Q&A with Jacob Teitelbaum, MD

Published: September 17, 2012

"Beat Sugar Addiction Now!"

Question: You say we’re a nation of sugar addicts. What does this mean?

Dr. T: Whether you’re rich or poor, live in rural America or a big city, the standard American diet has predisposed you to sugar addiction. With the advent of food processing, at least one third of our calories now come from sugar and white flour, wreaking havoc on our metabolism. The body was never made to metabolize the 140-150 pounds of sugar/year added to each of our diets.

Question: How does sugar addiction affect overall health?

Dr. T: A high sugar and white flour diet contributes to the deaths of millions of people, while leaving many millions more simply feeling awful. It also causes massive weight gain. Excess sugar is a key factor causing life-threatening diseases such as heart attacks and diabetes, two of the major killers of modern life. Interestingly, both of these were very rare before the introduction of our current high sugar diet.

Question: Any other health repercussions?

Dr. T:  Excess sugar can also play a major role in causing anxiety, depression, obesity, fatigue, and pain.

Question: Do we have to go “cold turkey?”

Dr. T:  No, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a dessert or happily indulging your sweet tooth. The problem occurs when sugar and its metabolic cousin, white flour, go from being a dessert to becoming the main dish. And it has.

Question: What’s your Rx?

Dr. T:  We strongly believe that it's good to enjoy life's pleasures and not obsess over everything you eat. It’s simply not a healthy way to live. Beat Sugar Addiction NOW! shows you how to customize your diet in a way that's healthy and still satisfying, so that you can have your cake and eat it too! This book teaches you to understand your individual metabolic makeup. This enables you to make simple, informed changes that can be extremely effective in helping you feel dramatically better and live longer—while also helping you to finally shed those unwanted pounds.

Question: What makes this program unique?

Dr. T: It’s tailored to the individual based on the four major types of sugar addiction. A simple quiz tells you which kind of sugar addiction(s) you have and tailors a "Wellness Prescription" for each type. This makes it not only much simpler to cut back on sugar addiction, but leaves people feeling dramatically better in a relatively short time.

Question: What are these four types of sugar addiction?

Dr. T:  Type 1. Sugar addiction driven by fatigue. This is characterized by being hooked on so-called “energy drinks,” which are in reality energy loan sharks.

Type 2. Sugar addiction driven by adrenal exhaustion. This is when your body's stress handlers (the adrenal glands) are exhausted by the stresses of modern life. It is characterized by intermittent feelings of “feed me now or I'll kill you!”

Type 3. Sugar addiction driven by yeast/candida overgrowth. In addition to fatigue and sugar cravings, this is often associated with digestive problems (irritable bowel syndrome/spastic colon) and chronic nasal congestion or sinusitis.

Type 4. Sugar addiction driven by depression and anxiety caused by hormonal shifts. These include PMS, peri-menopause and menopause in women, and andropause (testosterone deficiency) in men.

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Jacob Teitelbaum, MD

is one of the world's leading integrative medical authorities on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. He is the lead author of eight research studies on their effective treatments, and has published numerous health & wellness books, including the bestseller on fibromyalgia From Fatigued to Fantastic! and The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution. Dr. Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted fibromyalgia experts in the world and appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and Fox News Health.

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