I have recommended your video to all of the patrons that come in the library! Everyone needs to watch this. You will never be able to sit down with a bag of chocolate bars or a bowl of ice cream without thinking about how your body will react to all of that sugar. It will definitely change the way you think about your food choices.

— Mary S, AR

Mary presents the information on sugar in a way that fully involves the viewer, making it fun and interesting.

— Nandi, Santa Cruz, CA

To be honest, I was leery at first, wondering what powdered drink you might be endorsing. However, Sweet Fire was non-alarmist and non-commercial. It awakened me to a greater sense of responsibility towards my health and that of my little son. I love how you spoke of adding to your diet rather than taking away from it. It's much easier for me to add an apple to my meal rather than swearing off M&Ms forever. I was surprised at how much I got out of the DVD. It has truly made a difference.

— Kathleen, HI

WOW!!! Thank you for taking the time and energy to educate young and old alike in an easy nonthreatening manner on something we all need to know!

— Carrie A, Bradenton, FL

I just wanted to tell you about how impressed I was with your whole presentation. You had visual learning, kinesthetic learning, engaging and fun interpretations of a difficult subject! You made the effects of different sugars on the body easy to understand from many angles. Already I feel better by using what I learned. Thank you so much!

— Rhianna H, Brooklyn, NY

Mary’s clear, straightforward, and humorous style, combined with her warmth and wisdom, enabled me to take in what she was saying and make major changes in my life.

— Sita P, Santa Cruz, CA

The video is very informative, not only for people who suffer from diabetes but for the general public. Most people have no clue as to how much sugar is in most foods and they don’t know how to calculate the amounts. This video makes you really think about what you are eating! I really liked the demo where you measured the amount of sugar a person would consume in an average day’s worth of food. It also made you realize that there are many foods out there that seem “healthy” but in fact are not!! GREAT VIDEO!

— Sandy O, Oakdale, CA

I’ve recommended your video to many people. I am convinced that your method of teaching nutrition should be a program that is adopted and taught in schools all over the U.S. For years now, I’ve felt that if only people could actually visualize the damage being done to our bodies, as we are eating “that piece of chocolate cake”, people would be able to make better choices about what they eat. It all boils down to education, and getting the message to children, early on. Not only that but then it needs to get to their parents too, which means a “lifestyle” change.

— Roseanne P, Santa Cruz, CA

My Curves members and employees love Mary’s DVDs. I show them at the Curves facility on a regular basis. Mary has a way with words and visuals, very easy to understand with her teaching methods.

— Shawn Burtch, Curves Owner, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan

I am a board-certified psychiatric clinical nurse specialist and a family nurse practitioner. My private practice is primarily psychiatry. I have purchased Sweet Fire and was delighted with the content. I am using this for teaching with my patients especially those that are using antipsychotics, but not just them. They find it very easy to understand which helps me a lot.

— Geraldine K, MA

I have just finished reviewing “Sweet Fire” with my fiance for the 3rd time. We will be watching your talk 4 more Wednesdays this month. We’re both over 50, with full-time jobs, several short & long-term goals that keep us busy, and a desire to continue living life to it’s fullest. I’m a life coach for women and intend on sharing your work with them at my next class. I LOVE how you presented the information. There’s a tremendous NEED for those fortunate enough to live in the US to take back their health.

— Gloria L, Santa Cruz, CA.

Mary Toscano has the ability to explain complicated health topics in a refreshing and captivating way. She is gifted with being able to transform health topics into simple, visual formulas that are easy to understand for both young and older persons alike. Her videos are educational tools that all schools should use as part of their health programs.

— Kathy Cummins, CNE and Holistic Culinary Arts Instructor, Santa Cruz, CA

I wanted to tell you how much your video, Sweet Fire, changed my life. Here I was going along, thinking I was eating healthy. WOW! How I was wrong. I'm a member of Curves and joined their weight management course. Curves played your video to us and now I feel armed to understand how to be truly healthy. I feel completely different about my choices in food. Actually, I feel completely different in how I think about food. I've lost 9 pounds in the last month and feel so much better. Amazing. Thank you for all you do, it made such a difference in my life.

— Heather M, Wimberley, TX

I had a chance to watch both DVDs yesterday...twice!!! Wow, thanks for putting the package together. I have a good base in nutrition but you filled in a lot of gaps and I love the visuals. I will look forward to sharing with my Weight Watcher class.

— Andrea, British Columbia, Canada

I watched Sweet Fire and I thought it was just awesome! I am currently studying toward a diploma in Applied Clinical Nutrition. I come originally from a background of ill health and am filled with a desire to educate the people of NZ toward better nutrition. We suffer the same dietary woes as the States, with obesity and diabetes becoming a bigger problem than cancer for our next generation of young folk.

