Sugar Blues 

by William F. Duffy, William Dufty

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis
The classic, best-selling expose on the dangers of sugar reveals how this commonly ingested ingredient in countless foods is highly addictive and causes a host of medical problems from depression to coronary thrombosis. Reissue. PW.

If it isn't so, why don't you try dropping sugar cold turkey March 5, 2000
Reviewer: Jean Goss from United States of America
It has a tremendous impact on the way you eat. When you began checking labels and see the amount of sugar in your diet, it is amazing! It gave me the push to turn away extra sugar items. I personally want to leave this world with my pancreas when I go and one that hasn't been totally worked to death! =)

A true health classic! February 3, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from New York City
I'm sugar-free ever since reading "Sugar Blues." I was sluggish, moody, hungry, etc. I remembered that John Lennon mentioned Dufty's book in an interview once. So I bought it at the local health food store. He starts off with his own sugar hell and redemption and then delves into the whole history of the cane. Very interesting, health-wise and also politically. This is the meat of the book. (The Boston "Tea" Party? More like the rum party.) I like his writing style; he keeps it homespun. (Why did some think this book needs more "hard science"? Isn't it already in there? It's not intended to be in a medical journal [which can't always be trusted!].) When I tell people I'm sugar-free they usually scoff, saying sugar's not that bad for you, why give it up completely. Well, now I wake up clear and I get through the afternoon w/o any flagging of energy. At various times of the day I'll feel some energy racing through my body. (A great feeling; keeps me motivated.) Now I need less food on my plate, and my hypoglycemia has all but disappeared. (Think about THAT one, folks.) Never eat "refined sucrose" again! It can be done! Sky's the limit! Thank you, William Dufty!

Life Changing January 19, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from New Hampshire, USA
This book showcases obvious correlations between sugar consumption and disease in various cultures and times in history. It also addresses other refined foods and points out the superior health of some cultures whose diets consist of whole foods. Reading this book kept me 100% sugar free for over a year (Ironically, pregnancy, a time when health should become the highest priority, made me falter...)

Life's turning point December 27, 1999
Reviewer: Marla from Atlanta, Ga.
I read this book and my life changed completely. The author has written the book so clearly (no fluff or puff), but with the results of that of a (Brick Up Side The Head)! It was truly a wake up call for me. All the facts are there. You can easily test them for yourself. The results are wonderful.

Try to Quit if You Think It's Not a Drug November 30, 1999
Reviewer: pat white from Texas
I read Sugar Blues years ago, and became a right-wingist, eliminating all sugar. Over the years, sugar crept back in. Now I'm doing it again because of (1) moodiness, (2) always being bloated, (3) loss of "real appetite". Sugar in EVERYTHING (even soups and vegetables) makes it very hard to stop totally but what I remember most about William Duffy's comments were the similarity to cocaine use when sugar was first introduced -- the first sugar users brought it to parties and it was a great specialty. That hit home. Try to Quit! It takes almost a full month for the cravings to go away. Anyone who has seen The Insiders and the power that the tobacco industry has, can understand the enormity of trying to attack the sugar industry.

AS a PS, Sugar in everything is an American phenomenon. You won't find sugar in soups, canned vegetables, frozen dinners in Holland and the rest of Europe. WHY is it DONE to us here in America?

  Here's the answer to Pat's question.

Pick up this book and begin to understand how eliminating ONE FOOD ITEM ALONE can change your life.

Really makes you think about what you eat every day! October 8, 1999
Reviewer: Darcy Chase from Portland, Maine
I am not quite finished with this book, but ready I would say that I recommend it. The author gives a lot of historically information about sugar, including the health, economic and political issues that were (and continue to be )tied to it. He describes his own experiences as a sugar addict and how he overcame that, with wonderful healthy results. My husband and I keep reading each other passages from the book...and I can no longer eat sugar without feeling very bad about it. I am considering serious diet changes due to reading this book. Please read this, because Dufty is not telling us anything new, he is just revealing what has been known for a very long time: sugar is dangerous for human health!

Excellent book for content and history... August 24, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Seattle, WA
Read this book if you want to understand how refined sugars and refined foods destroy one's health. You'll learn more than you want to know about refined sugar, one of the great evils of our society.

One of the best reviews of the sugar industry July 29, 1999
Reviewer: valleeix@usa.net from Wheat Ridge, CO USA
This is one of the best and revealing books on the sugar industry and the government connections I have read.

Love this book hate sugar now July 11, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Rochester, Michigan
I knew I need to cut sugar out but this really opened my eyes sugar has been the down fall of America, England everywhere. I can't believe sugar has been killing people for thousands of years and we still use it. Read it learn about what sugar has done to our country and to the world.

One of the best reviews of the sugar industry July 29, 1999
Reviewer: valleeix@usa.net from Wheat Ridge, CO USA
This is one of the best and revealing books on the sugar industry and the government connections I have read.

