Customer Reviews

Potatoes Not Prozac: Solutions for Sugar Sensitivity

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"Potatoes not Prozac" is a cutesy name for a truly wonderful book that will help millions of people heal their bodies and their lives. Her concept of "sugar sensitivity" and her 7-step treatment plan will enable readers to understand and recover from addiction to foods, drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. People who have failed repeatedly at sobriety or weight loss can succeed with this plan, as thousands have already.

Kathleen des Maisons learned about the importance of sugar through her work as a drug and alcohol treatment counselor. She was having the usual low success rate in helping people stay off alcohol. Then she discovered how certain foods lead to addiction to alcohol and drugs, as well as being addictive themselves.

She found that nearly all alcoholics lived largely on pasta, white breads and sweet things. She knew what they were suffering. Her own father drank himself to death at age 51, and she herself weighed 240 pounds and had had problems with drinking. When she discovered the benefits of a diet high in protein and vegetables for herself, she started using it with her clients. Her success rates soared, even with the hardest cases.

She realized that addictive behavior has a lot to do with food, and that sugar was the primary culprit. She believes that some people are born "sugar-sensitive," which means they don't have enough serotonin or beta-endorphin in their brains. Serotonin and beta-endorphin make us feel secure, stable, confident, cheerful. If you have low levels of these chemicals, you are likely to feel badly.

Sugar and alcohol raise your serotonin and beta-endorphin levels. So they make you feel better and more energetic, especially if your levels were low to start with. Unfortunately, eating concentrated sugars or refined carbohydrates causes a rebound effect. Your sugars levels drop quickly, you feel worse than before, and you need more sugar, caffeine or alcohol to pick back up.

Pretty soon you're addicted. You feel alternately great and miserable. The sugar swings stress your adrenal glands. You blame yourself for being out of control and unfocused, for putting on weight or drinking, but actually it's the sugar. It's a physical problem, although emotions do play a part.

Getting off sugar is difficult. Our food supply is awash in sugars and simple carbs. They can't be avoided. Des Maisons gives us a practical strategy based on 12-step recovery programs. Her seven steps are
1. Keep a food journal every day
2. Eat three meals a day at regular intervals
3. Take Vitamin C, B complex, and zinc
4. Eat enough protein at each meal
5. Move from simple to complex carbohydrates, or from "white foods" to "brown" and "green" foods. "Brown" refers to things like whole grains and beans. "Green" means vegetables, of whatever color.
6. Reduce or eliminate sugars (including alcohol)
7. Create a plan for maintenance.

She doesn't spell out a diet or recommend a lot of supplements or medications. She says that, using her steps, each person can figure out for herself what is best for her body to eat. She wants you to go through the 7 steps slowly, not to get impatient and rush ahead. The idea is to build a better relationship with your body and with food, to learn how food relates to your physical and emotional feelings.

Des Maisons writes with a compassion that comes from living with sugar addiction herself. Chapter 3 is called, "It's Not Your Fault." (I also use that title in my book, "The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness.") Her plan is based on "abundance, not deprivation." This means you focus more on adding good things (foods, exercise, prayer, pleasure etc), rather than giving things up. She keeps telling us to be gentle with ourselves, to focus on "progress, not perfection." She also has a great sense of humor and an apparent affection for potatoes.

"Potatoes not Prozac" also gives a very clear explanation of the biochemistry of addiction. She explains how serotonin and beta-endorphin are produced, get to the brain, and are regulated there, and how our food affects all those processes. She cites more than 50 studies in support of her ideas, although most of them are animal studies.

I disagree with Des Maisons on a couple of points. I don't think sugar-sensitivity is all in your genes. Your early environment, including the environment in your mother's uterus, makes a big difference. Also, I'm pretty sure that too much stress or too sugary a diet at any time in your life can create sugar-sensitivity or something very much like it.

I would have liked to see more on why, where, and how to get help. She mentions the need for support several times, but doesn't give much specific advice on finding it or asking for it. Reading The Art of Getting Well or Cheri Register's "The Chronic Illness Experience" will give you those skills. I also would have liked to see more on exercise. Des Maisons pretty much just says, "go do it!" Hopefully, that will be good enough for you, because physical activity is just as important as diet change, in my experience.

But these are small complaints. The author's brilliant insights into sugar and addiction, her clear explanations of difficult concepts, her simple but effective treatment plan, and her generous and positive spirit make this book a treasure that can help with a wide variety of health and life issues. It's wonderful.

David Spero RN wwwdotdavidsperoRNdotcom

Glucose is critical to mental clarity, mood states and the controlled release of energy in the body.

"While we think of sugar as a food, it is actually a drug-an external substance acting throughout the brain and body on cellular receptors designed for an internal chemical called glucose."

