important Diabetes Article in New York Times

Today, The New York Times ran a must-read article about the horrifying epidemic of diabetes. Actually, this piece just breaks your heart because of writer N. R. Kleinfield's ability to convey the impact of this devasting disease.

Here are a few snippets from the article:

"An estimated 800,000 adult New Yorkers - more than one in every eight - now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as a bona fide epidemic. Diabetes is the only major disease in the city that is growing, both in the number of new cases and the number of people it kills. And it is growing quickly, even as other scourges like heart disease and cancers are stable or in decline.

"Already, diabetes has swept through families, entire neighborhoods in the Bronx and broad slices of Brooklyn, where it is such a fact of life that people describe it casually, almost comfortably, as "getting the sugar" or having "the sweet blood."

"...Either we fall apart or we stop this," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"Yet he and other public health officials acknowledge that their ability to slow the disease is limited. Type 2 can often be postponed and possibly prevented by eating less and exercising more. But getting millions of people to change their behavior, he said, will require some kind of national crusade."

One of the article's most tragic statements is the that "among Americans who know they have the disease, about two-thirds are not doing enough to treat it."

That is what continues to agonize me.

But, in large part, people -- especially kids -- either don't know what exactly how to eat or they're simply so swamped by advertising messages to eat nutrition-lacking sugary, quickie-carb crap that it's hard for them to make a good dietary choice.

And now we come to one of the most insightful comments of the Times article:

"I will go out on a limb," said Dr. Frieden, the health commissioner, "and say, 20 years from now people will look back and say: 'What were they thinking? They're in the middle of an epidemic and kids are watching 20,000 hours of commercials for junk food.' "

Let's face it, folks: Our lives seem to be up for grabs. It's the bottom line that drives major corporations, not our health. How sad.

Study Shows Exercise Can Stave Off Diabetes Longer

A new study shows that people who are physically active spend more years of their lives free of diabetes than those who are sedentary, according to a new research study, Reuters reported.

The team of researchers from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, reached their intriguing conclusions using data from the famed Framingham Heart Study, which followed more than 5,200 residents of Framingham, Massaschusetts for 46 years. 

The research team found that at the age of 50, the moderately active could expect to live an additional 2.3 years diabetes-free, while highly active people could live 4 years longer without diabetes.  These findings are published in the January edition of the medical journal Diabetes Care.

If anyone needs more incentive to stick with their New Year's resolution to exercise, this study provides it!

Special thanks to my research assistant Jennifer Moore for this item.

New York To Keep Tabs On Diabetics

In a move that's been greeted with a combination of reactions ranging from enthusiasm to excitement to trepiditation, New York City became the first American city to adopt a health code regulation to keep track of of residents who have diabetes in much the same way it does with patients infected with HIV or tuberculosis.

The drastic move is intended to save lives, news reports announced. In fact, diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in the city, with 1,891 New Yorkers killed by the disease in 2003 (the most recent figures available.).

In fact, the Big Apple -- which could probably best be called Big Meddling Parent -- will occasionally use this database to prod diabetics to take better care of themselves.

As you can tell, I'm not too keen about this move.

What happened to the role of personal responsibility? After all, it's up to each of us to take care of ourselves. Why should the New York City government waste taxpayer dollars to go after diabetics, who just don't give a darn about what happens to them?

Is it right to nudge a diabetic, "Exercise!" or "Lose weight!" when he or she might be more intent on ignoring the doctor's recommendations and facing whatever consequences may ensue?

In fact, are such urgings from the New York City Department of Health even going to matter? Isn't it up to the doctor to drive home the urgency of taking action?

While I'm strongly in favor of educating, nudging and encouraging diabetics, pre-diabetics and people at risk to take drastic lifestyle measures -- such as lose weight, kick sugar, exercise and monitor blood glucose levels -- the idea of keeping records on them gives me the jitters, to say the least.

This strikes me as way too much control on the part of our government. Furthermore, why keep personal information on people stricken with a disease that's not contagious nor caused by an environmental toxin?

New York’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, told the AP that the potential to save thousands of lives outweighs the medical privacy issue.

“We will ensure that the utmost care will be taken to keep people’s privacy and information protected,” Frieden said.

In fact, reportedly, people will even be allowed to opt out of the program.

Can you imagine the nightmarish task to keep the right people in the program and the wrong people out and what would happen if government makes a mistake and distributes this personal info against the person's wishes?

I'm just not convinced. Instead I think it makes much more sense for New York to embark upon a massive education campaign and spend the money that would be used for the program to explain to New York diabetics that if they aggressively monitor their condition, they're far less likely to develop such fatal or debilitating symptoms as blindness, kidney failure and heart problems.

Why not partner with the American Diabetes Association, which already does a wonderful job of telling people how monitoring diabetes closely can result in better health over the long term?

Besides, I'd much rather have my taxpayer money go to help people who want to help themselves.

That's my take on all this governmental meddling.

Advertising is Enticing Kids Aged 12 and Under to Eat Huge Amounts of High-Calorie, Sugar-Filled Foods

Today's a big day for news related to sugar and health.

In one of the more notable developments, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released an important report -- "Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity? -- which found that advertising sugary and other junk food and drinks on TV has enticed kids aged 12 and under to eat huge amounts of high-calorie, sugar-and-fat-filled, low-nutrient foods. And this is leading to a sharp increase in obesity and diabetes.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), a government-chartered institution, studied the health effects of food advertising on children at the behest of Congress.

The report, the Institute claims, offers "the most comprehensive review to date of the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on diets of children and youth."

And the news ain't good.

"Current food and beverage marketing practices put kids' long-term health at risk," said committee chair J. Michael McGinnis, senior scholar at the Institute of Medicine.

This is a scary prognosis for the future of our nation's kids. That's why it's imperative that action be taken.

Sleep Difficulties Associated With Diabetes Risk in Men

Swedish researchers found that men who have sleep difficulties or a short sleep duration have an increased incidence of diabetes, according to a new study in the November issue of journal Diabetes Care.

Researchers from University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden and Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Sweden investigated the possible relationship among sleep complaints, sleep duration and the development of diabetes prospectively over a 12-year period in a middle-aged Swedish population.

Interestingly, the team found that the risk of getting diabetes was nearly three-fold higher for men who got no more than 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night and nearly five times higher for men with difficulties maintaining sleep.

But, in women, their sleep patterns didn't seem to bear a relationship to whether or not they got diabetes.

As Reuters reports, the researchers believe that lack of sleep might lead to diabetes because poor sleep is related to activation of the stress system or becuase sleep debt may impact carbohydrate metabolism.

Interesting. What I find curious is that this study, from what I've read, didn't even take into account what people eat.

In fact, many people have difficulties sleeping after over-consuming simple carbs. If you eat too much carb crap and then don't get enough sleep, wouldn't this have a bearing on whether or not you get diabetes?

What fascinates me is that women's lack of sleep doesn't seem to affect whether or not they get diabetes. Hmm.

Heart Disease & Diabetes Are Largely Preventable

Maintaining better lifestyle habits -- such as cutting back on junk food, eating more fish and exercising less -- can help prevent 80 percent of coronary heart disease and 90 percent of type 2 diabetes.

Those are the findings to be presented Saturday by Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health's department of nutrition, at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in Philadelphia, HealthDay reported.

"There is a huge potential for reducing the major causes of death, from cardiovascular disease and diabetes," said Willett, whose report is titled "Diet and Optimal Health: A Progress Report."

Dr. Willett based the estimates on his long-term study, the Nurses' Health Study II, begun in 1989, and the original Nurses' Health Study, which started 29 years ago, and dozens of other studies that have examined lifestyle habits and their effects on heart disease and diabetes.

People are "surprised" when they hear the figures of 80 percent and 90 percent, Dr. Willett said.

"But they shouldn't be [surprised]. If you look back to Greece and Japan, they had heart-disease rates that were 90 percent lower" than the United States, a finding thought to be due to healthier diets.

We're known for a long time there is potential for prevention," he added.

Dr. Willett recommends the following:

• Eat more whole grains and less refined carbs.
• Eliminate trans fats such as those found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers and many snack foods using partially hydrogenated oils. Trans fats are the worst kind of fat because of their effects on blood cholesterol.
• Eat fish twice a week to boost your intake of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
• You can have an alcoholic drink every other day, but people who don't drink shouldn't start for health reasons.
• Exercise -- just a half an hour of day of brisk walking can help.
• Take a multi-vitamin to get enough folic acid.

One Third of Diabetics Don't Get Checked: Take Better Care of Yourself

About one-third of our nation's near-21 million diabetics diabetics don't get an annual A1C check as recommended by the American Diabetes Association, shows research from Total Therapeutic Management, Inc. (TTM).

What's more, 65 percent of diabetics aren't meeting their A1C goals of less than 7 percent, reveal statistics from TTM's database of 40,000 diabetic patients. (The company claims to have conducted more medical chart reviews in the area of diabetes than any other company.)

Furthermore, many physicians don't even know the percentage of their patients who aren't meeting their A1C goals.

"The first step to quality improvement is the identification of patients at risk and letting the primary care giver physician know that they are at risk," said Barry Patel, Pharm.D., President and Co-Founder, Total Therapeutic Management, Inc.

It's imperative for both patients and doctors to take action to confront and cope with diabetes.

Indeed, as American Diabetes Month is now underway, it's vital to take heed of the warning signs -- if we stick to couch-potato, sweets-consuming lifestyle, type 2 diabetes will continue to escalate.

Indeed, new stats from the CDC, released late last month, show that the incidence of diabetes has risen 14 percent in just two years. Indeed, nearly 21 million people have diabetes and another 41 million have pre-diabetes, as I discussed recently.

It's imperative now, during National Diabetes Month, and throughout the year to drum into people with diabetes the urgency of properly managing their disease.

For instance, as TTM recomends, if you have diabetes, it's important for you to:

• Monitor your blood sugar levels by testing regularly.
• Take medications prescribed by your doctor.
• Get your A1C number checked at least twice a year.
• Exercise regularly.
• Ask your doctor to check your kidney function each year.
• Carefully monitor your diet.
• Consider using specially designed computer programs to help you manage your disease.

Granted, the last suggestion is to promote TTM's services, but the company's ideas are useful.

Of course, I believe strongly -- particularly because of the numerous studies I've learned about while droing extensive research for my upcoming book, SUGAR SHOCK! -- that getting off refined carbs and sweets, combined with exercise, can be incredibly powerful ways to either prevent or cope with diabetes.