A diamond in the rough: Poorly written-Vital information June 15, 1999
Reviewer: Tevis Jacobs (tjacobs@vorpal.net) from San Francisco, California
This book shows that numerous ills of refined sugar(sucrose). It is an extremely important book because it represents the first step in a realization that sucrose is much worse for you than the billion-dollar sugar industry wants you to believe. There are very important statistics and valid points hidden among a text which is not very cohesive. It is rather like stream of consciousness in its style and almost paranoid in its feel, but it remains an important read for beginning to unravel the sugar myth.

This book will never allow you to view sugar the same May 31, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Arkansas
"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.

A sledgehammer of truth May 24, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Rochester, Vermont
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.

Recommended for sugar fiends... it will help! April 28, 1999
Reviewer: gymnalice from Northern California
While I found it a trifle overbearing at times, I still highly recommend this book... I cannot over-emphasize the drastic improvements to be gained, mentally and physically, from abstaining from sugar! After only a few days, I feel almost self-conscious about how happy -- giddy, even -- I feel! It's strange to feel like this after years of mood swings and sour moods and feeling like I had lead in my veins... now I have energy to spare and life looks beautiful for once!

Wonderful book! March 14, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Michigan
An excellent book exposing the arrogance and folly of modern medicine. Although primarily dealing with the consumption of refined sugar, this book goes into many relevant tangents weaving in effect an enlightening discussion which forces one to rethink the way he or she has taken for granted to live.

One of the most important books of the 20th century bar none February 8, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from New Tork, NY
Forget the indespensible information on the completely non-existent nutritional value of refined sugar. Forget the anecdotal mind-blowing gems like how mosquitos and other disease carrying insects fly past a recovered sugar addict's body because they are no longer attracted to what was once swett smelling and tasting blood. Forget the paradigm shift his expose demands on the causes of a significant portion of all automobile accidents in this country. Forget his linking glucose intolerance to diseases- diagnosed, undiagnosed and falsely diagnosed over the centuries- from tooth decay to epilepsy to heart diesase to schizophrenia to lung cancer. Just ruminate on the historical fact brought out by this man that the hunger for refined sugar, and the subsequent addiction to this mind and body destroying chemical is the architect of: the African Slave trade in Europe and the Americas; the disconnect and disjunct philosophy of mind and body health being separate entities in Western medicine (just now being gradually overturned)and "paganist"/mental illness- related diseases of mythical, otherwise inexplicable derivation; and the geo-political international trade structure and chemical dependency supply and demand relationship that made everything from the decimation of Native American tribes and lands in the Americas to the Medellin and Sicilian cartels of heroin and cocaine creating international public policy today not just possible but inevitable. In short, Mr. Dufty has written one of the most important books of this century, and has become a public servant to a level rivaling that of leaders and thinkers like Martin Luther, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King... it is impossible not to get emotional about what this man shows us and teaches us, and how the evidence, like the final moments of a Sherlock Holmes movie, puts the mysterious pieces of the most tormented periods of one's personal life and that of human history since the Middle ages together for all to understand simultaneously. Anyone who has been touched by alcoholism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, heart disease, depression, obesity, anorexia, drug addiction, diabetes; racism, religious intolerence, alcohol-, car accident-and drug-related crimes; co-dependency-related divorce, dysfunctional families- in short, everyone citizen of the Western World, which by political proxy is everyone, will read this book and be changed, even if you have a cup of cola again. This book cannot just change lives, it can change the world as we know it.

What good motivation to quit eating sugar.... September 25, 1998
Reviewer: A reader from Alameda, California
I will admit that a lot of this book did seem like anti-sugar propaganda. When I say propaganda, I mean that the author was, at times, writing with more emotion than fact. Because of all the excellent points & the lead to macrobiotics, though, I still give it 5 stars. Some "facts" should be taken with a grain of salt & some of the material is a little outdated (this book is as old as me!). Still, I couldn't put it down. I have always been a sugar fiend, but I now have not eaten refined sugar for several months. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I always read food labels now. Even foods like Earthgrains bagels (that advertise themselves as being healthy) have refined sugar! This book will definitely change the way you look at processed food. It also tells the different ways refined sugars are hidden: brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses...I was on my last nerve trying to figure out why I was constantly tired. No one could seem to figure it out. I tried this just for the heck of it & I am a new woman.

Kick your sugar habit and start feeling great! September 17, 1998
Reviewer: A reader from Louisiana
I came upon this book in the Library and I just thought I would take it home and read it for fun. I had no idea this would change my life. This is a thoroughly researched and detailed book but only for those people with open minds. After reading the book I tried to locate a copy to keep but I could not even find this book at a national chain. Good old Amazon had it. I am now on an anti sugar crusade and when anyone asks me I tell them about Dufty's book. I have also begun purchasing several at a time and giving them to people I feel are open to learning and changing themselves.