In this new edition of the bestselling Get the Sugar Out, nationally renowned nutritionist and well-known author Ann Louise Gittleman explains that sugar not only contributes to weight gain but also to mood swings, weakened immunity, diabetes, some cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Here she offers 501 simple, resourceful, and practical tips for cutting sugar from your diet, giving you the knowledge and inspiration you need to live a healthier life. A few of Gittleman's basic ways to cut sugar include:

• Eat more meals at home, so you can oversee the ingredients and avoid hidden sugars

• If you have a sweet tooth, try tricking it by chewing on a cinnamon stick

• Be a food detective; don't trust "sugar free" or "fat free" labels

• Cut down on salt not only to be healthier but because it helps cut out sugar cravings

• Don't exchange sugar for artificial sweeteners; as you'll find out here, many are harmful

With type II diabetes at an all-time high, cutting sugar from your diet is imperative. Get the Sugar Out is your solution for treatment and prevention: a unique, practical guide to a healthy and happy low-sugar lifestyle.

The Facts about Sugar and Its Kissing Cousins

As you have probably heard, all of us should be eating less sugar. Here's why: Sugar has been linked to more than sixty different ailments, including obesity. While refined sugar consumption has declined in recent years, a new breed of sugar substitutes has emerged in the form of artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, aspartame, and sugar alcohols, as well as high-fructose corn syrup (MFCS). Alarmingly, sugar's "kissing cousins" may be even more harmful to your health than sugar itself.

So today it is more important than ever that you understand and practice sugar savvy. HFCS is perhaps the most insidious of all sugar substitutes, as it alone accounts for more than 40 percent of caloric sweeteners added to foods and drinks in the United States - with consumption growth matching the escalating rise in obesity. Did you know that between 1970 and 2000 per capita consumption of HFCS in the United States went from an estimated 0.6 pounds per person per year to a whopping 73.5 pounds, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agricultural Economic Research Service?

You might see a label that doesn't list the white stuff and think that you are home free. Not true. Manufacturers are now using the cheaper HFCS and artificial sweeteners to take the place of sugar, and both artificial sweeteners and HFCS have been implicated in the fattening of America. (For more information on the dangers of artificial sweeteners, see the "Consumer Alert: What You Need to Know About die Top Two Artificial Sugar Substitutes" on page 55.)

The perception of "sugar-free" is not unlike that of "fat-free" in the 1980s and early 1990s. Consider this: Ever since we started slashing the fat and consuming those monster-sized low-fat muffins and boxes of fat-free cookies - you remember the Snack-Well's craze - we have actually gotten fatter, going from a 25 percent obesity rate in the 1970s to more than double that two decades later. Why? Because Americans were consuming those fat-free goodies with abandon, disregarding the fact that they usually have more sugar, and sometimes only slightly fewer calories, than the original products.

Let's take a close look at Nabisco Fig Newtons cookies as an example. Two of the original Fig Newtons supply you with 13 grams of sugars and 110 calories. If you eat two Nabisco Fat-Free Fig Newtons, thinking you're doing your body a favor, you'll get no fat, but you'll get more sugar - 15 grams instead of 13 grams - and only 10 fewer calories.

Add to this the fact that the fat in the original cookie helps satiate your appetite, so you are apt to eat only a few. With the fat-free kind, people sometimes eat whole boxes without ever feeling satisfied.

Nonetheless, sales of fat-free products skyrocketed. In line with this modern misconception (or should I say health deception?), reduced-sugar products now line the shelves and ultimately play this same trick on your hunger receptors and your waistline. Consider that roughly a decade ago 36 reduced-sugar products had edged their way into your local supermarket. In 2003 that number jumped to 607. In 2004 about 2,200 sugarless or sugar-reduced products were available for sale in the United States. Reduced-sugar and sugar-free products, from breakfast cereals to jelly beans, have taken up permanent residence on our supermarket shelves. And they are multiplying rapidly. So before you automatically reach for that reduced-sugar product, remind yourself that it is up to you to be your own food detective.

Copyright © 2008 by Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Tags: Low Sugar Diet

About the Author

Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S., is one of the foremost nutritionists in America. Prior to writing her first book, the national best-seller Beyond Pritikin, she was Nutritional Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica, California. Since then, she has been a consultant to a number of prestigious medical institutions, clinics, and spas, and a popular guest on national television shows. Her other books include Get the Sugar Out, Super Nutrition for Women, Super Nutrition for Menopause, Super Nutrition for Men, and Your Body Knows Best.