Potatoes Not Prozac Blog

If you are sugar sensitive, or you want to feel better but you do not know where to start, then reading the book Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons is a really good thing to do.

She explains how there are so many different types of sugars in foods that you would not even think that there would be any sugar in. Especially for sugar sensitive people, sugar can do some really bad things to their bodies. If you think that you might be sugar sensitive if you cannot go through the day without many different kinds of sugar, or if you are addicted to “white things”,  including white-flour products, white rice, and pasta, and you just cannot go through the day without having many of these products. Or if you have parents that are/were addicted to alcohol, or were really fond of sugar, then there is a very high chance that you might be sugar sensitive. If you are sugar sensitive, and you think that it is your fault, don’t worry, because it is not your fault. If one of your parent are/were addictive to alcohol, or was really fond of sugar,  that is the main reason that you are sugar sensitive. Because of this, your body was made differently, and you have low serotonin, low beta-endorphin, and low blood sugar levels.

There are 7 simple steps that will change your life drastically, if you follow them and you do not take shortcuts.

These are the seven steps to a better life.

1. Keeping a food journal
2. Eating three meals a day at regular intervals
3. Taking vitamins as recommended
4. Eating the recommended amount of protein at each meal
5. Adjusting your carbohydrate intake to include more complex foods
6. Reducing or eliminating all forms of sugars (including alcohol)
7. Creating a plan for maintenance

Now I will go ever these 7 steps in more depth so that you will understand them more.

1. Keeping a food journal – This process can be very difficult. You will have to record what foods you are eating, and when, and then how you feel afterward. The best thing that you can do is to make a journal, and carry it around with you, and when you eat at home, at a friend’s house, or a restaurant, you can record what and when you ate, and how you feel.
   
2. Eating three meals a day at regular intervals – When you set your mind to it, then you will be very happy to find out that this step is one of the more simpler steps. One thing that you can do to remind you to eat is to set an alarm on your phone or computer, or watch, etc., so then even if you are in the middle of something, then you will not forget to eat.
   
3. Taking vitamins as recommended – With this step, you will have to talk to a professional, whether it is your doctor or nutritionist, about what kind of supplements that you should be taking.
   
4. Eating the recommended amount of protein at each meal – With this step, you will have to figure out what is the right amount of protein is right for your body type. Usually the amount of protein is the size of your palm, but everybody is different.
   
5. Adjusting your carbohydrate intake to include more complex foods – This may sound very hard, but there are some really delicious complex carbohydrates in the world. If you do some research, you will be pleasantly surprised with how many complex carbohydrates there are.
   
6. Reducing or eliminating all forms of sugars (including alcohol) – This process can be very difficult, especially because you are sugar sensitive. The best way I believe to do this is by taking baby steps. If you feel like you can go cold turkey, and that is the best way for you, then do whatever you feel will be easiest.
   
7. Creating a plan for maintenance – If you have already completed the 7 steps above, then this last step should be very easy. The only thing that you will have to do is to make sure that you have a plan, and a backup plan, and a backup backup plan, and an emergency plan. Then you will be ready for anything that gets in your way when eating.

Here are some examples of white, brown, green, yellow, and red things.

White things include white-flour products, white rice, and pasta. Brown things include whole grains, potatoes, beans, and roots. Green things include celery, broccoli, lettuce, brussels sprouts, and swiss chard. Yellow things include squash, yellow bell peppers, yellow potatoes, yellow carrots, and corn, and red things include tomatoes, red bell peppers, beets, radishes, and red cabbage.

The Fruit Continuum is in my mind a really important thing to know. I was very surprised to see some of my favorite fruits and how much sugar is in them. Here is a list of them from the most impact to the least impact that they have on our bodies.

Most Impact

                    50

• 3oz of Raisins (58)
• 12 fl. oz of Grape juice (55)
• 12 fl. oz of Cranberry juice cocktail (53)
• 12 fl. oz of Pineapple juice (50)

                   40

• 1 Cup of Applesauce, sweetened (42)
• 12 fl. oz of Apple juice (39)

                   30

• 12 fl. oz of Orange juice (36)
• 12 fl. oz of Prune juice (34)
• 1 Cup of Grapes (25)

Moderate Impact

                   20

• 4 Dried figs (20)
• 1/2 Cup of Dried apricots (19)
• 1 Cup of Applesauce, unsweetened (18)
• 1 Large Apple (15)
• 1 medium Banana (15)
• 1 Cup of fresh Pineapple (14)

                   10

• 15 Cherries (11)
• 1 large Orange (10)
• 1 Cup of Cantaloupe (10)
• 1 Cup of Watermelon (9)

Least Impact

                  0

• 1 medium Peach (5)
• 1/2 Cup of Blueberries (5)
• 1 medium Plum (4)
• 1/2 Cup of Strawberries (2)
• 1 Fresh apricot (2)
• 1/2 Cup of Raspberries (1)

All of this information that I have read was very eye-opening to me. Some things that I learned are that you can get high on sugar, just like you can get high on drugs. Some people may say that if you stop drinking, you should eat sugar to help you stay sober. That is a really bad idea, because sugar is probably what makes you start to drink, and if you are sugar sensitive, that is really not good, because your body is not made to eat sugar all of the time, and you can get addicted to sugar.