Sugar Nation

Sugar Nation is more than a cautionary tale - it is the true story of one man's struggle to regain control of his life and save himself from his father's fate.

This prescriptive memoir tells the tale of a tall, fit Men's Health writer who knew nothing about type 2 diabetes until learning one day that his estranged father had just lost a leg to the disease. At a routine physical the following week, he found out that same killer had him in the crosshairs as well. He was stunned and, like most people who receive a serious medical diagnosis, frightened.

Over the next eighteen months, Jeff O'Connell successfully counterattacked the disease, the world's fastest growing, with a barrage of excercise, diet, and supplement strategies that are different from - and in some cases, the opposite of - the recommendations of most doctors, the American Diabetes Association, and government agencies. He learned that these misguided policies help explain why one in three U.S. adults now has diabetes or pre-diabetes, and why many of them don't even know it.

From the aisles of the supermarket to the halls of Congress, O'Connell investigated the consumer behavior, science, and politics associated with this devastating epidemic. Too much sugar, he discovered, is literally rotting our population from the inside out and turning type 2 diabetes into a raging epidemic in China, India, the Middle East,a nd most other parts of the developming world. So why isn't more being done to stop it? Andy isn't there a consensus among health organizations and medical professionals about how to fight it? The answers will surprise you.

Through the prism of one man's experience, Sugar Nation is a penetrating, startling, and insightful look at this quiet killer and what nees to be done now to triumph over it - before it's too late.

Jeff O'Connell is the editor-in-chief at Bodybuilding.com, the Internet's largest fitness site. He previously served as executive writer at Men's Health and editor-in-chief at Muscle & Fitness. His feature writing has appeared in both The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Science and Nature Writing antholgies. He has coauthored four books, including LL Cool J's Platinum Workout, a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Boise, Idaho.