Want help kicking sweets so you can possibly avoid getting diabetes? Join my free, online, KickSugar support group. If you join by Nov. 16, you'll also get complimentary admission to my 21-Day, Kick-Sugar Countdown, which begins Jan. 5. Learn more here.

Some 2 Million Kids Have Pre-Diabetes

The news just gets more depressing and diabetes-inundated by the day!

Now comes the latest diabetes horror -- this one relating to our nation's kids.

About 2 million kids aged 12 to 19 -- or about 7 percent of children in the U.S. -- have a pre-diabetic condition that's linked to their being obese and inactive, and both of these situations puts them at risk for full-blown type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems, government data suggest.

In widely circulated articles, the Associated Press reports that researchers from both the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health studied the prevalence of abnormally high blood sugar levels in youngsters several hours after they ate. These high blood sugar levels are called "impaired fasting glucose" or "IFG" and are measured in a blood test. 

As noted previously, the news wasn't good: One in 14 boys and girls (from a nationally representative sample) had impaired fasting glucose. Among overweight adolescents, one in 6 had the pre-diabetic condition.

Sure enough, adolescents with IFG were more likely than kids with normal fasting glucose levels to have other symptoms, too, which suggest that they could be on the road to heart and other problems.

Indeed, these 12-to-19 youngsters with IFG -- whose lives are supposed to be ahead of them -- also had higher average levels of bad cholesterol and blood fats (triglycerides) than normal kids.

"The numbers are definitely concerning," says CDC researcher Dr. Venkat Narayan, co-author of the study, which appears in Pediatrics on Monday and is based on data involving 915 youngsters, who participated in a 1999-2000 national health survey.

If things don't change, the future of our nation's kids looks dismal! The way things look now, these youngsters will be spending their 20s and 30s moving towards diabetes!

At present, of the nearly 21 million Americans with diabetes, most of them are adults with type 2 diabetes, which impairs the body's ability to properly use insulin, the blood-sugar regulating hormone.

As you may know, type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset diabetes," and it is strongly linked to being overweight and inactive.

Sadly, though, nowadays, we're seeing more and more kids getting type 2 diabetes, which is why the condition is no longer called "adult-onset diabetes."

As the Associated Press reports, Dr. Francine Kaufman, head of the diabetes center at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, notes that about 25 percent of diabetic children treated there now have type 2 diabetes. But a decade ago, only 4 percent had the condition. Talk about a shocking rise in stats!

For the study, researchers used criteria from the American Diabetes Association:

• Impaired fasting glucose means blood sugar levels of at least 100 milligrams per deciliter.
• Diabetes is considered above 125 .

While most had average levels of 89.7 (considered normal), 7 percent of kids in the study were considered pre-diabetic. That translates to about 2 million youngsters.

About 16 percent of the kids studied were obese, which is roughly the same as recent national estimates.

One of the dilemmas with elevated fasting glucose is that it "has no symptoms, but it signifies an advanced metabolic problem, which will, in most cases, progress to type 2 diabetes over time," Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital in Boston, told the AP. Dr. Ludwig did not work on the study.

Experts such as Dr. Ludwig stress over and over again the importance of "intensive lifestyle interventions."

That means kids need to start getting involved in physical activity and improving their diet. In other words, don't let your kids drink soda as if it were water or cookies as if they were low-calorie veggies.

But there is hope. Making diet and exercise changes can help adults to prevent their pre-diabetes from becoming diabetes so it's likely that the same can happen in children, the researchers said.

Please start helping your kids to make proper dietary choices and to enjoy exercise so that we can turn this condition around!

November is American Diabetes Month

This month (November) is American Diabetes Month, the American Diabetes Association informs us.

Therefore, this month I'm planning some posts to alert you to the dangers of diabetes and how you can prevent it or treat it, if you already have it.

This year, in particular, the American Diabetes Association is urging people with diabetes to "Make the Link! Diabetes, Heart Disease and Stroke.

This is an initiative of the American Diabetes Association and the American College of Cardiology which is aimed at boosting people's awareness of the link between diabetes and heart disease.

What's more, to coincide with American Diabetes Month, the ADA is launching the Choose to Live Challenge, a Web-based program designed to help people with diabetes take better care of themselves and lead longer, healthier lives.

Each month, the online program will spotlight a unique health "challenge" and focus on an important topic related to diabetes care.

For every new challenge, you'll get helpful tips to reach your monthly goal. You'll even have a chance to intereract live on the Internet with diabetes experts, participate in some interactive activities and find other online resources to help you learn more about managing diabetes.

Take the Choose to Live Challenge today!

If you're one of those inactive people who's been ignoring your increasing weight, bulging mid-section or mounting consumption of sweets and refined carbs, it's time to look at the sobering facts.

As I noted here recently, the number of people with diabetes in the U.S. has jumped recently. Today, the U.S has nearly 21 million people with diabetes and another 41 million with pre-diabetes.

So, you want to do whatever you can to either take care of yourself if you have diabets or make changes so you can prevent getting diabetes.

Next, you'll hear from Dr. Walter Willett and his astounding research showing that type 2 diabetes can, in large part, be prevented.

Are You In Danger?

I just received a note from a friend in danger.

The danger is one shared by 200 million, who are at risk to the biggest man-made danger to our health.

I'm talking about type 2 diabetes.

My friend Warren Whitlock told me about a brand new book called DIABETES DANGER and how reading it has totally changed his life.

I'm helping Warren spread the word with a special offer. We've arranged to give you $1327.00 in gifts that will help you to have better health, wealth and success. But you have to act by MIDNIGHT tonight, November 3rd.

http://diabetes-danger.com/.

Imagine how much better you feel if you avoided diabetes yourself. Now imagine something even better, you children and grandchildren can be free from this disease.

I don't know who in your life needs to hear about the DIABETES DANGER, I do know that this book is a fast way to get the current facts about the risks.

Read how Warren turned his life around, a bonus seminar with the best selling author, Dr. Bortz, plus $1327 in bonus gifts being offered when you click to this site.

This is an easy way to improve your health and help us educate millions about this danger. This is an important message that needs to be shared with the millions who are at risk.

Forward this message to your mailing list and to people who you care about so they can read about this important new book.

Nearly 21 Million People in U.S. Have Diabetes -- A 14 % Jump Since 2002

Devastating news on the diabetes front.

About 20.8 million Americans – or 7 percent of the U.S. population – now have diabetes, with more than 6 million of them unaware that they have the disease, according to the latest prevalence data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This disease just keeps spreading.

Indeed, a mere three years ago, when the CDC last tallied the number of people with diabetes, the figure was 18.2 million Americans. In other words, today, another 2.6 million people now have this disease.

Or, to put it another way, the incidence of diabetes has risen by more than 14 percent in a mere three years!

Furthermore, another 41 million people are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition that increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes – the most common form of the disease – as well as heart disease and stroke.

This is absolutely horrifying. I hope it serves as an effective wake-up call to couch-potato, exercise-ignoring Americans, who have packed on excess pounds, eat horribly and take a nonchalant approach towards their health.

If you can avoid diabetes, then by all means do so! (Please read on...)

Bear in mind that diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

After all, diabetes is a leading cause of adult blindness, lower-limb amputation, kidney disease and nerve damage, warns Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of CDC’s diabetes program.

"Two-thirds of people with diabetes die from a heart attack or stroke,” he adds.

The American Diabetes Association also jumped to issue a press release, noting that these new stats "highlight the growing diabetes epidemic in the United States and reinforce the need for increased research and prevention."

The CDC reports the following highlights:

• 20.8 million people -- 7 % of the population -- have diabetes. (Diagnosed: 14.6 million people; Undiagnosed: 6.2 million people). Aged 20 years or older - 20.6 million or 9.6 % of all people in this age group have diabetes. Aged 60 years or older - 10.3 million or 20.9 % of all people in this age roup have diabetes.
• "Diabetes continues to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

• "In 2005, 1.5 million people aged 20 years or older will be newly diagnosed with diabetes.

• "Compared to non-Hispanic whites, diabetes continues to be more common (1.7 to 2.2 times more common) among American Indians and Alaska Natives, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

• "The risk of diabetes increases with age. About 21 percent of Americans aged 60 years or older have diabetes. This compares to approximately 2 percent for people 20 to 39 years old and about 10 percent for those aged 40-59 years.

• "The United States spends approximately $132 billion each year on diabetes – $92 billion in direct medical costs and another $40 billion each year in indirect costs because of missed work days or other losses in productivity.

For more figures, get the 2005 National Diabetes Fact Sheet here.

What's important to remember is that if you have pre-diabetes, you may be able to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes just by losing 5 percent to 7 percent of your body weight, the CDC's Dr. Vinicor said.

Of course, this means it's important to start exercising, too.

And, as I often point out here, it can be absolutely invaluable to cut back or cut out your intake of sweets and simple carbs and start getting more fruits and vegetables, as well as high quality protein and fats. Both eating healthily and getting physical activity are vital preventive tactics to take.

If you don't have diabetes yet, then please take care of yourself now!

Need some help to fight off pre-diabetes? Join my free, online KickSugar support group. (If you act soon, before Nov. 1, you'll get complimentary membership to my 21-day, kick-sugar countdown, which begins Jan. 5.)

Interesting Diabetes Webcast With Experts

Thanks to Myra, the amazing Assistant Moderator in my free, online KickSugar group, who routed this very interesting webcast to me.

Check it out (even though it's a couple of years old).

It's called Type 2 Diabetes: Is It More Than Just Blood Sugar? and it features experts talking about type 2 diabetes and oncoming clues that foreshadow the onset of the disease.

Participants include:

• Astrid T. Almodovar, MD, MPA
• Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, University Medical Department of New Jersey
  Jacqueline Salas-Spiegel, MD
• Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Columbia University School of Medicine

Let us know what you think of this.

Swim Across Hudson for Diabetes -- Donate Now!

Congrats to Brian Friedman for swimming handcuffed across the Potomac and Hudson rivers last week to raise money to raise public awareness about diabetes, a clever, attention-getting event that I announced here.

As I mentioned previously, Brian is a member of my free, online KickSugar group, and we're proud and happy to have him setting an example to others about the joys of exercise -- but please don't do his handcuffed-swimming stunt!

Brian reports to fellow KickSugar members:

"Yes, I did it! Well sort of. I swam across the Potomac. But for traffic reasons, I swam a mile on the Hudson waterfront. Yes I was handcuffed. No I didn't get any strange skin rashes.

