Q:
What is the most lethal
silent killer facing the world today?
The first reply from most of us would probably be
hypertension—as it is seldom symptomatic. Or high cholesterol, for the
same reason. How about obesity or heart disease? All valid guesses, but how
can obesity be considered a silent killer?
I recently finished an excellent book called
Sugar Nation,
written by Jeff O’Connell. In it, Jeff, a thin and seemingly healthy man
who is fighting diabetes, goes into lengthy and fascinating detail about how
this disease is growing at record numbers. And is not only afflicting the
obese and sugar-scrafers. It attacks the slender and fit folks, and potentially
people like me, who ingest little sugar, but have some carbohydrate food
challenges.
Jeff’s father died from diabetes; I’m sure this
motivated him to write
Sugar Nation. I can relate to that, as my father died
in his mid-fifties from years of tobacco abuse, along with overindulging in
alcohol and unhealthy food choices. It was through his death that I became the health advocate
that I am today. And helped motivate me to create this blog and my website,
livelife365.com.
I was recently asked by Jeff’s marketing team to write
a review of
Sugar Nation. I offer it here for you to read and learn, and strongly
urge you to buy the book. It just may save your life.
Oh, and, of course, I also produced this video about Jeff's book for your viewing pleasure:
One thought that continued to meander around my brain as I
dove into Jeff O’Connell’s must-read book,
Sugar Nation, was
that I did not consider myself a sugar-eater. All my life I have been lucky to
eschew the temptations of a sweet tooth for the desire to indulge in more salty
snacks. I could literally walk past a mound of brownies and dishes filled with
chocolates without batting an eye. Yet find it quite difficult to put down a
bag of potato chips without consuming most of them. But did you know that the
carbohydrates from that bag of chips turns into as much sugar, once processed
and stored inside the body, as consuming spoonfuls of the sweet stuff?
Sugar Nation reads as much like a personal memoir as
a convincing diatribe against the medical community for seemingly turning a
blind eye toward one of the worst killers decimating the world
today—diabetes.
Jeff O’Connell, a diabetic battling the same disease
that killed his father, knows of what he speaks. A former executive writer at Men’s
Health and editor at Muscle & Fitness, Jeff decided to take
matters into his own hands in his fight against this growing disease. Through
a tireless energy and investigative zeal (challenging, given his constant
battle with low blood sugar, spiking insulin, crashing insulin, and the
countless maladies that accompany diabetes), Jeff shatters conventional (and at
times very incorrect) wisdom, deciding to battle his illness with diet and
exercise, rather than the all-too-often remedy: prescription drugs.
I am familiar with this type of attitude when it comes to
not accepting the first (or second or third) opinion of someone in the medical
profession. A few years ago I was overweight, had high blood pressure and
unhealthy cholesterol and glucose levels. The immediate reaction from my
doctors was to reach for a prescription pad. My immediate reaction
was—do I want to spend the rest of my life gobbling pills? Or could I do
something myself to change those life-threatening results?
Like Jeff, I combated my nemesis through diet, exercise, and
supplements. The results were so amazing (I dropped forty pounds in six months
and lowered my blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol down to healthy levels)
that I created my self-help video website,
livelife365.com. I wanted to
reach as many people as possible so I could share my successes. Just like what
Jeff is doing with
Sugar Nation.
While I consider myself a guy who knows what to eat, and
what not to, I learned a lot from Jeff about healthy diet—especially when
it comes to carbs. I lost most of my weight through a high-fiber, low-fat
diet. But that diet may not work best for diabetics. More animal proteins and
only carbs high in fiber are the keys to not only healthy weight loss, but
assisting in the fight against diabetes. I learned that some carbs I have been
consuming daily for years (potatoes and bananas) may not be as good for me as I
thought.
Sugar Nation is a wakeup call. Not just for the billions of
overweight and obese people out there who are walking time bombs for stroke,
heart disease, and diabetes. But to all those seemingly fit folks (like Jeff,
a tall and thin man often misdiagnosed because of how he looked) who need to
change the way they live. It is also a very well written critique of our
healthcare system, the medical profession, and the powerful pharmacological
lobby that seems to affect how the former go about their business.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Who knows, reading it may just save your life…or a
loved ones.
Think about it.
peace,
Mike
My StumbleUpon Page