There are people who are very sensitive to sugar. If your body responds to sugars and certain carbohydrates adversely, you could notice a huge change in your moods. A sugar sensitivity can turn a person into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is like having two different people living inside your body. You can be completely depressed one moment and have high confidence the next.

Some of the symptoms might include:

Irritability
Fatigues
General Edginess
Thinking that Goes Round and Round
Feeling Teary
Emotional Fragility
Low tolerance for stress
Inability to Concentrate
Feeling of Inadequacy

This book is about analyzing your behaviour and it will help you decide if you are sugar sensitive. There are charts, diagrams of brain chemistry, Lists for how to feel great, Lists of clues for Imbalance and Balance, Notes on keeping a food journal, ideas for Breakfast,

The Contents Include:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Are You Sugar Sensitive?
It's Not Your Fault
The Ups and Downs of Blood Sugar
Brain Chemistry 101
Getting Started
Take Three Giant Steps
Adjusting Your Carbohydrates
Sugars and You
Sticking with It
So You Drink Coffee, Smoke and Stay Fat?

Radiant Recover
The Scientific Basis for Sugar Sensitivity
Detoxification from Alcohol

If you are sugar sensitive, try Stevia! I love the taste and instead of putting sugar in your coffee/tea, Stevia works just as well as a flavor enhancer.

If your moods are ruining your peace of mind, you might want
to do some research on sugar sensitivity. You will rethink skipping breakfast after reading this book.

This book is for anyone who's never met a dessert they didn't like, or at least one they couldn't walk away from. DesMaisons proposes a sensible, long-term solution to the craziness and upheaval that sugar dependency causes. If you're looking for a quick fix this book is not for you. However, if you are looking for a way to gradually and permanently change your life, you should read this book. The author outlines in seven steps how to gradually wean yourself off refined carbohydrates and sugar. Her attitude is humane, realistic and tolerant of mistakes, slip ups and allows anyone who wants to follow this programme. It is highly inspirational, long on specifics and short on platitudes. Highly recommended.

Great book. I foolheartedly jumped in and eliminated all white stuff (pasta, white bread, candy, cake, etc.) AND de-caffed at the same time. I felt really spacey for the first two weeks but durring that time I would also have energy highs I never remember having before in my life! Then everything evened out and I haven't had a spike up or down in over three months. My moods are quite even and my energy level remains high but even. Best of all, I lost close to twenty pounds going from somewhere in the low 190s to 172 this morning. The first rule I ditched was the "Eat only three times a day" rule. I learned that I absolutely have to eat six to eight times a day to keep my insulin levels even. So be forewarned that this rule my not be a good one for you. At the same time, bare in mind though that I lost twenty pounds even WITH all the meals. Good Luck!

I have always battled with eating sweets. I struggled with eating sweets between meals and right after eating a meal - even though I was full. I used to eat cake and cookies for breakfast and lunch. My favorite part of a meal was dessert! For the first time in my life, I actually am not craving sugary sweets after most of my meals. I am only on step 2 of this book, but I am already experiencing some wonderful and freeing changes! This book pointed out that I don't have to snack between meals - because it will encourage me to "graze" throughout the day and it's true. I have been able to actually not snack (most of the time) between meals and experience true hunger when it's time to eat (as long as it doesn't exceed 5 hours). Not grazing has helped me a lot.

Though I am only on step 2 (read the book and you'll see why), I am already cutting down the white stuff - bread, pasta, rice and replacing it with brown. I had some strawberries for a dessert the other day and actually enjoyed them without sugar. That's the first time I ever did that. I used to coat them in sugar. I usually do not like water, but am learning to sip on it between meals and it is helping me not snack as it gives me a little feeling of something in my belly. I am also tasting food better and fuller now.

The only time I struggle with binging on sweets is when I'm lonely or anxious! That's when it's tough and sometimes I give in. The good news is, it is easier for me to get back on track after I've "messed up." I still crave the sweets because I have "primed the pump" by having sugar. However, because I was in a daily habit of lowering my sugar intake, it was easier to get back on track.

This is a very gradual book. She doesn't push you into anything and encourages you to take your time even if you are at a step for several months (like me). But I can testify that even though I have been at step 2 for 2 months now, I am making progress.

Sugar was my friend and I couldn't go through this process until I was ready to refine my relationship with it. But when I was ready, this was the book to see me through. Give it a shot, you may experience a transformed way of life and eating that you've never known.

POTATOES NOT PROZAC is a great book as far as I am concerned because it nicely compliments THE INSULIN RESISTANCE DIET that I have been following for more than a year. DesMaisons is an expert in addiction nutrition, and she has much to say about sugar. Her book provides a good deal of 'technical' information about how sugar interacts with bodily functions and produces unwanted feelings- both physical and emotional. You may get a high from a sugar "hit" but it's sure to be followed by a letdown. In addition, over the long haul, you are likely to find your body is not behaving well. DesMaisons uses the analogy of the fire fighter who is called out night after night and is finally so exhausted he cannot perform.