"I swam to raise the public's awareness of the epidemic of diabetes. We are all at risk. Our lifestyles and eating habits are what is increasing the occurrence of this disease. That is why groups such as this one are so important.

"My thing is exercise and [finding food] along the edges of the grocery store. You do what you have to. I swam handcuffed. Not a useful skill, nor very difficult. But if one person saw or read about it and got out and exercised then it was worth it. I wish you all the best in your fight to Kick Sugar."

Well done, Brian. I just contributed to the ADA now myself in honro of your tremendous feat and your efforts to raise people's awareness about diabetes.

My blog readers, join me. Donate to the ADA, too, in honor of the very-much-alive Brian! Then, tell him about your donation on his blog or e-mail him directly.

Fish Oil Can Benefit Diabetics

There's now compelling evidence suggesting that omega-3 fats may be especially helpful to people with diabetes, eDiets.com reports.

It sure seems like we can't hear enough good things nowadays about fish oil's benefits to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, help curtail inflammation, inhibit cancer growth and help alleviate depression.

Just make sure that when you do take fish oil that you use a high-quality product. I take Pharmax Finest Pure Fish Oil or Vital Choice's Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Oil Capsules.

Handcuffed Swimmer Tackles Hudson River To Fight Diabetes

Brian Friedman -- a member of my free, online KickSugar group -- is swimming handcuffed Friday morning across the Hudson River to fight the diabetes epidemic.

Why handcuffs?

Well, Brian, 43, wants to get the point across that people with diabetes "feel shackled by the disease."

Earlier this afternoon, Brian casually announced his intentions via e-mail to my group, when Myra, my astute KickSugar Assistant Moderator, quickly alerted me to how he's using his athletic prowess to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. I immediately tracked down the swimmer through his EscapeFromDiabetes website and reached Brian on the phone.

He was recuperating from another swim -- this one across the Potomac -- on Tuesday morning.

'Course most folks won't be able to tackle such a rigorous exercise regime, much less without the handcuffs.

But Brian has experience testing the waters. In fact, he's a fitness trainer, who, last year swam handcuffed from Alcatraz to San Francisco in 54 minutes and 20 seconds (a world record, he says).

If you want to see Brian swim, go to either Weehawken Harbor in New Jersey at 7 a.m. Friday or to Surfside 3 Marina at Chelsea Piers (23rd Street and the Hudson River) in New York at 8 a.m. (when he expects to arrive). 

Brian is crossing the Hudson River in honor of his grandfather, "who developed type 2 diabetes in the 1960s and, had both legs amputated in the '70s and that's the way he lived the rest of his life until he passed away in 1989.

"I remember visiting my grandfather when I was in high school, and he couldn't be an active person any longer. It was a major production for him to even go to a restaurant.

"The sad part is that when my grandfather got successful he loved to eat and pretty much his only exercise was going to Giant games," says Brian, who believes that his grandfather's poor lifestyle habits helped trigger his diabetes.

Brian -- who notes that diabetes is the # 1 cause of non-traumatic amputation -- is now horrified that young people are getting diabetes in record numbers.

"I just want to do some small thing to motivate people to change their lifestyle -- to get outside and work out, whether it's running or hiking, and eating better," adds Brian, who claims that he's a "below-average athlete" -- that's pretty hard to believe when you look at his photo.

For those of you into sugary foods, Brian says that exercising banishes his desire for them.

"When I'm exercising a lot, I don’t have sugar cravings. When I do get a sweet tooth attack, I am happy with an apple or a banana.

FDA Let Scientists With Drug-Company Ties Evaluate New Insulin Product

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed scientists with direct financial ties to Pfizer serve on an advisory committee to evaluate the drug company's proposed insulin inhaler, Exubera, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The New York Times also discusses the issue of conflict of interest about Exubera in an article about a new diabetes pill an FDA panel recommended.

The FDA practice of using scientists with conflicting interests on its advisory panels, the House of Representatives in June voted to require the FDA to halt the practice and find unconflicted experts. The Senate is expected to pass a similar measure this week when it considers the FDA appropriations bill.

It's sad that Congress has to take such action. It's a no brainer that scientists shouldn't have monetary ties to the drug companies making the drugs they're reviewing.

"Drunk" Driver Crashes, But Gets Off Because It's Hypoglycemia

Motorists in Washington state frantically called 911 from their cell phones Thursday night to report a drunken driver weaving all over the road and running into cars, a King County Journal reported.

Then, the erratic driver rear-ended a Kent woman, fled police and then later got into fistfight with deputies.

Finally, police subdued the wild driver, but they didn't arrest him and lock him up. In fact, he won't even face criminal charges.

What?

Well, this is the latest example of a driver, whose behavior is influenced by low blood sugar. In fact, hypoglycemia can even mimick inebriation.

So the official word from King County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart is that the man was suffering from hypoglycemia or ``insulin shock'' brought on by low blood sugar.

``There were no criminal charges,'' Urquhart told the King County Journal. ``It was a medical situation.''

This incident highlights how incredibly important it is for diabetics to carefully monitor their blood sugar levels by eating right (especially cutting out or limiting those quickie carbs), exercising and, if they're on insulin, taking it at the right times and in the proper amounts.

Hypoglycemics also need to monitor their blood sugar by making sure eat frequently to prevent such attacks.

Bear in mind that having a low blood sugar attack while driving is very dangerous -- and even potentially deadly.

