Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage, and Reclaim Good Health

If you are still eating some sugar in your diet after reading books like Robert Lustig's Fat Chance, this book will make you give it up for good. With terrifying detail, Richard Jacoby discusses the mechanics of how too much dietary sugar eventually leads to the crippling nerve damage, infection, gangrene and amputation that are the hallmarks of advanced metabolic disease. In fact, you could have serious damage long before the diabetes diagnosis. It is full of nuggets of new information, such as how such diseases as ALS, gallbladder disease, or even Bell's palsy may be related to this sort of damage caused by sugar.That said, I have some reservations, none of which are enough to justify knocking off a star. I think he is too cool with dairy products and red meat, despite some evidence that they increase risk of cancer and heart disease. He misses the problems with too much protein, which is that it can increase cancer risk and also convert to glucose. In general, the longest lived and healthiest societies on earth, such as the Japanese and the Europeans that live around the Mediterranean, do eat some carbs in the form of grain products, rice for the former and pasta for the latter. He does not show that rigorously giving all that up completely leads to greater longevity. He also unfairly bashes stevia and claims that you should do without a sweet taste in your mouth altogether. I think this is harsh and unnecessary. No one ever gets diabetes from putting stevia in their coffee. To be fair, he allows a more flexible form of his recommended diet which is based on glycemic index and glycemic load. Finally, he should have recommended coconut oil rather than butter for the bulletproof coffee. I do this and it's awesome. Coconut oil has many benefits over butter even though the latter is okay.But my overall view is that this book is excellent and valuable. I personally have cut way, way back on my sugar and starchy carb intake, and the health benefits are immediate and obvious - greater mental sharpness, more even energy, gradual weight loss, to name just a few.Highly recommended.

This book is completely paradigm shifting. I have suffered from chronic foot, ankle pain for nearly 15 years and traditional medical doctors have not helped me a single bit. I finally got tired of getting blank stares from doctors and took my heath into my own hands. I had to go to an uncovered provider to finally get answers and be educated about peripheral neuropathy. Long story short, I made my way to this book and am so unbelievably grateful.This book is very well written. It’s short and punchy and extensively researched. He breaks down so many things: how sugar is a poison and the cause of many of our chronic diseases, surgical options, inner workings of the nerves, and how ditching sugar can heal you from the inside out of you have peripheral nerve damage. If you want to be given more meds to numb your pain, this isn’t the book for you. If you’re ready to change your diet and break some bad habits, then this will act as a guide helping you take your next step.He recommends a keto type diet of under 50g of carbs per day. I tried keto and it was the best I’d felt in 15 years. Now it’s time to make that diet my long-term plan! Here we go!

The best thing about this book is that it totally convinced me that sugar in all of its refined forms is really, really bad for the body. Before reading this, I only knew about some of the most obvious problems with the white stuff (weight gain, feeling crappy, etc.). Formally, I was willing to put up with these symptoms in order to enjoy the taste and texture of sugary foods. Having read this book, I now know that sugar causes nerve damage. This explains a number of symptoms I have lived with for quite some time. Also, I am more aware of how and where food manufacturers hide sugars in their products. I am now planning my meals and snacks around whole foods as close to their natural state as possible. After just a few days, I am already feeling better. I also enjoyed reading Sugar Crush because the author has a very conversational style and a sense of humor.The reason I am giving only four stars instead of five is because of the author's recommendation to follow the Paleo diet. I believe that a plant-based diet is more beneficial, for humans, animals, and the planet. Why buy expensive grass-fed beef for omega-3 fatty acids when you can get omega-3s directly from eating greens yourself? I highly recommend How Not To Die by Michael Greger, M.D. for information about a plant-based diet.In addition, I disagree with the Sugar Crush about the need to limit fruit. I believe it is the most perfect food for humans to consume, as long as the fruit is in its natural state. Although fruit does contain sugar, the sugar is in a natural form, is not particularly concentrated, and exists along with a multitude of beneficial micro nutrients, water, and fiber. The best way to eat fruit and maximize its benefits is to eat it in its natural state and by itself. Fruit does not digest well when combined with other foods, so wait a least a half hour after eating other foods to eat fruit, and then wait at least a half hour before consuming another food. This is a principle of Natural Hygiene, which dates back to the 1800s. There is plenty of information about Natural Hygiene on the web. Personally, I feel great when I follow this way of eating fruit. In addition, I often make a green smoothie, which combines greens and fruit in a smoothie made in a high-speed blender like my Vitamix.Having said that, I do believe that a diet that is free of added sugar, chemicals, trans fats, etc. is still going to be better for the body than a diet of manufactured food, even if it is not purely plant-based. I still eat eggs once or twice a week.I also recommend a most excellent book that helps tremendously with the mental processes and techniques for eating better. It is Mini Habits for Weight Loss by Stephen Guise. Such a great book!

Very interesting lots I did not know still reading and enjoying

A nice read

Very informative. Easy to read and also portions that are more dense. Loved learning about the political agendas behind food and big Pharma.

The author makes a difficult subject very concise, almost bullet pointed and black and white. We all have a choice...well he actually gives 2 choices and obviously ignoring those two choices. I considered myself a healthy eater with a perfect weight. I have now reconsidered that view and will be making some changes to my diet and eating habits..... kicking the unnecessary carbs.I have read a lot of nutrition books. This is the only one I am recommending as a must (and uncomfortable) read. I would describe it as coming from a scientific and truthful medical perspective..... probably something all medical professionals should HAVE to read as part of their training, to open their eyes and provide full care to their patients no just drugs, surgery, quick fixes and inadequate dietary advice.

The book is very interesting. I learned a lot about sugar and the processes that happens in our bodies, still it felt overly repetitive. The author spends an entire chapter talking about feet problems, and even though it is related to sugar consumption, it got very boring.

Its important to know what's going on inside the body when we eat sugar. Very good book that made me want to stop eating sugar over all other books on the subject. Scary reading.