I particularly like the "Impact" indexes DesMaisons has developed for white, brown, and green foods. She ranks cereals (Cheerios may not be so bad after all), fruits (forget raisons), and vegetables (can you really become addicted to carrots?). These lists are not exhaustive - for example I missed grapefruit and okra, but they are a beginning guide.

One shortcoming of the book is the dearth of examples regarding appropriate food combinations. She does say to avoid combining protein (dairy, such as a nice glass of milk) with that baked potato you are supposed to eat before bed. I can't eat a baked potato without milk (besides it produces perfect protein). Her point though, is that to produce serotonin in the brain, you need to ingest something with complex carbohydrates (sugar) that will work on the protein you ate earlier in the evening. She offers substitutes for the potato such as oatmeal which will go down nicely with butter and a dash of brown sugar.

DesMaisons offers a seven-step plan that includes eating three meals a day. She admits further on in her book that she knows eating three meals a day is impossible for some people. It sure is for me. I eat breakfast at my desk at 6:30 a.m. (yogurt and fruit) and I don't eat lunch until 1:30 p.m. I need that mid-morning snack of celery and peanut butter. She says snacks can be okay, but they should not be full of sugar.

I liked this book, when I started reading it I felt like it was describing me. As I got to the program though it didn't really seem like something that I would want to bother trying. I ended up not finishing the plan that she outlines and have moved on to another fitnes splan of my own that is working just fine.

The author seems to know her brain chemistry, and the plan she outlines does well. For anyone struggling with sugar sensitivity, I heartily recommend this book. However, I do have a few minor issues.

First, golden/white/baking potatoes are NOT a healthy bedtime snack. Their fiber to carb ratio is way too low, and there are many other slow release carbs that are better for the purpose of activating trytophan. I suspect that she uses them partly just to have a catchy title for her book. Thankfully, she does not spend too much time focusing on the potato. Besides the potato anomaly, her diet advice is on target and insightful.

Second, her charts on symptoms of sugar sensitivity are much too inclusive. By her account, almost everyone I know is a sugar sensitive person, and that is simply not true. It has a certain feel that I can only compare to a fortune teller, telling you things that are so broad and vague you will undoubtedly feel they apply to you. And she removes a little too much personal responsibility. She even has a section titled, "It's not your fault." That's exactly what I like my diet books telling me. It's my alcoholic father and sugar-addicted mother; it's not me stuffing my face with sweets. However, body image is a very sensitive issue for people, especially people who, like me, experienced childhood as an overweight kid. So, maybe she needs to use these gentle methods.

Of course, I think that I might be less sugar sensitive than some people reading this book. I have successfully used the Atkins for rapid weight loss, and I am currently living by a slightly personalized Sugar Busters model.

Part of my disappointment with this book was my own expectations. I was looking for a book that told me the details of how sugar/carbohydrates affect neurotransmitters. She does cover this topic fairly well, but she does so in a generalizing and summary manner.

This book is great for sugar sensitive people looking for an eating plan and change of lifestyle. However, if you already are familiar with the working of simple carbohydrates on blood sugar and are looking for a more detailed explanation on the interaction of simple carbohydrates and brain chemistry/neurotransmitters, I suggest that you look elsewhere.

The author explains how sugars and simple carbohydrates cause fatigue, depression, and a bunch of other undesirable effects in people she calls "sugar sensitive." She helps the reader determine whether he or she might be sugar sensitive, and then lays out a plan for adjusting eating habits away from sugars and simple carbohydrates to benefit from better energy and better moods.

I'm skeptical of books like this one, even when they explain the "science" behind their claims, as this one does. But the proof, as this author might say, is in the sugar-free pudding. I met the author's self-diagnostic criteria for sugar sensitivity, and decided to give the plan a try. The author is adamant that you follow her plan exactly, but I have not done that. I'm following all the steps, but in an order that makes more sense to me. As the author predicts, by eating protein at (almost)every meal, cutting out obvious sugars, and favoring brown stuff over white stuff, I feel remarkably better. It's not like I'm suddenly Mr. Cheerful or have a ton of energy, but I'm able to take on the day much better and my mood remains pretty even all the time. I welcome these changes! So does my family.

Great book for the carb-sensitive sufferer. ... The body DOES need a certain amount of carbohydrate for fuel. Excess protein (Atkins diet) causes the human system to go into ketosis, and eventually over time, may and has caused kidney problems and death. It strips the body of water/fluid and the kidneys work overtime. Also, excess protein in the body is stored as FAT in the liver; carbohydrates are not.