Here are some guidelines for diabetics and driving from the U.S. Department of Transportation, American Diabetes Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Actually, this car accident brings to mind my own driving problems years ago while I was having a low blood sugar reaction. (See my quirky cartoon about the incident, called, "Connie and the Cops.")

Inhaled Insulin Approved

A Food and Drug Administration panel recommended approving the first inhaled form of insulin (Exubera).

They're giving it the go-ahead despite questions about what how it might affect people with lung disease or those exposed to secondhand smoke. That makes me a bit nervous, because those and other concerns exist, too.

However, in theory, studies on long-term effects of Exubera are proposed to go until 2019, Yahoo reports.

"We understand the need to assess the long-term effects on pulmonary function," Dr. Neville Jackson of Pfizer told the press.

Well, that sounds promising -- at at least they're looking into it further to find out about more side effects.

Frankly, I'm always puzzled by stories that purport to help people with diabetes -- and yet, you find NO mention of the role the patient plays in all of this!

The ADA and AHA Butt Heads Over Metabolic Syndrome

Two of the biggest health organizations in the United States, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association (AHA) are butting heads over whether or not metabolic syndrome exists.

This is surprising news.

You see, in recent years, the revered American Heart Association and many respected cardiologists worldwide have been repeatedly warning us that more and more folks -- some 25 percent of the U.S. population or a whopping 47 million people -- suffer from a cluster of risk factors that means we're prone to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Specifically, patients have been alerted that if they have three or more of the following symptoms -- abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol abnormalities and a pre-diabetic condition called impaired glucose tolerance -- they have metabolic syndrome, which is also called insulin resistance syndrome or syndrome X.

Up until now, it seems, many members of the medical community across the board have taken the warnings to heart.

But now, both the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, in a paper published in the September issue of Diabetes Care and Diabetologia, are shooting holes in the American Heart Association-supported theory.

The ADA and the European diabetes group argue that metabolic syndrome is poorly defined and inconsistently used and that it needs further research.

The authors of the paper even say that doctors shouldn't be diagnosing people with this"syndrome." They argue that physicians shouldn't try to treat it until the science behind it is better understood. Rather, they suggest that M.D.s should treat each symptom as a separate condition.

I'm confused.

Look, I'm no doctor -- I'm just a freelance journalist/author and blogger -- but why the heck would the ADA and the European group now, of all times, come out against a theory that's been gaining increasing momentum for decades?

Why would they choose to blast a concept that already has the support of many cardiologists and the American Heart Association?

Outrage Over Obesity & Overcoming It

Looks like I hit on a very sensitive subject by my rather opinionated, outraged defense of the New Hampshire doctor, whose blunt remarks to his fat patient prompted her to file a complaint against him.

I blasted this woman, because I felt that blaming her doctor for being honest was absurd and a complete cop out.

Granted, we've only heard the New Hampshire Leader's side of the story (which present's the doctor's version), but if a patient can't handle being told, "You're fat; lose weight or you'll get diabetes, etc.," then she needs to get HELP! And now!

Even so, thanks to Cici, for bringing me down to size, so to speak.  She touches upon the anguish that can confront people with weight issues.

I appreciate your honesty, Cici, for saying, "I am an obese person and have been treated with contempt by doctors who know less about obesity than I do. Obese people are despised in general. People kill themselves over it. Do you really think we are just not motivated? Maybe if people keep telling us how unattractive we are, we will stop being so lazy and weak-willed."

If I came off as unsympathetic, I do apologize profusely.

You're absolutely right, Cici -- it is NOT nice how obese people are treated. I don't know that they're despised, as you suggest, but they're definitely sneered at and looked down upon. (I've been with rude people, who made the most horrific, condemning statements if a fat person walked by, and I simply stood there, aghast.)

Cici -- and anyone else who's overweight or obese -- please know that I do understand the allure of food during trying times. I've had my own food issues over the years, including a bout long ago with eating disorders, but where I recognized and sought the treatment and help that I needed.

And this is where I get downright pissed off.

I find it annoying -- perhaps even disgusting -- for an obese person to take a "woe-is-me" attitude.

Almost anyone (barring some difficult medical issues) can lose weight.

Thus, I stand by my comments that this fat woman had no business getting her blunt doctor in trouble -- again, that's if the newspaper presented an accurate assessment of the situation.

My advice to her (and to anyone who's obese) is this (for whatever it's worth):

If you're obese, I suspect that it's because you're using food in unhealthy ways. I can relate. So can millions of Americans.

It's easy to turn to doughnuts if your co-worker annoys you. It's easy to down potato chips if your loved one lets you down. And it's easy to polish off a pint (or more) of chocolate ice cream if you're having a bad day and your cravings overcome you.

But, if you're fat or getting fat, please, I urge you: Own up to your reality. Admit you have a problem. Then decide where you want to be a few years from now.

Do you want to live? Do you want a happy, healthy, fulfilling life? If so, then you have to start taking action.

Don't Discriminate Against Diabetics

As the number of diabetics continues to climb to beyond 18 million, it's vital to combat skewed and misinformed views of diabetes and to help diabetics overcome tremendous challenges at school or at work.

To that end, I urge you to think about attending the Oct. 20-21 event, Fighting for Fairness: Ending Discrimination Against Students and Workers with Diabetes," to be held in McLean, Virginia.

