If the thought of eating so much sugar gives you a wake up call, then Ms. Gittleman's book is for you. This book is divided into 9 chapters about getting the sugar out of your: 1) kitchen; 2) breakfast; 3) soups and salads; 4) entrees and side dishes;
5) sandwiches and snacks; 6) drinks and party foods; 7) baking, desserts, and treats; 8) when you eat out; and 9) out of your mind and life. There is also a chapter about the facts of sugar and its kissing cousins and an appendix with a week of sample menus.

This book is easy to read and also has easy steps to follow to reduce your dependency on sugar. If you need to cut your sugar or eliminate it completely, this book is a good place to start. You can use 1 tip at a time or jump in completely and use all the tips.

Ms. Gittleman is spot on with this book. I'm hypoglycemic and her advice helped me. She's right about the dangers that sugar can lead too. I'm eating healthier, exercising more and I don't have the sugar cravings I once had. If you ever want informative nutritional advice that's easy to read, she's the one to follow! I've also become a more educated shopper by following her helpful advice on reading food labels. I'll be reading her other health books too.

Ann Louise Gittleman is a pioneer, and had the right idea on a lot of things way before they became popular. This is one of my favorite Ann Louise books, and i've used these concepts in my own writing and teaching for years. This is a terrific little guide to how to begin to get rid of the most damaging substance in your diet- sugar. No kidding.

Should be "required" reading for anyone concerned with their health

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS author "The 150 Healthiest foods on Earth"

I have tried to lose weight for YEARS! I have done it all, low carb, more protein, blah blah blah and on and on. I jogged, I did aerobics, I swam, and on and on and would lose 1 pound and that was it.UNTIL I READ THIS BOOK! I first read this book about 1 month ago and have lost over 5 pounds. I have have not changed my exercise routine or anything, the only thing I have changed is getting the sugar out. There are so many hidden sugars in food that KEEP US FAT! When you become a label detective, like she tells you to do, you will see just how much extra sugar you consume each day. I eliminated this hidden sugar in food and the pounds are falling off! I feel like I have turned the clock back 20 years using this book. I am so tired of being fat and feeling miserable, there is NO WAY I would ever go back to eating hidden sugars again. If you want to lose weight, this is the way to do it.

If I had known more about Gittleman's apparently unsuccessful past as a vegan/vegetarian before I read this book, I wouldn't have bothered with it, but I've decided to read it to the end out of morbid curiosity. While I will admit that she does offer a few solid ideas and sensible recipes, on the whole she does not present reasonable and accurate information about the healthiest ways to fine tune your diet by cutting down on processed carbs. Too often, she just substitutes meat, dairy and eggs for nutritionally superior plant-based foods. Gittleman also weakens her case when she insists there is no scientific evidence that consumption of animal products can lead to heart disease, cancer and other illnesses, and that we should actually blame all that on refined carbs. She cites the Masai and Samburu tribes of Africa, who consume a mostly beef, milk and blood diet, as proof positive that humans are healthier eating meat (actually the Masai have been shown to have heart disease). Although I certainly agree that a high intake of sugar is bad for you, it's unlikely that refined carbs are responsible for all the diseases that are rampant in the modern western world. Following are a few head scratchers that I found in her book:

Gittleman gives a listing of foods rated according to their "glycemic index" in the beginning of her book, implying that it can be used to determine what you should eat. The problem is that the glycemic value of foods does not give the whole picture. You can find obviously bad foods like ice cream or white pasta listed with a relatively low glycemic index and good foods like carrots and millet rated high. Some things that influence the glycemic index are food processing methods, level of ripening, the presence of fat and protein, fiber, the higher density of some foods, to name a few, according to nutritionists Brenda Davis and Vesanto Medina. All of these need to be taken into consideration when choosing appropriate foods. Ms. Gittleman does not make this clear.

Amazingly, on page 45, she talks about eating "properly combined complimentary vegetable proteins". That statement threw me back to the well-meaning but often misinformed 1970s. The necessity for protein complimentarity is a theory that was shot down decades ago by the same woman who introduced it: Frances Moore Lappé, in her classic book "Diet for a Small Planet". There is no need for protein complimentarity in a plant-based meal. If you're a vegan, the important thing is to get all the essential amino acids in your body some time during the day, but it doesn't have to be at the same meal.

On the same page, Gittleman states, "If you crave sugar or even complex carbohydrates, that's almost always a sign that you're not getting enough protein" (as in meat, fish and eggs). I remember from my many years as a meat eater that if I craved carbs, it was a sure sign that I was eating TOO MUCH protein in the form of animal products.

On page 45 and 46, Gittleman makes her single reference to "vegetarians" (she means vegans), cavalierly dismissing them by stating that they should get tested for the presence of various amino acids, both essential and non-essential, because if they're deficient in any of them, they might have problems with carb cravings and blood sugar imbalances. While I agree that many vegans, just like many meat eaters, don't eat properly out of ignorance or laziness and may develop cravings based on their bad eating habits, the fact is that ALL essential amino acids are derived from plants (which are in turn consumed by the herbivores that humans eat), and that the non-essential amino acids can be synthesized in the body, so it's difficult to imagine any nutritionally conscientious vegan being deficient in amino acids! Also, taurine and carnitine deficiencies are rare in humans, even in vegans.

On page 118, she states that "some people just can't thrive" (without meat). This is based on the theory that your blood type should dictate your diet, which is one step up from believing in your sun sign determining what you should eat, as far as I'm concerned. The truth is that protein is protein, and whether you get sufficient amounts from animal or vegetable sources, your body does not know the difference.

On page 121, she rashly declares: "While too much meat in the diet can be bad for your health, too little meat can be just as harmful." Really? Sez who?

Although I've eaten a plant-based diet primarily for humane, ethical and environmental reasons for over eight years, I think it's counterproductive to make myself sick over my choice of food, so it's also important to me to be an informed vegan. As with any diet, there is a learning curve involved in being a successful vegan. If you want to read a frank and fact-based book about veganism that is not afraid to talk about the nutritional errors vegans make and how to eat well while remaining vegan, and which includes the results of innumerable nutritional studies and really solid advice about all the essential nutrients vegans need to know about, I strongly suggest reading "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D. and skipping Gittleman's book.

I was born into a sugar addicted family and have been a junk-food junkie my entire life. I had been wanting to get off of sugar for a very long time, due to acne and other problems, but couldn't get through a day without my "fix". I bought this book through Amazon at the end of October, 2007, and reading just the first chapter alone motivated me to cut out all processed sugar. It was a miracle in my mind that I was able to do this, and I know I couldn't have done it without this book. I never would have believed that I could do without sweets. I have lost weight, improved my complexion, saved money, and so much more. I feel good!
Cons: I wish that there were more recipes, and that the author didn't rave so much about the use of Stevia. I bought a bunch of Stevia products, and found that I didn't like the taste at all. But I like the taste of things without sugar now, so that's okay. Other than that I give a big "thumbs up" to this book.