Sugar Busters Diet Overview

Introduction:

The Sugar Busters Diet was made famous in New Orleans when it sold 100,000 copies by word of mouth alone. It is essentially a diet which eliminates sources of sugar and other high glycemic carbohydrates, in order to lower insulin in the blood (same theory as essentially all reduced-carb diets).

Authors:

H. Leighton Steward, Bethea Morrison, M.D., Sam Andrews, M.D. and Luis Balart, M.D

Main Books:

The New Sugar Busters!, 2002, 2003
Sugar Busters! Quick and Easy Cookbook, 1999
Sugar Busters! For Kids, 2001

Sugar Busters Book List with Links to Best Prices

Restricted Foods:

The diet eliminates all refined sugar, white flour and its products (white bread, cake, bagels, crackers, etc), potatoes, and other foods that are high on the glycemic index.

Amount of Restriction:

Compared to other reduced-carb diets, there is less restriction. There are no ultra-low carb phases, and, in fact, the whole diet could be fairly high in carbohydrate, depending upon food choices. The authors say the diet usually averages about 40% carbohydrate, but they also say that it can be as high as 50-55% carbohydrate. Where 40% is considered low carb, above 50% is not.

Amount of Structure:

Very little structure. There are some general suggested guidelines for meals regarding portion size, and composition and timing of meals.

Individual Variation:

There are almost no suggestions in the books for tailoring the diet to an individual's needs, or how to determine what those needs might be (e.g. different people's needs for different amounts of carbohydrate). The assumption seems to be that everyone is the same in regards to dietary needs.

Learning Curve:

This is a very simple and straightforward diet to follow. You must learn what foods are off-limits, and then learn how to eat within what is left. There is no measuring, weighing, counting, or calculating whatsoever.

Phases of the Diet:

None. You just change your eating, and that's that.