— Rose K, New Zealand

Sweet Fire makes sugar and how the body processes it completely real and comprehensible. We’ve always known that sugar is not good for us in large quantities, but we never knew what really happens to our bodies when we over-consume sugar. Nor did we realize how much sugar we were ingesting unknowingly. It adds up so fast! This video was a true eye-opener and we recommend that everyone watch it, especially children. I am an educator and it astonishes me how much junk food parents are allowing their children to eat. If everyone knew and practiced the basic information that Mary Toscano teaches in this video we would be healthier and happier people.

— Todd and Heather W, Davenport, CA

Truly eye-opening because Ms. Toscano explained fats and sugars in terms everyone could understand. I loved the visuals that reinforced the concepts. There were so many “AHA’s” for me. Being a 5th-6th grade science teacher for 17 years I feel these whole units should be packaged and sold to school districts nationwide. This is the tool we need to make kids take control of their health EARLY. I think our district would be very interested.

— Linda H., Casper, WY

Sweet Fire was AWESOME on many levels. You are an excellent teacher! It got me all excited about sugar biochemistry and health... Not only did it really help me go further with my knowledge, such as understanding how high blood sugar screws up your lipids, but I thought the way you communicated it with the sugar was just brilliant. I would think it would have a profound impact on people who don’t even have a clue about the underlying biochemistry. It was also excellent how you started from basic principles and slowly worked into the more complex things.

— John M, Cupertino, CA

My husband and I both watched your Sweet Fire video, and it is currently making the rounds of the admin team at my 6th-grade daughter’s school. You did a terrific job of making complex information easily understandable for the layperson. After watching the video we have changed the types of food we buy and eat, and are much less cavalier about candy and sweets which are such a prevalent part of our culture. Thank you so much!”

— Colleen S, Santa Cruz, CA

Mary Toscano clearly knows her topic intimately and provides thorough analysis and astonishing information about “hidden” sugars in our daily diets – she gives you information that you can apply right away to feel better and vastly improve your health. I thought I had a healthy diet but after seeing Mary’s presentation, I made some big changes!

— Patty D, Davenport,, CA

How many years have I heard “Don’t eat sugar!” But I didn’t know why. Your DVD told me why and how in the easiest laymen’s terms and in a way that I could clearly understand. Your liver, pancreas, and kidney cartoon characters running around, trying to make it all work, really stuck with me. I never thought of my body working so hard all the time. I also realize the tiredness, crabby, depressed/high feeling was coming from overworking my system — I was on a train heading straight to chronic illness.

— Francine L, Berkeley, CA

Since seeing Mary’s video and understanding the relationship between sugar and carbohydrates, I’ve lost 20 lbs and lowered my cholesterol by 40 points.

— Mike P, San Francisco, CA

Since I heard your talk, I’ve been following a low-sugar low-glycemic diet that avoids hydrogenated fats and includes a lot of nut oils - combined with regular cardio workouts and weight-lifting schedule .. I’ve lost about ten pounds effortlessly and gained a lot of muscle mass, and I feel great! I don’t think I’ve been sick for a whole year. This is how I’m going to live the rest of my life .. thank you for inspiring me to change how I think about eating!

— Jay K, Santa Cruz, CA

As soon as I watched this video, my food choices changed. It's a window opening onto a new view -- a view of better health, both right now and for the long term.

— Eric, MA

Dear Mary, I am the proud owner of ‘Sweet Fire’. Watching your video has already ‘cured’ my wife’s irritable bowel problems as well as her hot flashes—- remarkable!

— Peter V, NJ

I have been in a 26 year battle with my weight, fatigue, and finally a 4-year struggle with diabetes. I can honestly tell you that any GOOD information that I learned was not from a Doctor. The doctors would just keep adding pills and tell me to lose weight. Your videos are the best information I have seen yet!

— Cathy G, CA

I just finished watching the DVD, and through much of it, my mouth kept dropping open! My 7-year old daughter has had Type I diabetes (insulin-dependent) for 6 years, and I thought I had assimilated everything I had to know about carbohydrates. ...I didn't know the half of it!
Thank you for a wonderful presentation, so full of visuals that I've never seen in any book. The demonstrations make your presentation easy for kids to understand. I'd like to add this presentation to our homeschooling curriculum.

— Lisa D, ME

I have gained a wealth of information in just a short time. I thought I had a very good diet but now have changed my dietary habits completely. Your DVDs clearly and easily show how the bodily processes work and how nutrition gets to the cells. As an older athlete: runner, surfer, sailboarder, and mountain biker the information is invaluable as I embark on my newfound nutritional journey.

— Mike P, Santa Cruz, CA

The information presented here has been enormously useful to me in understanding what’s really going on with my blood sugar. I was diagnosed as an insulin-dependent diabetic five years ago, and it’s taken me a while for it all to sink in. I now understand the importance of keeping both my blood sugar under tight control as well as the desirability of minimizing my need for insulin. This presentation of key nutritional and physiological facts — which everyone should understand — is of great help to me. It is even more important that the at-risk population learn this material, too.

— David E, Westport, CT