New Orleans Style SugarBuster Diet Do's & Don'ts.

This listing is not intended as gospel. Each of us has to make choices as to how closely we are to follow the Plan. I have taken various recipes, Glycemic Index tables, and advice from around the Internet community, and tried to combine them here to help us better understand. If the Authors or any other Informed Sources wish to comment, I will be very appreciative. I do know that I had a bit of trouble with deciding what I could & could not eat on the plan. So I plan to make one page a"Can I eat .........................?" Page. Any and all constructive advice from informed sources will be incorporated.

So, without further ado!


What to steer clear of (and maybe why).

We all know the four basic No-No's on this diet, Potatoes, White Flour, White Rice, and Modern types of Corn. Most of us already know, but the G.I. is Glycemic Index. It's a rating of how well the body turns a food into unwanted substances in the body. There are many other, much better sites, with more information on the Glycemic Index, so I will leave it to them to explain in technical terms. I have provided many links down below which will take you to them.

I understand that if you can get the old "maize" type of corn, the G.I. is considerably lower. I haven't been able to get a G.I. on any Ground meal made from this corn, but it should be lower as well. The main reason, I'm told, is that the newer varieties of corn were bred over hundreds of years to retain more sugar and moisture. This explains the taste, anyway!
Also, the Whole Wheat Flour can be used in place of "enriched" flour, but make sure it is Whole Grain Flour. As for Potatoes, there's no substitute for these pure starch repositories. So no fries, either! But rice has many varieties that are pretty wholesome. As long as it is Whole Grain unbleached and unenriched rice, you should be okay.

I've seen discussions of "converted" Rice too, which has an even lower G.I.

What we do at home now, as I'm sure many of you do, is create new meals. I was raised in the South, and to us, supper was Meat, Potatoes or rice, gravy, beans, two green veggies and cornbread. Occasionally a different colored vegetable was served, but this was the basic layout.
My wife was raised in Cajun country, and every meal had rice or potatoes with flour gravy, or a flour based roux. This is what we fed our kids and what they feed theirs. Up to now, anyway. Now I have had the unique experience of french fried sweet potatoes and I have had many potatoeless meals. The only thing is, it gets boring.

I know you can eat some fatty foods that were off limits on other diets, but still, how many times can you eat steak in a week? And of course, you do still have to watch the total intake of calories. 5000 calories of lettuce a day is still 5000 calories! But what I really like about this plan is that it is simple. You don't have to carry around a long list of things to look for in the (Ugh,!)Diet Section of the grocery store. Just look for the things you normally buy in unsweetened varieties, and avoid any product not made from whole grains including rice. There are exceptions to each and every rule and I put a list of them at the bottom of the page. I got this information directly from the websites whose link is next to the item.

Replace all the sugar you use with artificial sweeteners. This was the hardest for me, because I drank large quantities of soda, iced tea, coffee, and juice every day. ALL day! So I learned to like Equal, Sweet-n-Low, & Nutrasweet. Then I learned to like decaffienated versions of each beverage. Now I find that a tall glass of bottled water does a much better job of satisfying my thirst. I wasn't so much thirsty, as feeding the sugar habit. I still drink a lot, but now can satisfy my thirst.

Excercise is a must. Even if you only go for a ten minute walk, do something. If you cannot walk, do something else. If you are married and/or have a willing partner, I'm sure you can find something to do to raise the pulse rate. Do anything that raises the old pulse rate for ten to thirty minutes every day.

The SugarBusters diet will lower the Insulin level and increase your energy level , but YOU have to move the blood around to get the fat to move away. Fat doesn't like motion. The more fat you put in motion, the more fat will leave you. Kind of like that permanent houseguest that you asked to help clean the garage. Don't go out and run a mile. Not unless you've been doing it all along. Just move around. If you are bedridden, pick up a good heavy book, ten times per set, and ten sets. Then two books, then a rock, then a cinder block, then a Chevy block, well, maybe we're not that far along yet, go back and get a bigger rock. But MOVE SOMETHING!!!!


Glycemic index tables and links

Okay, this is what you came here for. I say again, I cannot guarantee personally that all this information is accurate because I am not a scientist or doctor or dietician. I can guarantee that I will correct any inaccuracies as soon as I am made aware of them. The information provided here is directly from the websites listed and linked to. I make no claims except that.

You might want to bookmark this page and come back to it to get to the next link on the list. Or just use your back button.

Remember, it is up to YOU whether this works for you. If you cheat, well it won't work as well as it should. But if you don't keep at it, it won't work at all! So don't worry too much if you don't stay on it 24 & 7. Just get BACK on it as soon as you can. It is not like a friend, or spouse. If you cheat one of those, they might leave. SugarBuster's works as long as you work it. So what if that beautiful dessert tempted you and you gave in. Today, you are back on track, and the weight will keep coming off, and the good feeling of doing the right thing for yourself will stay as long as you keep doing the right thing!

Good Luck, and pass on your success stories to the Discussion Group as well!

Main Sugarbuster Diet Question & Answer Page
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htmRick Mendosa's G.I. List

Michel Montignac's new book about healthy eating


List of sites to visit for more information

This is where we put the links you send us. Any new and updated sites dealing with Glycemic Index, SugarBuster Diet Reviews, Places to buy the Book on the web, and instructions for joining the discussion group should go here

Alex Haas Recipe Page

Low Carb Diet Plans similar to SB

Links to other interesting Diet sites

Some of these are pretty interesting, though not always strictly SB Legal. Again, use your mind to figure out what you need to do. You know that sugar will make you miserable, and that sugar is hidden in nearly every food you buy. Educate yourself. Go back to the list of sugar substitutes in the E-Mail discussion group. I posted it here, and you can print it to take to the store if you want.