. Scott Olson ND, the author of a new book, Sugarettes, claims that sugar is both addictive and harmful, much like cigarettes. Dr. Scott is issuing a challenge to spend January 2008 without sugar for the launch of International Sugar Free Month (http://olsonnd.com/30-sugar-free-days/) to draw attention to the burgeoning health crisis created our sugar over-consumption.
Sugar is a powerful addiction and that addiction has real consequences for our bodies and minds, says Dr. Scott. Our sugar consumption affects our health, our weight, and ultimately, how
long we get to spend on this planet.
January is typically a time to focus on weight loss, but International Sugar Free Month is a call to take the next step and create a weight loss program that is also a health program.
Sugar consumption has dramatically increased in the last decades. It is estimated that people in the developed world are now eating somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of a pound of sugar every
day - for a total of over 150 pounds of sugar a year.
While most people deny eating that much sugar, 1/4 pound of sugar a day is actually fairly easy to achieve. Calculating daily sugar consumption requires knowing how much sugar is in a
pound: 1 pound of sugar is equal to 120 teaspoons, and 1/4 pound of sugar is equal to 30 teaspoons.
Finding teaspoons of 30 teaspoons of sugar in a typical diet is easy.
For example, each 12-ounce soda contains 8 teaspoons of sugar; it takes only four (small) sodas (or one Super 42-ounce drink) a day to equal 1/4 pound. Not everyone drinks four sodas a
day, but one or two are very common. When other sugars found in the diet are added to the soda, such as those found in donuts (8-10 teaspoons), jams (3 teaspoons per tablespoon), cookies
(2-4 teaspoons per cookie), candy or other snacks, and the so-called hidden sugars found in salad dressing, bread, peanut butter and other foods are added, it is easy to see that large
amounts of sugar are being consumed daily.
This sugar consumption is not without its consequences as sugar is at least partly responsible for our epidemic of overweight and diabetic children and adults. Some research also suggests
that sugar may also have ties to other diseases such as heart disease.
International Sugar Free Month (http://olsonnd.com/30-sugar-free-days/) is a program designed to help people discover just how their
sugar addiction is ruining their lives.
The Media may contact Dr. Scott for more information or to schedule an interview.