The Sugar Fix: The High-Fructose Fallout That Is Making You Fat and Sick

In The Sugar Fix, Dr. Richard Johnson, who oversees a pioneering research program, reports on discoveries about how fructose impacts the body—and directly connects the American obesity epidemic to a frightening escalation in our fructose consumption.

It comes as no surprise that the sugar is found in processed foods like candy, baked goods, canned foods, and frozen meals in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, but it is also hidden in less obvious foods like peanut butter, egg products, and soups. Many fruits and vegetables contain high levels of it naturally. Dr. Johnson shows how to cut way back on the sweetener by making effective substitutions. The daily meal plans included here contain no more than 25 grams of fructose, one-quarter of the amount the average American now ingests.

Rather than the low-carb approach of so many recent diets, Dr. Johnson recommends a much easier to enjoy and stick to formula: 50% carbs, 25% fat, and 25% protein. The immediate benefit of this diet is to help anyone shed excess weight. The additional benefits are even more impressive—reduced risk for such serious health problems as high blood pressure, elevated blood fats, and insulin resistance, conditions directly linked to heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and stroke.

RICHARD JOHNSON, MD, has been a practicing physician and clinical scientist for over a quarter of a century. Previously chief of nephrology and director of renal transplantation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Dr. Johnson is now chief of nephrology, hypertension, and transplantation at the University of Florida in Gainesville.