How to Do the Sugar Busters Diet
The Sugar Busters diet emphasizes low-carb eating and eliminating foods with high sugar content. The diet became wildly popular following the release of the Sugar Busters! book in 1998. According to Sugar Busters! authors, the consumption of too much refined sugar and too many complex carbohydrates will spike insulin levels and promote the accumulation of fat.
The Sugar Busters diet is extremely simple to follow, with no phases, counting or measuring. You simply need to know which foods to avoid. 40% of your caloric intake comes from vegetables, fruits and whole grains. It is also advised to reduce saturated fat intake.
Critics have claimed that cutting sugar and carbs alone will not necessarily lead to weight loss; they argue that cutting calories and saturated fats, combined with exercise and an increase in fiber intake, will be more beneficial.
Read on for more information about how to do the Sugar Busters diet.
Step 1: Sugar Busters Basics
Sugar Busters is a diet that eliminates sugars and high glycemic carbohydrates from meals. The premise is that eating a primarlily low-carb, sugar-free diet will help lower insulin levels and, ultimately promote weight loss. The authors claim that merely cutting calories and increasing exercise will not help you lose weight, unless you also eliminate high-sugar foods from your diet. Eating sugar causes your body to produce insulin. Large amounts of insulin in your body can thwart your weight loss regardless of how much you exercise or how strict the diet plan is that you are following.
The Sugar Busters diet will teach you how to reduce your daily sugar intake. They have meal plans and recipes that are easy to follow to help guide you on your weight loss journey. The diet will teach you the foods that considered to be insulin stimulating foods like potatoes and pasta. They will also tell you what foods are best to eat at certain times each day and what combination of foods that you should avoid to keep from putting on extra pounds. Basically, they will guide you through the process and eventually you will become knowledgeable enough to make the right food choices on your own.
Step 2: Learning which Foods are Good and Bad
Foods to Avoid
There are a number of foods that Sugar Busters recommends that you avoid when trying to lose weight. The idea of Sugar Busters is relatively simple: eliminate all sugars and complex carbohydrates from your meals. Using a glycemic index you can determine the glycemic levels of different foods. Foods that score higher on the Glycemic Index are the ones that need to be avoided. Some of these foods include:
- White rice
- Refined pastas
- White bread
- Carrots
- Bananas
- Watermelon
- Pineapples
- Raisins
- Beets
- Bacon
- Potatoes
- Corn
- Baked beans
Good Foods
So, what foods can you eat? Plenty, according to the Sugar Busters! authors. Besides helping you to shed those extra pounds, choosing to eat the good foods will help you feel better, have more energy and may even help prevent chronic diseases. If you are on the Sugar Busters diet, you are allowed to eat:
- Most meats, including:
- Lean beef and pork
- Canadian bacon
- Poultry
- Game meats
- Fish and shellfish
- Vegetables, including:
- Watermelon
- Peas
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Squash
- Fruits, including:
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapefruit
- Tomatoes
- Oranges
- Low-fat dairy products
- Whole grains
- Cereals
Step 3: Develop Your Diet Plan
After you have learned the basic premise of the Sugar Busters diet, you can the information to create a custom diet plan that fits your specific needs. Losing weight and getting healthy will take a complete commitment to this lifestyle change. It is not something that you can do for a week or a few months and then go back to eating the way that you did before. This will cause you to gain back the weight that you lost plus some in many cases. This doesn't mean that you can't splurge every now and then and have a hot fudge sundae or a piece of cake. However, what it does mean is that you have to make the decision to change your eating habits for the rest of your life.
To create your diet plan you begin by choosing the foods from the good food list that you like. Now take that information and create your own basic meal plan of 3 meals and one or two snacks a day. This can be adjusted if the need arises. It is important that you try to mix it up so that you don't get tired of eating the same things each day. Try to incorporate one or two new foods or recipes each week. Also, don't forget to schedule some time for exercise. Exercise is an important part of getting and staying healthy.
Disclaimer
The content on this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor or pharmacist for information about this product.
