Has anyone read Potatoes Not Prozac (by Kathleen DesMaisons) or looked at the related website called RadiantRecovery.com? It is a very interesting read about sugar sensitivity and neurotransmitters (sound familiar?), and states that people who are sugar sensitive are more prone to abusing alcohol because of the endorphin rush they get from the sugar (again, sound familiar?) BTW - You don't have to buy the book to read about sugar sensitivity and the 7 steps on the website.

The book outlines a 7 step change in diet to regulate blood sugar and mood, and reduce cravings for sugar(alcohol is a simple sugar, the top of the list of the bad ones.) I have a family member who has been sober for 25 years though AA, but found herself still struggling with sugar, weight and mood after getting sober. This book made sense to her, and she said see feels so much better after implementing the program in this book.

Anyway, I may try the of the dietary changes (they are not hard, one is simply having a good breakfast with protein), because they certainly can't hurt and may help overall. It seems like TSM and this program could be highly complementary.

Just wanted to pass it along.

hey yoga,
i have read this book. i suffer with depression and know for sure that i have a hard time with sugar. i have implemented many of the recommendation of this book, but was never able to do it completely. when i was drinking, that blows it right there, massive sugar intake. and when i quit drinking the sugar cravings were off the charts. she makes a lot of sense and i wish you all luck with this. she is also a proponent of quitting your alcohol addiction using her nutritional guidelines. to me it always seemed like a kind of catch 22 solution. once you get your sugar chemistry right, you can leave the alcohol alone, to get your sugar chemistry right you have to first leave the alcohol alone. having said that i do indeed think this book is full of good information and worth a read.
since you mentioned the potatoes book it reminded me of another nutritional book called the "fat flush plan" by ann louise gittleman. a dr. of mine recommended this book to me as a way of helping to detox and repair the liver. gittleman feels that the inability to lose weight is largely due to an over taxed and fatty liver. so, this book has some great nutritional info on how to help your liver out, something i suspect many of us could use.
all the best,
path

Not sure about eating potatoes as they are pretty much sugar as soon as you finish chewing them. From my personal experience only, I recomment lots of protein and fat, no sugar, no wheat or other grains, or rice or any starchy veggies. Meat/Fish/Eggs/Fats like butter and coconut oil - lots and lots of greens.

Keeping blood sugar low and stable is the key. At least if one eats like this, the addition of alcohol is not so bad - I can't imaging blood sugar testing after sugar/flour/junk/juice/fruit - with a bunch of booze on top!! IMHO

Hi after reading your comment about the Potato not Prozac book I looked it up on Amazon & had her newer book "Total Recovery from Sugar Addiction" downloaded into my Kindle. I've read quite a bit this evening & it does make sense, however I must agree with the catch 22 also. I have been pretty much adhering to an Atkins plan. I am very successful in sticking with it & have no craving for sugars until I have a craving for AL. Then I am completely out of control with sugars & carbs. So, what's the answer? I think take care of AL problem & the sugar problem will be history too. Or at least manageable.
Just my thoughts
I will finish the book, but roght now I find it too overwhelming to try & do both at the same time
Always Jane

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I am reading the book now and I'm not sure if applies or not. If I have a sugar problem, it is all in alcohol and orange juice. I barely eat any sweets at all, and eat mostly whole wheat bread, pasta only occasionally. I could care less about dessert.

But I am really erratic about what and when I eat, and suffer from variable enegy levels. I think I'll try the first step at a minimum ... at least have a decent breakfast!

sounds good, but I'm hooked on ice cream and life's just too damn short to cut out EVERYTHING fun. I've read somewhere than TSM can help with the sugar cravings as well though, so if I get my AL intake low enough I may start using Nal to battle the afternoon sugar cravings.

my sweet tooth was non-existant until I quit drinking in AA for a couple years (with several slips) all of a sudden when I quit drinking I loved dessert. i I have a sizeable beer belly but don't really mind right now. for me, not being loaded all the time is good enough for now

might try it after i've gotten cured

I am on page 77 of this book now, in a chapter about brain chemistry. It is SO INTERESTING! And, it references the use of a drug to block the painkilling effect of sugar in mice ... a drug that blocks the beta-endorphin receptors. And the drug? You guessed it, Naltrexone!

The theory in the book is that some people can be sensitive to sugar because they have naturally low beta-endorphins. The body responds by upregulating the beta-endorphin receptors, which then makes that person extra sensitive (they get an extra endorphin rush) from sugar. Just like all of us, and the extra endorphin rush we get from alcohol. And by the way, alcohol is pretty much straight sugar, as are bread, pasta and other simple carbs.

So, I am finding that the research in this book really does seem to go hand in hand with the research Dr. Sinclair did resulting in TSM. The pretty simple solution to regulate seratonin and beta-endorphin levels is to eat three regular meals a day, with an appropriate amount of protein for your weight. This is supposed to keep your brain chemistry much more regulated, and reduce cravings for sugar/alcohol.

Of course the book says this would work all alone, but it seems to me that TSM with the eating recommendations in the book could speed the process. Its compelling enough for me to give it a try, especially since my eating habits are super erratic (I generally eat healthy foods, but not at any regular times, I'll sometimes forget to eat all day!)

My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw the part about Naltrexone!

Potatoes not Prozac is a book based on sugar sensitivity that also tells us about the trick to control sugar level with diet and reduce the cravings of sugar. Sugar is responsible to mood swengs and cravings for sweets https://www.easy-essay.org/pay-for-essay/ tells us many interesting facts about it.