It's simply outrageous that people be discriminated against because they have diabetes.

You might be quite surprised, as I was, upon reading the ADA's check list of huge problems that diabetics face at school and at work:

• Too many schools won't permit trained personnel to help a child with diabetes who becomes unconscious because of a low blood glucose level. (This is simply shocking and scandalous!)
• Students with diabetes are still sometimes told that they're not welcome at their neighborhood school. (Awful! How can that be?!)
• "Workers with diabetes face `blanket bans' from some jobs," the ADA explains, "regardless of their ability to perform the job or how well their diabetes is controlled." (Another horrific situation!)
• What's more, the ADA notes, employees are "denied job opportunities explicitly because they have diabetes, but then told they can’t object because diabetes isn’t a disability." (Really?)

Sign up here for the event, which is sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, and co-sponsored by the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Disability Rights, Education and Defense Fund, and the National Disability Rights Network.

I urge you now to take action to fight discrimination against diabetics -- who have every right to be treated like the rest of us.

Naturally, bear in mind that if you do have diabetes, work hard to properly maintain your blood glucose level, exercise regularly, and eat right (i.e. limit those processed, low-quality carbs and try to get a handle on your sugar addiction).

For that matter, I also encourage you to be sympathetic to the plight of hypoglycemics, too, who, unlike diabetics, aren't supposed to eat candy and other fast-acting carbs when they're having a low-blood sugar reaction.

Need help kicking sugar? Join my free online KickSugar group.

Doctors' (D.I.E.) Role in Double Diabetes

Kudos to nutritional and metabolic expert Ron Rosedale, M.D. (author of The Rosedale Diet) for insisting that physicians are dispensing bad advice to diabetics about sugar intake.

In his fascinating article on the very popular website mercola.com, Dr. Rosedale says he's been "incensed" for decades by the traditional medical treatment, which makes insulin-resistant diabetics (the vast majority) worse rather than better.

"Diabetics have been told that they can eat meals multiple times daily that turn into sugar and even sugar itself, as long as they take enough insulin to lower their blood sugar," Dr. Rosedale aptly notes.

"The importance of limiting the intake of sugar and foods that turn into sugar has been almost totally ignored," argues Dr. Rosedale, founder of the Rosedale Center in Denver, Colorado and co-founder of the Colorado Center for Metabolic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado.

Hurrah for Dr. Rosedale for boldly asserting that for the most part, among fellow doctors, there's been "virtually no recognition that high levels of insulin are at least as much of an insult to a person's health as high levels of sugar."

Mars Backs Health Research

Mars (as in the chocolate maker), is footing research to show that cocoa -- which most of its chocolate candies contain -- can be used to treat diabetes, strokes, and vascular disease.

Excuse me, from what planet is this Mars confectionary company?

Sure, I'll easily concede that considerable scientific research shows that flavanols -- the plant chemicals found in cocoa -- do contain health benefits, as the Mars-funded Chocolate Information Center aptly points out.

But, come on, chocolate is also loaded with sugar, fat and dairy, which probably far outweigh any positive effects you could get!

Even so, as News.Scotsman.com reported, experts from around the world gathered at a meeting in Switzerland this week organized by Mars to discuss more than 80 peer-reviewed studies about the possible health benefits of flavanols.

Mars (as in the chocolate maker), is footing research to show that cocoa -- which most of its chocolate candies contain -- can be used to treat diabetes, strokes, and vascular disease.

Excuse me, from what planet is this Mars confectionary company?

Sure, I'll easily concede that considerable scientific research shows that flavanols -- the plant chemicals found in cocoa -- do contain health benefits, as the Mars-funded Chocolate Information Center aptly points out.

But, come on, chocolate is also loaded with sugar, fat and dairy, which probably far outweigh any positive effects you could get!

Even so, as News.Scotsman.com reported, experts from around the world gathered at a meeting in Switzerland this week organized by Mars to discuss more than 80 peer-reviewed studies about the possible health benefits of flavanols.

Man's Best Friend Detects Blood Sugar Lows & Highs

If you're diabetic, it can be quite terrifying to not know when your blood sugar will swing too high or go to low. Granted, you should monitor your diet and exercise, but man's best friend also can come to the rescue.

Indeed, the unique Heaven Scent Paws, a Missouri-based organization incorporated in 2004, provides specially trained diabetic alert dogs, who can help you (if you're diabetic), your partner or other loved ones to detect both hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia).

Almost sounds too good to be true, right? Actually, this is for real.

Heaven Scent Paws puts the dogs' acute olfactory sense to good use. Essentially, specially trained dogs learn to identify a chemical (as yet unnamed) on their master's breath and skin that emerge as soon as the glucose level begins to drop.

Useful Website for Diabetics

If you're diabetic, then you should know about an incredible resource, www.mendosa.com, from veteran diabetes reporter David Mendosa.

The Boulder, Colorado-based Mendosa -- whom I had the pleasure of interviewing for my book, SUGAR SHOCK! -- offers a lot of helpful tips, information and advice to people with diabetes, including "Advice for Newbies" and "Online Diabetes Resources."

Mendosa also co-authored the book, What Makes My Blood Glucose Go Up...And Down? And 101 Other Frequently Asked Questions About Your Blood Glucose Levels.

One-Day Diabetes Education Works -- Sign Up Now!

