Diabetes News

Thank you, CBS News Sunday Morning -- in particular correspondent Susan Spencer and producer Jason Sacca -- for today's very intriguing, informative lead story about sugar.

Susan and Jason, of course, as well as CBS, deserve major kudos for shedding light on this important subject, and I do hope and believe that CBS News Sunday Morning's five million viewers will find the segment quite eye-opening.

It's my greatest hope that the millions who saw the CBS News Sunday Morning story will reassess their intake of sugar and refined carbs and think about cutting them out -- or at least cutting back -- so they may get more energy, concentrate better, peel off the pounds, and maybe even reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes.

Wow! Susan did a spectacular job pulling together so many intriguing bits of information and then weaving them into a highly enjoyable, engrossing segment. (Susan -- who creates impressive, thoughtful stories -- really draws you in when presenting some salient facts and fascinating tidbits about Americans' love affair with sugar.)

For those of you who missed this morning's CBS News Sunday Morning segment, right now you can read the transcript of the sugar story here. (Of course, you'll miss out on the dazzling video footage, which included oodles of gooey, sugary foods; obese people waddling along; interviews with experts, including the one Susan did with me, as well as with one of my favorite experts, David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. (read on); sugar historian Sidney W. Mintz, author of Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History; a representative from the Sugar Association; and a crowd of about 200 gathered at my recent book signing and my signing copies of SUGAR SHOCK! at Border's at Columbus Circle in New York City.)

I'm very grateful to CBS News Sunday Morning for showcasing my book SUGAR SHOCK!, which has received, much-appreciated, pivotal support from contributing author Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. and Nicholas Perricone, M.D., who wrote the foreword. In addition, I'm indebted to numerous bestselling authors and top health experts for endorsing the book including frequent "Oprah" guest Mehmet Oz, M.D., author of YOU: On A Diet.

It was a pleasure to be included in CBS News Sunday Morning's important piece, and it was nice to see that David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., one of the health experts I greatly admire and recommended, was quoted in the CBS News Sunday Morning segment.

Speaking of Dr. Ludwig, mark your calendars. On Tues., July 17, this world famous children's obesity expert -- author of Ending the Food Fight -- is participating in an exciting teleseminar with me to teach parents how to help their kids slim down.

Parents, this is your amazing opportunity to ask questions of this knowledgeable expert, and we'd love to have you. Just sign up here now for this July 17 event. (Please note that the date has been rescheduled.)

For the record: While the CBS News Sunday Morning piece was absolutely fabulous, comprehensive and entertaining, I'd like to clarify some figures cited in the story.

According to the USDA, the average American consumes about 142.6 pounds per year or a little more than 3/4 of a cup per day of added caloric sweeteners, including refined sugar (from cane and beets), high fructose corn syrup, glucose syrup and dextrose. However, I believe, as do other experts, that the average American takes in more like 170 pounds per year or just shy of a cup of sugar per day. It's important to note that this 142-pound figure (or 170-pound figure) does not include artificial sweeteners, as mentioned in the CBS piece.

In fact, if you add in stats for artificially sweetened foods and drinks, the figures are considerably higher. According to the Calorie Control Council, a whopping 180 million American adults (as of 2004) consume low-calorie and sugar-free sodas, other beverages and foods using five different sugar substitutes approved by the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose and neotame.

Which, of course, begs the question. Are these sugar substitutes safe to consume? This is one of the Frequently Asked Questions I answer in SUGAR SHOCK! (I had to cover this, because while researching my book, thousands of people I've been coaching or connecting with online wanted to know if they reduce their sugar intake if it's OK to drank or eat foods using sugar substitutes.)

I was shocked at what I learned. Interviews with health experts revealed that questions have been raised about the safety of all artificial sweeteners on the market -- this, despite repeated claims from the FDA and the companies creating them. In SUGAR SHOCK! you also can learn about what some experts call a "paradoxical weight gain" that some people experience when ingesting foods with artificial sweeteners.

Anyhow, back to the wonderful CBS News Sunday Morning sugar story. I recommend that you read the transcript here now.

Again, thank you CBS News Sunday Morning. Hats off to you, Susan Spencer, for your diligence, dedication and intrepid reporting. And applause goes to you, Jason, for coming up with the idea for this segment in the first place and for so seamlessly pulling together various sources and concepts for this piece. Your viewers will benefit from your hard work. It was also an honor and pleasure to work with both of you.

By the way, I'm also grateful that the CBS News Sunday Morning story featured the cover of my book in the segment. Americans are curious, which has been evident since all day SUGAR SHOCK! has been moving up the charts.

