Nov 10 2009
Carb Reset
My experiment with simple carbs is done for now, or at least on hiatus. I am reading Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons (mentioned in recent posts), which explains how sugar effects the brain in some people, and why sugar-sensitive people (like me) have the symptoms they do.
Years ago, I read Sugar Blues by William Dufty. I still carry around the notion that sugar is an addictive drug, and that food companies are perpetrating a sugar conspiracy. Despite this notion, I still act like a sugar addict. Perhaps that notion is a crutch–the classic “It’s Not Your Fault!” headline grabs me. It is comforting to think that I don’t have a problem but those evil food companies are victimizing me.
DesMaisons is not a conspiracy theorist, but instead focuses on the human body’s reaction to sugar, and the heightened reaction to sugar that some people experience.
I also have a bookmark in The End of Overeating by David Kessler. Kessler does support my conspiracy notion. Simply stated, sugar sells because people like it. So why wouldn’t food companies sell food with more sugar (and fat and salt)? It’s free-market economics.
Meanwhile, even with all of this information “occupying mindshare,” as the marketing gurus say, I’m living in a la-la land where I get to eat anything I want anyway: pizza, cookies, alcohol, candy, all in the last 4 days. WTF? I am acting like an addict.