There's incredible hope for diabetics. If you spend a mere day educating them,  they'll improve -- and greatly -- by maintaining better blood sugar control.

In short, if you have the disease, you can learn to be effective in "Taking Control of Your Diabetes."

This positive message was announced at the recent 65th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

"Behavioral change is possible, incrementally... and [it] can have profound effects on the health and quality of life of diabetics," Mary Johnson, director of clinical research at the International Diabetes Center in Minneapolis, told United Press International.

Most Type 2 Diabetics Don't Control Blood Sugar

Darn, this is sad, scary, shocking news.

A whopping two-thirds of type 2 diabetics in the United States aren't controlling their blood sugar, Science Daily reported, citing a new study from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

The AACE analyzed more than 157,000 patients with type 2 diabetes from 2003 to 2004 and found that two out of three didn't keep their blood sugar below the recommended AIC level of 6.5 percent.

Not only that, but these patients -- while they knew that monitoring their blood sugar was important -- didn't know what test they should take and what personal level for which they should aim.

Drivers With Diabetic Reactions Collide in Wisconsin

Matthew Peabody, a diabetic, won't get behind the wheel of a car anymore.

That's because on May 25, the 37-year-old Wisconsin resident slammed into an oncoming pickup truck while having a diabetic reaction, according to the GazetteXtra in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Now, he's worried. "I may hurt myself, or I may hurt somebody else," said Peabody, 37, who's had six operations to repair damage to his legs, ankles, and feet."

Peabody is the latest of at least a dozen diabetics since 1983 who got into collisions and caused injuries while having diabetic reactions near the Janesville, Wisconsin area.

The recent Wisconsin car accidents pinpoint the urgent need for diabetics to take good care of themselves so that their blood glucose (blood sugar) doesn't get too high or too low.

Numbers of Diagnosed Diabetics Jump

We simply can't escape the sad diabetes news. Now, we're discovering that the number of diagnosed diabetics jumped a whopping  41 % between 1997 and 2003, according to investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While it's unclear whether the huge increase has to do with changing diagnostic criteria or increased detection, the upswing in obesity certainly plays a role.

The incidence of diabetes rose from 4.9 to 6.9 per 1000 people aged 18 to 79, pointed out Dr. Linda S. Geiss, who is quoted In Diabetes Today, which got its story from Reuters Health.

But, as members of the medical community repeatedly harp, research shows that you can delay or even prevent diabetes by exercising more and losing weight. And one way to trim your tummy is to break away from your dependence on sweets and refined carbs.For help to get out from under your quickie-carbs habit and shed unwanted pounds, join my free online KickSugar support group.

Col. Supreme Court Upholds Low Blood Sugar Defense

An insulin-dependent diabetic man convicted of trying to kill his wife won a chance for a new trial when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that under certain conditions, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar can cause "involuntary intoxication," meaning the defendant wasn't responsible for his actions.

"The court ruling gives legal standing to something diabetics and medical authorities have known for a long time," which is that "low blood sugar can have serious affects on the way people act," KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs reported.

Colorado joins Texas and Washington in allowing the hypoglycemia involuntary intoxication defense.

Some greeted the decision with skepticism. Bob Grant, executive director of the Colorado District Attorney's Council, told the Denver Post that he fears the ruling could set off a wave of defenses relating to medication.

He also noted that the defendant, Steve David Garcia, Jr. had misued his medication in a 1999 incident when he injected himself with a large dose of insulin, because he was planning to eat ice cream and cake at his teenage daughter's birthday party. But then he didn't eat anything afterwards although he knew it could lead to adverse reactions. Later, he hit his wife with a hammer and drove over her with a van. During his trial, Garcia claimed he wasn't legally responsible for attacking his wife, because of his hypoglycemic reaction.

ADA’s Top Medical Official Claims Sugar Has Nothing to do With Diabetes

On April 21, the American Diabetes Association announced that it was receiving a multi-million dollar three-year gift from large soft drink producer Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages to fight obesity and diabetes in America. Then, nearly a month later, the ADA’s top medical official told a reporter that sugar consumption has nothing to do with diabetes.

“What is the evidence that sugar itself has anything to do with diabetes? …There is not a shred of evidence that sugar per se has anything to do with getting diabetes,” Richard Kahn, the ADA’s chief scientific and medical officer said in an interview, published May 16 by the Corporate Crime Reporter.

Curiously, when asked if sugary drinks have anything to do with diabetes, Kahn replied, “No one has a clue of whether they do or don’t.”

Since I’ve devoted more than three years researching the undeniable connection between our nation’s excessive intake of sugars and numerous such diseases as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, I’m dumfounded by these remarks, to say the least.

Over the years, a number of researchers have uncovered results that point to this link. In fact, some recent studies specifically cite soda as a contributing factor to obesity and diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetics Controling Glucose Lower Cardiac Risk

Type 1 diabetics who keep their blood sugar levels close to normal can cut their risk of cardiovascular disease by about 50 percent and their risk of heart attack and stroke by 57 percent, a new study finds. And these results are much better than those achieved by cholesterol or blood pressure drugs, researchers reported at the annual scientific meeting of the American Diabetes Association.

"It's pretty astounding," ADA scientific director Richard Kahn told USA Today. "This is just major. No other study has shown an effect of glucose control on cardiovascular disease."