Food and Your Brain: Beyond Sugar Addiction by Joan Kent, PhD
Food and Your Brain: Beyond Sugar Addiction
By Joan Kent, PhD
I use food to change brain chemistry and hormones.
To be accurate, I help my clients eat differently so they can use food to change their brain chemistry and their hormones.
When I was still in my doctoral program, the question came up of what to call my specialty. Someone suggested something along the lines of “addictive” nutrition – a terrible name for what I do.
First, it sounds like a recommendation to eat foods that are keeping the client stuck in addiction. No one needs a recommendation for that. For better or worse (mostly worse), we tend to figure that one out on our own.
Second, it’s limited. Even back then I realized that the implications of a specialty called – as I finally decided – Psychoactive Nutrition would go beyond just helping clients end sugar addiction.
Diabetes Could Be Sugar Addiction – Or Beyond
I’ve worked with a wide variety of clients over the many years that I’ve been the sugar addiction expert. That includes numerous clients with metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a collection of health conditions that tend to occur in a cluster. A client might not have all of them, but – chances are – if he or she has one, others are likely to be there, too.
Examples of these metabolic conditions are diabetes, insulin resistance (IR), high blood pressure, high cholesterol (or bad cholesterol ratios), high triglycerides, heart disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, and different cancers. As mentioned, someone with one of them probably has more.
One success story had diabetes and hypertension. Both were lifelong health issues. As a result of our work together, she lost 55 pounds and no longer had diabetes. She loved to say, “It’s not ‘under control’. It’s gone.” After 20 years on meds, her blood pressure was normal.
The changes stayed.
Overweight Could Be Sugar Addiction – Or Beyond
A client with a different insulin-resistant condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) got such excellent results, her doctor sent me a thank-you note.
That wasn’t the only thank-you note I’ve received from a client’s doctor.
Several years prior, I had worked with an overweight client who was diagnosed as “pre-diabetic.” In spite of the “pre” diagnosis, she was already on Metformin, typically prescribed for type 2 diabetes.
It took us a while to straighten things out, but her numbers improved on all counts. Fasting glucose, fasting insulin, blood pressure, cholesterol all decreased. Getting her away from sugar was an important factor.
This client even started getting hungry! Because she had never experienced hunger before, she thought something was wrong. Of course, it simply showed that her meals were getting more in line with her body’s actual needs.
This client’s doctor thanked me, as well.
Other Health Issues? Blame Them On Insulin.
The connect may still seem odd. What does insulin resistance have to do with sugar addiction? But stay with me.
How clients eat can determine whether or not they become insulin resistant. IR can be an indirect (but powerful) influence on their health. And if someone is addicted to sugar, eating sugary foods that trigger high insulin – especially in large quantities – can result in disease.
Insulin resistance – specifically the high levels of insulin that IR causes – can cause inflammation.
Inflammation is currently considered a primary factor in most – if not all – disease. With insulin resistance, extra insulin is the body’s first defense: a little didn’t work, so here’s more. That high insulin is what leads to inflammation.
One client had rosacea, bloating and resistant weight issues. She followed my system, and all of the signs and symptoms reversed. When she made the mistake of going back to her “old way” of eating, her symptoms returned. We had to start again. When she did that, she again got great results.
A client with irritable bowel syndrome went through a dramatic change. She had suffered with gas, bloating, stomach pain, constipation, cramping, low energy and irritable bowel for as long as she could remember.
Fortunately, my program helped her digestive problems and pain disappear. She could eat foods she could never eat before, her energy improved, and she could sleep better.
I’ve worked also with clients who have CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy), multiple sclerosis, serious premenstrual discomfort, or serious menopausal discomfort. All of these clients made remarkable changes in their health.
But What About Sugar and Brain Chemistry?
Insulin resistance can also change brain chemistry. As I explained in a recent post, one way that IR can change brain chemistry is by interfering with the transport of tryptophan to the brain.
Tryptophan is an amino acid, so it comes from protein. When tryptophan can’t get to the brain, the brain can’t make serotonin. Low serotonin paves the way for rotten moods (depression, irritability, anxiety and more).
Bad moods are one cause of sugar cravings, which can set up a self-perpetuating cycle. But other things can happen, as well.
For example, I’ve helped clients with ADD, ADHD, autism and more. Recently, I received a testimonial from the relieved mother of an autistic client who has gotten a great job and become independent.
A current client with ADD used to sound almost frantic during our calls but now sounds even and in control.
It’s Not Always Easy To Get Results
So clients may have quite a variety of symptoms and health issues. Some of them are addicted to sugar, and some are not.
It’s not always easy to get results with these clients – and sometimes they even put up a fight against my food recommendations.
Here’s the terrific news. When they follow my program, their results can be fantastic – and go far beyond just getting rid of sugar!
And that’s why I call my specialty psychoactive nutrition, instead of just sugar addiction or something like that.
But if you ask, I’ll say I use food to change brain chemistry and hormones.
—
I’m passionate about helping you conquer sugar addiction so you can transform your health, your moods, and more. Please visit the Home page and sign up for a free Food Breakthrough Session. No obligation! Nutrition coaching may be just the thing to help you move forward.