Reduce This One Ingredient In Your Diet To 15 Grams A Day And Lose Up To 20 Pounds In One Month (No, It's NOT Fat)

Is it possible to lose 20 pounds in one month just by minimizing one ingredient in your diet? Absolutely.

I have two cases that prove it can be done. One case is someone I know personally while the other is a celebrity.

Case 1: My overweight male friend in his early sixties was a car parts driver. One day he was delivering to a dealership and found himself unable to catch his breath. He was rushed to a local hospital.

The diagnosis - congestive heart failure caused by a heart blockage. After minor surgery, he was released with the following doctor's advice:

• Take heart meds.
• Stop drinking your daily six-pack of coke.
• Stop smoking.

Unlike most people, my friend actually followed this advice.

After three weeks, he had lost 15 pounds despite not smoking (which causes many people to put on weight). That's 5 pounds a week.

By not drinking his daily 6 regular cokes, he had reduced his sugar (fructose) intake by 39 times 6 or 234 grams a day.

OK - for the skeptics in this world, I'll give you a case of a celebrity who has a similar story.

Case 2: Wayne Dyer is a well-known New Age philosopher who has documented this story. He was viewing himself in one of his just-recorded DVDs and found himself worrying about the "bowling ball under his shirt."

Coincidentally, the day after this viewing, he was interviewing a popular book author and weight loss specialist. They discussed the facts surrounding American's sugar consumption. Wayne was advised to reduce his sugar consumption to 15 grams a day and his carbs to six servings (120 grams) if he wanted to eliminate the bowling ball under his shirt.

After 29 days on this eating plan, Wayne lost 23 pounds.

At this point, the analytics are thinking "Why Does It Work?" It's about hormones and how they work in your body.

Sugar causes leptin resistance. Since leptin is the appetite controlling hormone, sugar blocks your ability to control your appetite. If you lose control of your appetite, you gain weight. Restrict sugar and you re-gain control of your appetite. That's the explanation in a few sentences.

If you want to know the scientific details, read this article:

Clinical Scientist Sets the Record Straight on Hazards of Sugar

or

View the video on the right.

The good news - sugar restriction works.

The bad news - sugar restriction is a difficult change to make. My friend (case 1 above) did it because his life was in jeopardy. Wayne Dyer did it because he is a very disciplined man.

Sugar is hazardous to our health. And it's everywhere because sugar sells. It's in many, many foods we eat, especially processed foods. Ketchup, the all-American tomato-based condiment is a big culprit.

Try looking at the sugar content of the food you eat in one day. You will be amazed. If you eat a banana, you consume 27 grams of sugar (almost twice the daily allotment).

When you restrict sugar consumption, you will get sugar cravings. Over time the cravings will subside (like nicotine to the ex-smoker), but if you love candy, you are going to experience cravings.

Keep A Food Diary with Sugar Grams
You may want to start by keeping a food diary for a week. You jot down every food and drink you consume (except for water), the amount you eat, and its sugar content. This is easy for processed foods because the amounts are spelled out on package contents. It's somewhat trickier for meals that include several ingredients. You will guesstimate the sugar content. You can look up the sugar content of most individual items online.

The benefit of keeping this diary is that you will be aware of your daily sugar consumption. You will be surprised at the amount you do eat.

One of the best ways to address the sugar restriction issue (and mitigate the difficulties spelled out in the previous section) is to follow a plan spelled out by an expert.

Jorge Cruise has appeared on "Good Morning America" explaining his take on sugar restriction and low carb diets. He describes his carb swap system (including sugar restriction) in The Belly Fat Cure. He restricts sugar to 15 grams and carbs to six servings (120 grams) a day. It features 100 carb swap meals and recommended programs to maintain his eating plan.