Sugar Blues

What do beer and whiskey have to do with health? How did Vietnamese whole-rice stymie the elaborately equipped and lavishly rationed armies of the West? And why is this book, which answers both questions and many more, still around after more than 35 years of publication? Because Sugar Blues answers the most important question of all: exactly how has white sugar disabled and destroyed people from every corner of civilization to every haven of indigenous life. This is a foundational work in nutrition telling the story of this world’s darkest curse, refined sugar. Read it. It’s a classic.

From Amazon Customer Reviews:

“Sugar Blues, which I first read in 1978 when I was 35 years old, is the most important book I’ve ever owned. I always have several copies on hand and give one to anybody who asks me the question, ‘How do you stay so slim and so healthy?'”
—george klein

“Over the past few years I have done everything that I could to make my family healthy. We watch what we eat, we exercise, and we do everything that the doctor and the medical establishment tells us to do. But it wasn’t working. No matter how much I counted calories, worked out, and obsessed about food, I could not stop gaining weight. Two years ago I stopped drinking soda cold-turkey and within two weeks I lost 14lbs. The longer that I was off of soda the less I wanted it, and when I allowed myself to ‘cheat’ and have one, it tasted terrible, it tasted like chemicals. I couldn’t believe that I had been drinking that since I was a teenager. BUT the more that I didn’t drink soda, the more it seemed that I craved chocolate. I thought it was ok, I was losing weight, to allow myself some chocolate, but the more I had, the more I wanted. Now, thanks to this book, I understand why. Sugar is a danger. NOT bad for us, but a real danger. It’s terrifying, and you can read this and go on to do your own research on what he says, I always do more research before I really believe. This is an important book. VITAL.”
—dreaming of the sun

“While the book is old, the logic and science is still sound. Also, as a history nerd, this provides a huge section on the social and cultural history of sugar. Overall a great read, and well worth investigating if you have any issues with mood swings/ depression, etc. I cut out all sugar (except sugar naturally found in fruit) and artificial sweetener and literally within days saw a drastic improvement in my moodiness.”
—whitney

“I just got done reading Sugar Blues in two sittings and I have to say that it was much more informative and insightful than I originally thought it was going to be. I knew of course that it was going to be about how sugar isn’t good for you and what can happen if you consume too much. But this book is about so much more than that. It covers the history of our love/hate relationship with this product, how the outcries of those who learned about its true effects were suppressed by those selling it to the masses, and how it was able to make its way into nearly every facet of our eating lives despite the negative effects of it that so many people are feeling today. This is one of those books that the average person would not want to read because it presents undeniable truth that demands real long-term change.”
—Joe McNeal (real name)

“I read this book years ago and passed it onto my husband who at the time was a sugar holic—after reading this he quit sugar and lost 50 lbs in 6 months!!”
—Jill C. Jolley (“JillJ”)