Zero Sugar Diet Book Review

[pullquote]The bottom line up front: The Zero Sugar Diet book is next book the “zero” book series by David Zinczenko.  The author’s goal is to educate others on the benefits of a well-­rounded healthy diet that is high in fiber and low in added sugar.  The fundamental concept in the book is fiber is the centerpiece of a healthy diet.  The book also helps provide readers with information on metabolism and energy, food choices, restaurant choices, recipes, shopping and optional exercise. The book is a well thought out, and sensible diet makes physiologic sense.  [/pullquote]

For years, the agricultural, manufacturing, medical, and nutrition communities have been blaming a sedentary lifestyle, too much fat, saturated fat, and carbohydrates for our obesity epidemic.  Thanks to newfound research, the focus is beginning to shift. This change is beginning to point away from the eat less and exercising more focus on the past and toward a more balanced approach with higher fiber.  The Zero Sugar Diet is one book that focuses on this new approach.       

The Zero Sugar Diet book was published in December of 2016 and is a product of David Zinczenko.  David Zinczenko is a dietician, and author of the “Eat This, Not That” series that is found in the supermarket checkout lines.  He developed a call to the cause of helping others lose weight and live healthier after personally becoming overweight and overseeing his father’s struggle with obesity and dying of a stroke at the age of 52.  After his father’s death, he deducted his life from learning about and combatting belly fat and this book is one product of that endeavor.  

The Zero Sugar Diet is not a new concept.  The concept is not novel, but the approach is slightly unique.  The basic theory behind the diet is similar to prior other diets I have read in the past.  The diet is based on the belief that we add too much sugar to our foods and eat way too little fiber.  The basic concept is to transform your diet to a more well-rounded diet that is full of nutritious fiber-dish food such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains and reduce the amount of sugar we add to foods. 

According to the book, the primary villain in this drama is the sugar and soda industry which have pushed their products on an unsuspecting public and fought any suggestions that their products are unhealthy by funding research and public affairs campaigns against any such claim.   Sugar, basically, is public enemy number one in America and had been making our fats and sick.   It is the cause of obesity and it is tied to an increased risk of cancer, diabetes, fatigue, heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease, stroke, and tooth decay.  

To combat the evils of sugar, The Zero Sugar Diet recommends that you eat three meals and one snack per day that are low in added sugar and high in fiber.  The basics are:

1. Zero added sugars
2. Plenty of beans or legumes, fruits, nuts or seeds, vegetables, and whole grains.
3. Power protein to include eggs, fish, unsweetened Greek yogurt, and lean meats such as turkey, chicken, lean beef or roast pork
4. Healthy beverages such as water, tea, milk, or even wine in moderation, but no fruit juice or soda.
5. High fiber foods with 30-40 grams of fiber per day but avoiding artificial fibers.  
6. Exercise is optional. I have always considered exercise to be a positive addition to assist with weight loss, but it is not essential and will not make or break your weight loss plan.  

I have tried multiple diets including Adkins, Nutrisystem, Paleo, Protein Power, Weight Watchers, and Zone, and very few of them stress moderation, limiting sugar, and adding fiber without a fad.  This plan is different because, instead of being a diet of deprivation, this diet book stressed making changes to your diet that should be easier to maintain than most of the fad diets like Adkins.  You are just cooking good healthy meals from scratch that are higher in fiber and low in added sugar.  The author also included good food choices if you must eat out at restaurants.  

Zero Sugar is based on fundamental physiology and the most recent research.  The diet recommends that you avoid bread with added sugar.  It allows whole-grain foods that would be considered taboo in low carbohydrate diets and who would have thought you could use the word good with the word bread anytime after the low carbohydrate craze.  If you chose bread wisely, you could have bread, but this is not an open invitation for all the white bread and pasta you can eat.  I enjoy bread so this diet fit in well with my eating habits.    

The key to success is retraining your brain and physiology, so you no longer desire and need sugar.  Starting as a child, we train our minds to need sugar.  Don’t get me wrong, your brain needs and can only burn glucose, but we can buffer the absorption to limit the insulin surge and lessen the effect.  According to the author,  the test panelists found that once they gave up added sugars for 14 days, they stopped desiring and it became easy to stop eating them.  You should start feeling great after only a few days, and weight loss should soon follow.  

Zinczenko also warns against artificial sweeteners which reportedly trick our bodies into thinking we’re consuming sugar.   This trick makes us more likely to binge on sugars later.   If you do not avoid the sweetness of artificial sweeteners, also your body will continue to have sweet cravings.  We want to prevent cravings so we can avoid binging in the future. 

The bottom line:  This could be a life-changing book for me.  Eliminating the added sugar from your diet and replacing it with fiber just makes sense.  The added fiber should stabilize your blood sugar and slow absorption so it should lead to weight loss.  The author creates an easy-to-use guide with food lists and recipes for each meal and snack so that is easy to plan your meals for an entire week.  It even includes optional sample workout plans.  

I will start this 14-day diet today and post an update in about two weeks.  I hope to report the diet works.  Wish me luck! 

Recommended book on lower sugar diets: