The sugar addict's total recovery program

The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program BY KATHLEEN DESMAISONS, PH.D. BALLANTINE BOOKS; $22.95

DesMaisons, a nutritionist and "recovering sugar addict," compares sugar addiction to addictions to alcohol and even heroin. At times these comparisons sound pretty extreme: "You know you have lied, cheated, and stolen for your drug of choice," she writes. To help you conquer your sweet addiction, she mixes science (lots of talk of beta-endorphins, for example), self-help instruction (like eat a potato with its skin every night before bed to help raise your level of the brain chemical serotonin), and 36 pages of recipes. Her health advice is a combination of the standard and the unproven. Reading the tips and testimonials from true believers, you feel like you're observing a cult in action. But if you believe that sugar is running--and ruining--your life, this could be your way out of your sweet misery.

--D.M.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning