Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11548 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Reviews the history and folklore, medical and otherwise, of refined sucrose and explains the ubiquitous chemical's threats to health.

Customer Reviews

This book will never allow you to view sugar the same
"Sugar Blues" will change you outlook on sugar forever. It opened my eyes to pay attention to what I put in my body. This book is hard to read at times and does appear to be very opinionated, but it had a great impact on my life. I have been eliminating sugar from my diet and I have never felt better. I had gained a lot of weight during the last year and had little energy. I have made a concious effort to put to use the tips in this book and I have a new lease on life. My energy seems to go up every day. If you like this book another that I have read is:"Get the Sugar Out". It includes a few sugarless recipes as well. Please read this book if you are having ANY health problems or a low energy level. This will change your life forever.

The truth about why many of us feel so cruddy!
When I read Sugar Blues the first time, I was already struggling to eliminate refined sugar from my diet because I knew I was addicted to it. Dufty's book just further supported my suspicions, that sugar is not only extremely habit-forming, but it was also responsible for my flagging energy levels, mood swings, and many other unpleasant symptoms. This book is a superb combo of personal testimony and well-researched facts, and is sure to make every reader give another thought to eating foods containing this "white death."

A sledgehammer of truth
In SUGAR BLUES, William Dufty doesn't just lift the historical mask on sugar, he pulverizes it. I have read other books detailing the biological havoc that refined sugar wreaks on the body, but this is the first book I've seen that places sugar in a historical framework and charts its path of destruction over thousands of years, through the rise and fall of civilizations right up to present-day corporate and government duplicity. The results are truly eye-opening, if not shocking. If you thought sugar was just one of life's sweet little nuisances, think again. It has been one of the major levers for the enslavement and control of human beings for millenia.

The portrait of the historical drama of sugar is this book's strength. SUGAR BLUES does have minor weaknesses, however. It's lacking in science, which these days is important to have when challenging the status quo. It also lacks a systematic argument, the chapters often meandering from subject to subject (the chapter on sugar in cigarettes, for instance, ends with a discussion of sugar's role in auto accidents). Finally, the book sputters to its conclusion as Dufty provides a final chapter on recipes that frankly put me to sleep. He should have stuck to his original purpose here and delivered a final, clinching argument. With a new edition, all of these minor wrinkles could be addressed.

That said, this book's value is nonetheless extraordinary. Sugar is so entrenched in most people's lifestyles that it is practically invisible, taken for granted. But if it has caused half the damage Dufty claims it has, then everyone should do themselves a favor and read his book. It doesn't end there; I know from personal struggle that sugar is incredibly hard to kick. But the first step in any change is knowing you have to make it.