At last look, SUGAR SHOCK! soared from #3,153 around 9:15 in the morning to # 43 on Amazon late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Meanwhile, BarnesAndNoble.com also saw an upswing in sales to # 77.

Join in the movement to learn about and stop SUGAR SHOCK! now -- get this book for you, a loved one and a work colleague. I like to believe that this book can not only open your eyes, but help you to break free from your sugar habit. (That's my intention at least, and according to the dozens of e-mails I've received, it does just that.)

Thought you'd find the following interesting:

Product Details

Now here's BarnesAndNoble.com:

• Paperback
• ISBN: 0425213579
• Pub. Date: December 2006
• Sales Rank: 77
• Customer Rating:
  

Check out the CBS website to find a description about Sunday's cover story about sugar, on the CBS News Sunday Morning. The piece is now entitled, "Short and Sweet." Here's the item on the CBS website.

Set your TiVos now if you plan to be busy for Father's Day. Learn first where the CBS News Sunday Morning airs in your area.

FYI, you can learn more about this segment here and also here, when I first posted about my exciting day with the CBS News Sunday Morning crew.

(CBS)

I'm pleased to give you an update about the sugar story that CBS News Sunday Morning is airing this Sunday, June 17, at 9 am EST and various times in other markets.

Previously, I wrote here on the SUGAR SHOCK! Blog about my exciting day with the CBS crew, when they filmed me, as well as some other sugar addicts I'd gathered. Now, here's a press release that I just wrote and am distributing.

Spread the word about this exciting sugar story that will air on CBS News Sunday Morning!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK--Connie Bennett, author of SUGAR SHOCK!, is one of several experts appearing this Sunday on the national show, CBS News Sunday Morning, in an approximately 8-minute segment about sugar. It is the lead story, barring any breaking news.

"This is heartening that a major national TV show such as CBS News Sunday Morning is delving into this extremely important subject and telling people the truth about sugar," says Bennett, a former sugar addict, journalist and certified holistic health counselor.

"Americans need to learn that they're probably getting at least one-quarter to one-third of their calories from refined sugar and processed carbs. And they should know that consuming so many nutrient-deprived foods and drinks could lead to a host of health-damaging problems, including depression, failing memory, fatigue, headaches, heart disease, sexual dysfunction, cancer, hypoglycemia, type 2 diabetes and premature aging," adds Bennett, whose book SUGAR SHOCK! has been endorsed by a number of renowned health experts, including frequent "Oprah" guest Dr. Mehmet Oz. Bestselling author Nicholas Perricone, M.D. wrote the foreword; and Stephen T. Sinatra is the SUGAR SHOCK! contributing author.

The CBS News Sunday Morning segment about sugar is reported by the talented, Emmy Award-winning journalist Susan Spencer and produced by the thorough Jason Sacca.

Other experts or self-described "sugar addicts" interviewed for the segment include:

* Children's obesity expert David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., author of Ending the Food Fight.

* Sugar historian Sidney W. Mintz, author of Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History.

* Melanie Miller, vice president of public relations for the Sugar Association.

* Six self-described current or former "sugar addicts" -- Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD.; Deborah Buell, H.H.C.; Sheila Drew; Christy Goldfeder, C.H.H.C.; Moe M. Leary, H.H.C.; and Donna Sonkin, C.H.H.C.

Tune in this Sunday, June 17, at 9 am EST to CBS News Sunday Morning to watch the sugar segment.

Click here to find out where and when it airs in your market.

It's really hard to keep up with all the studies that connect fructose with one health problem after another. Yet another study was just published that links fructose-sweetened beverages to metabolic syndrome.

This study -- from researchers at the University of Barcelona -- who published their findings in the journal Hepatology -- showed that rats ingesting fructose-sweetened drinks showed signs of metabolic syndrome, MedicalNewsToday.com reported.

FYI, this press release that I wrote has been capturing a lot of interest from the media this week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Britney Spears: Out-of-Control Sugar Addict?

Sugar Addiction Expert Connie Bennett Gives 8 Warning Signs of Sugar Addiction, Hypoglycemia or Sugar Shock

NEW YORK, N.Y., March 19, 2007--Britney Spears’ erratic behavior over the last few months, including her recent hair-shaving incident, could indicate that she’s suffering from sugar addiction, hypoglycemia or sugar shock, says sugar addiction expert Connie Bennett.

“Britney Spears may be one of millions who are needlessly enduring depression, anger outbursts, mental confusion, fatigue and more because they’re unknowingly a victim of sugar addiction, hypoglycemia or sugar shock,” says Bennett, author of SUGAR SHOCK!: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life—And How You Can Get Back on Track (Berkley Books, 2007), with Stephen Sinatra, M.D.

