Sugar Busters! How It Works
Reviewed By Charlotte E. Grayson, MD. February 2004. Article from WebMD.
Related - Sugar Busters Books , Sugar Busters! Groceries, Diet
The authors use basic science to explain their theory -- up to a point. A snack or meal that is high in carbohydrates (of which sugar is the basic building block) raises the level of glucose in the blood stream quickly. This stimulates the pancreas to release the hormone insulin. This release produces too much insulin, say the authors, so that the body is not able to convert that glucose into glycogen (which is used for immediate energy needs). Alas, the body's ability to store or hold glycogen is limited to a measly few hundred grams -- an average of 700 grams can be stored in the liver and muscles.
The result of that insulin production is stored fat. And the body has uncanny ability to hang unto it, like it or not, in the form of that spare tire around one's middle, those thunder thighs, and that belly. And, wouldn't you know it, the body can store thousands of grams of fat. All of this was incredibly useful for our forebears before the invention of fast-food joints, when the next meal might be long off, and fat could be converted into energy as needed. But while we no longer need this efficient system of packaging, we're stuck with it.
However, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate meal causes only an imperceptible rise in blood glucose and consequently a very small rise in insulin but a significant increase in the glucagon level, claim the authors. What is glucagon? The other hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps regulate blood sugar and "promotes the mobilization of previously stored fat," according to the authors. "[As] you burn food reserves for your energy requirements between meals, high levels of glucagons will allow that energy to be derived" from your stored fat reserves. Furthermore, the elevated glucagon level stays high for quite some time "so you can keep on burning that mobilized fat."
Insulin, on the other hand, "inhibits the mobilization of previously stored fat," they warn, "even if one is on a rather skimpy, but glucose-generating, diet." All this explains why people eating a diet high in white-flour pasta cannot burn fat even when food intake goes down.
The most controversial claim of the Sugar Busters! diet is that by keeping the need for insulin low by eliminating or severely restricting certain foods, we can reduce insulin resistance, a condition wherein our bodies have become insensitive to normal levels of circulating insulin in the bloodstream. Insulin resistance results in obesity and frequently is the culprit behind type 2 diabetes, or the non-insulin-dependent form of the disease. "Fifty percent or more of insulin resistance can be reduced or even reversed as insulin resistance does not totally depend on our inherited genes," say the authors.
What the Experts Say
They don't like Sugar Busters! much. "The authors contend that you can avert diabetes on the Sugar Busters! diet. That is a myth," asserts Maureen L. Storey, PhD, associate director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In addition, Storey doubts the authors' fundamental weight-loss claims. "When we gain weight, it doesn't matter where the calories come from -- calories in and not enough out will cause you to gain weight.
"Furthermore," Storey says, "the diet perpetuates the myth that your body can distinguish from sugars that are naturally occurring in food products and sugars that are added to a manufactured product. It can't. Even a high-fiber cereal such as Kellogg's All Bran has some sugar in it. We are all concerned about getting more fiber in the diet so that if adding a little bit of sugar to the food makes us eat more, that is great."
Theresa Nicklas, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, says her main complaint about the diet is its claims about insulin resistance. "Diet does not cause insulin resistance," she says. "Insulin resistance is a medical condition that must be diagnosed by a physician. It isn't something that can be self-diagnosed by reading a book."
She is also concerned that the diet is too high in protein. "High protein diets increase calcium excretion and may exacerbate gout," she notes. "Possible side effects include kidney and liver damage, fatigue, weakness, and irritability. Just why are people losing weight on this diet? Each menu averages a mere 1,200 calories. Just about anyone can lose weight on 1,200 calories a day."
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