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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Suzanne Somers
Aired August 31, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: She entertained audiences for six years as the lovable Chrissy on the television show "Three's Company" and since then Suzanne Somers has gained recognition as an author, singer and a fitness expert.
Her book, "Suzanne Somers: Eat Great, Lose Weight," introduced us to summer sizing program, emphasizing a sensible approach to a healthier lifestyle.
And she is joining us this morning from Los Angeles, where it is very early. Thanks for getting up with us this morning.
Wow, what time is it over there right now?
SUZANNE SOMERS, FITNESS EXPERT: I don't know. I don't want to know.
CALLAWAY: Thanks for being with us. Well, you know, we don't have a lot of time and this segment is all about giving the audience out there an opportunity to ask you some questions and we've taken phone calls and e-mail. But first I want to ask you about this summer sizing.
I've seen you on television all around the nation touting this new idea of yours. But it's really not that new at all, is it? It's about combining the right foods and not eating some of the same foods together, like fats and carbohydrates, that kind of thing?
SOMERS: There are two elements going. It's food combining, which I did not make up, of course. It's been around since the 1800s. But by the time I wrote this second book, I hooked up with an endocrinologist who really taught me the insulin connection. And when I realized when you look at every plate of food to see what food on that plate will the body convert to sugar, and if you avoid those foods, there's no way you can gain weight, it became very fascinating for me and I realized that it naturally food combines because proteins digest at a different rate of speed than carbohydrates. And when you put the two together, it creates a halt in the digestion.
So eating my way allows you to eat all the foods that you love in combinations that won't make you fat.
CALLAWAY: All right, one more quick question before we get to the e-mail. Quickly, can you tell us, you know, what is the biggest thing you should do or not do, the don't combine this, don't eat with this? You know, what can you tell us? SOMERS: Sugar. Sugar. Sugar, the more I read about sugar, sugar is the body's biggest enemy. And there is sugar in everything. Our catsup has 25 percent sugar. Any time you drink a soft drink, it has one quarter cup of sugar. If you drink those big gulps, that's 1 1/4 cups of sugar. And I always tell people pour a quarter cup of sugar in front of you and see how you feel about ingesting that, just wasting it on a soft drink.
So it's amazing, you know, right now 54.9 percent of all Americans are overweight and 40 percent of that almost 55 percent are obese. That means that we've passed the halfway mark. And William Deetz (ph), who's the director of the CDC, just put out a report a few months ago and he said we are headed toward an obesity related health crisis that will economically make AIDS look like the common cold.
More than half of us in this country are overweight.
CALLAWAY: Yup.
SOMERS: It's a huge problem.
CALLAWAY: Most of us are dealing with it.
Let's talk to Samantha now. She's calling us from Delaware.
Good morning. Do you have a question for Suzanne?
SAMANTHA: Yes, I do. I just wanted to ask her, I have tried every diet out there and unfortunately I used to run and I've gained a lot of weight and now I have 20 pounds extra and I just want to lose about 20 pounds and I can't seem to eat correctly. I constantly eat sugar. I eat fats. I eat carbohydrates. And I wanted to ask you about simplistic advice, something that you could just tell me basically what would be a starting block for me to get started?
CALLAWAY: That's a good question, but everything she listed that she says she's eating, Suzanne, is causing the problem, right?
SOMERS: It's sugar. And the problem with sugar is because it's in all our food, we, our palate is conditioned to it. So I realize that getting off sugar is so hard. It's like giving up a drug if you're a heroin addict. So I have made products for people to wean themselves off. There's SomerSweet and sugarless chocolates and sugarless catsup and barbecue sauce and salad dressings, all that you can get on suzannesomers.com to help you make the transition from a sugar world to a non-sugar world.
And when you stop eating sugar, you're not going to believe how this weight will just melt off of you. And it's a beautiful weight loss, too.
CALLAWAY: You know, Suzanne, we're running out of time. I wish we had more time for this.
SOMERS: Me, too. CALLAWAY: We do have an e-mail from Afarah (ph), who wants to know about cellulite. I'm going to skip down these, so I don't think you'll be able to keep up with me.
SOMERS: Ah, cellulite.
CALLAWAY: Cellulite. Everybody wants to know about this. You know, what do you think people should do about that?
SOMERS: Again...
CALLAWAY: She says what are the best solutions, massage, liposuction or just diet?
SOMERS: No. It's sugar. When you give up sugar, you will be amazed. You won't have, your cellulite will go away. I have no cellulite and I'm at an age where I should have cellulite. And I was starting to get it and without eliminating, by eliminating sugar and not eating fat and carbohydrate together, you won't have cellulite. And the cellulite you have will eventually melt away. It does go away.
But sugar -- in fact, if I could just make people understand what sugar is doing go us as a nation, it's really shocking. I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but never underestimate the passion of the lay person. It is the problem. Fat is your friend, real fat. Eat butter, eat cream, eat sour cream, olive oil, full fat cream cheese...
CALLAWAY: Hey, I like that.
SOMERS: Yes.
CALLAWAY: All right.
SOMERS: Forget the trans-fats and hydrogenated oils and leave off the sugar. Try SomerSweet.
CALLAWAY: All right, I knew you'd get that one in, Suzanne. All right...
SOMERS: Yes, but it's so great.
CALLAWAY: All right.
Suzanne Somers, thank you so much for getting up early with us this morning and sharing your thoughts.
SOMERS: Thanks. Thanks so much.
CALLAWAY: People out there are taking notes, I'm quite sure, on what you have to say.
SOMERS: Thank you.
CALLAWAY: Thanks, Suzanne.
And that wraps up CNN's Summer Shape Up.
Thanks for sending your tips.
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