"The pop star is obviously suffering from sugar addiction and possibly hypoglycemia if there's truth to the recent Star magazine story about Britney Spears' alleged `raging sweet tooth' while in rehab," Bennett continues, noting that "the singer is reportedly gulping one Coke after another, often sucking lollipops or other hard candies, and eating donuts, cake or cookies."

Sugar addiction, hypoglycemia or sugar shock plague some 147 million Americans, and Britney Spears could be one of these frustrated sugar addicts or people with hypoglycemia, who are clueless as to why they’re suffering from a host of baffling ailments, which also include mood swings, anxiety, severe PMS and even low libido. Some researchers have found that sugar addiction or dependency bears uncanny similarities to drug, alcohol or nicotine addiction. (According to media reports, Britney Spears has suffered from at least one of these problems.)

Bennett—a certified holistic health counselor and former sugar addict, who now jokingly calls herself an “Ex-Sugar Shrew!”—offers Britney Spears and others 8 of many warning signs of sugar shock, sugar addiction or hypoglycemia. You’re:

1. Getting abnormal, almost insatiable cravings for sweets. (Reportedly, Britney Spears experiences these tell-tale symptoms of hypoglycemia, sugar addiction or sugar shock.)

2. Feeling wiped out and spacey if you don’t grab a sugary snack or drink by late morning or mid-afternoon.

3. Flipping from wired to tired, at a moment’s notice.

4. Embarrassing yourself by bouts of irrational, cranky, snappy behavior, temper outbursts or even crying spells.

l5. Suffering from ferocious headaches, the shakes or dizziness.

6. Having excessive fatigue or difficulty concentrating. Extra sleep even doesn’t help much.
7. Feeling that a meal is incomplete without a dessert or refined carb. (Those include chips, white-four bread or white rice).

8. Sneaking extra cookies, candies or chips when no one’s watching or driving clear across town in the middle of the night to buy a Danish, donut or soda.

Britney Spears, as well as sugar addicts or people with hypoglycemia everywhere can break free from their sugar habit and gain good health, level moods, better concentration, improved relationships, and maybe even increased libido, says Bennett, whose book, SUGAR SHOCK! includes many valuable ideas to achieve sugar liberation. One chapter features Bennett's 21 sweet, sugar-free success secrets and strategies, and another delves into the tragedy of hypoglycemia.

SUGAR SHOCK! [ISBN 0425213579] is available at online retailers such as Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com and bookstores throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Learn more about Britney Spears' reported sugar addiction, and get other tips at Bennett’s SUGAR SHOCK! Blog at http://snipurl.com/BritneySugarAddict

Is pop star Britney Spears under the grips of a dangerous sugar addiction?

Are these media reports true:

• Is Britney Spears really mindlessly downing one Cokes after another?

Does she constantly suck lollipops or incessantly chomp on other hard candies?

Do danishes and donuts frequently land in her stomach, as well as cake or cookies?

In other words, is Britney flying high on sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and caffeine -- so much so that she's constantly throwing her poor stressed-out body into an almost constant state of SUGAR SHOCK?

And I can't help but wonder: Might drugs, sugar or alcohol have triggered erratic, unpredictable behavior in her such as when the pop star shaved off her gorgeous locks on Feb. 16?

Now, please bear in mind that I have no inside information about Britney's sugar habit. I am, in fact, relying on Star magazine's un-bylined article "Britney's Rehab Rebellion," which reports that the pop diva has dived into the depths of a sugar habit and demanding, undignified diva-ish antics that show no signs of letting up.

Britney has, as Star puts it, a "raging sweet tooth," a phenomenon that also grabbed the attention of the gossip website, Defamer.

It's perhaps ironic that the pop star is now in rehab, as People and other publications reported. She's reportedly been getting treatment at Promises Rehabilitation Center in Malibu, California, since Feb. 20 for conditions that Star claims are "substance abuse, bipolar disorder, bulimia and postpartum depression."

The sugar behavior recounted by an anonymous source to Star is quite scary. The observer said:

"She has been drinking tons of Coca-Cola — about two cases a day, or 24 Cokes in 24 hours. She drinks one after the other!"

Oh goodness, that's sugar-and-caffeine overload! That'll throw you into SUGAR SHOCK! many times over!

Star did some calculations -- there are 140 calories in a single Coke — "so that means Brit's imbibing at least 3,300 calories every day from the soft drinks alone," the publication reported.

But another important piece of math that needs to be thrown into the equation, too. Each 20-ounce bottle of Coke contains about 16.87 teaspoons of sugar (usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup). So, if Britney's guzzling 24 of these over the course of a day and night, then she's taking in nearly 405 teaspoons of sugar! (It may be a little less if she's gulping smaller-sized cans of soda.)

Look, let's just say that the Star's source was exaggerating greatly. If Britney were consuming 8 twenty-ounce bottles of Coke a day, that would still come to nearly 135 teaspoons of sugar.

According to the Star's source, Britney's sugar fixes don't end with Coke:

"She is also constantly eating lollipops and other hard candy, and when she eats food, it's always something sweet, like danishes or donuts or cake or cookies."

Which brings us to the all-important question: Is Britney substituting one addiction for another?

From having researched my book SUGAR SHOCK! and having once been in the throes of a sugar addiction myself, it seems to me that this very un-diva-like sugar behavior is a sure-fire clue that there's something else going on.

Downing sweets with such frenetic fervor seems to signify that Britney is withdrawing from drugs or alcohol. This excessive, over-the-top clamoring for sugar also could point to some possible underlying nutrient deficiencies or biochemical dilemmas. In fact, some treatment programs recommend supplements as L-glutamine, B vitamins and chromium to help address these problems.

Let's assume for the moment that Britney is switching addictions here. You see, often, when substance abusers kick their habit, they boost their intake of sweets.

"The sugar solution is a kind of substitute for the drug," Robin Kanarek, Ph.D., a Tufts University psychology and nutrition professor told me while I was working on a chapter about sugar addiction for my book SUGAR SHOCK!

"The relationship between sweets and drugs has been known about for a while in less-than-scientific circles," agreed Blake Gosnell, Ph.D., an expert in taste preferences and drug taking and basic research director at the Neuropsychiatric Institute in Fargo, North Dakota.

In fact, Dr. Gosnell told me about a cinematic moment (from an older, classic movie) that dramatizes these strange, sugar-seeking antics. Sure enough, Britney's alleged, gotta-have-sugar behavior reminds me of the sugar-craving scene that appears in the 1955 Otto Preminger drug-addiction drama, "The Man With the Golden Arm," with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak.

In the scene, Sinatra's character (a dope addict and card dealer) spends a harrowing night kicking drugs cold turkey. After suffering withdrawal symptoms galore, guess what he craves? You got it: Sugar! In fact, he even licks the sugar out of his hands! Yuck!

Another anonymous source Star quoted makes a similar observation: "Usually when a patient eats [a lot of] sugar, it means that they are coming down from a drug that kept them really up, like cocaine or speed."

If a person is coming down off of drugs, alloweing them them sugar isn't going to solve the underlying biochemical problem. No offense meant to the staff at the rehab facility where Britney's getting treated, but if these media reports about Britney's frantic sugar-craving shenanigans are true (or even partly true), then just what kind of medical help is she getting? Why would she be allowed to go on potentially dangerous sugar binges, when the substance is clearly part of her problem, even if it's legal?

Look, I mean no disrespect, but perhaps the doctors and staff there could use an education about sugar's far-reaching dangers! I'd even be happy to supply several copies of my book SUGAR SHOCK!, which would alert them to the fact that all those sweets the celebrity patient is allegedly consuming in excess could bring on mental confusion, depression, anxiety, mood swings, temper outbursts, excessive fatigue and so much more.

With all that sugar coursing through her bloodstream and sending her from a series of blood sugar highs to lows, Britney (or anyone, for that mattter) could be bouncing around from wired to tired at a moment's notice and flying off in irrational rages!

According to previous news reports, Britney's attachment to sweets is nothing new. In fact, in October 2004, the pop star's junk food diet alarmed health professionals and elicited a story, entitled "Sugar High," by Noel Boddie in Blender.

Reportedly, at the time, people witnessed her downing Red Bull energy drinks and sipping Starbucks Frappuccinos, noshing on Cheetos (allegedly, one of her favorite snacks), and even smoking Marlboro Lights.

My heart goes out to Britney, because it appears that she has hit rock bottom but is struggling to get her life back on track. Congrats to her for taking that first step to get help, even if she was pressured into it, as one media report implied. Even so, she should pat herself on the back that she's beginning to address her issues.

And I'd like to assure Britney that there's huge hope, at least as far as her sugar issues are concerned. You can live a sweet, wonderful, life without guzzling one caffeinated soda after another! Now's a good time, too, for her to take care of her sugar issues so that she can pass along healthy food habits to her chileren.

If you also want to wish Britney well, you can visit her fan website.

A very special thanks to my research assistant Jennifer Moore.