I remember reading about a study done many years ago on the food choices of preschoolers. Researchers gave a group of young children unlimited access to a wide variety of food and documented what the children chose to eat over a period of time. The children chose a surprisingly balanced diet … they seemed to intuitively know which foods their bodies needed for growth. The starchy, sugary, denatured foods we all think of as treats were rarely chosen when children were allowed to freely select their foods.

Why then are so many adults addicted to sugary or starchy foods? To understand this we need to take a look at how the body balances blood sugar. The brain needs a steady supply of energy in the form of glucose (a simple form of sugar) or the amino acid L-glutamine.

The body is designed to keep the level of glucose constant in the blood because too much will cause a coma and too little will cause what is called insulin shock. When blood sugar drops it triggers hunger. If a person then eats some nutritious food, glucose is slowly released into the bloodstream and balance is maintained. If the person eats protein (and digests it properly) the amino acid L-glutamine is also available to nourish the brain.

However, if in response to the hunger the person eats sugary or starchy foods that require little digestion, too much glucose is released into the bloodstream at once, which can be dangerous. The body then releases the hormone insulin to convert the excess glucose into glycogen for storage.

A properly functioning pancreas will provide a good surge of insulin, which quickly brings the blood sugar down. In fact, it often brings the blood sugar down too low which then starts the hunger cycle all over again: hunger—eat sweets—release insulin—low blood sugar—more hunger—more sweets, etc.

Meanwhile, each surge of insulin causes more sugar to be stored as glycogen, which is then converted into body fat. And each cycle of low blood sugar triggers more cravings for sugar since the body knows that without blood sugar the brain will die.

One of the conditions that can result from getting caught in this cycle is diabetes. The pancreas becomes overworked from having to provide continual surges of insulin and eventually starts to malfunction.

Also, a diet high in sugar and starches tends to be low in protein, and without protein, there will be a deficiency of amino acids needed to produce the hormone insulin. Diabetes is a condition where the blood sugar stays dangerously high because of a lack of insulin, either because the body lacks raw materials to produce it or because the pancreas malfunctions. (Diabetes can also result when, for various reasons, the body cannot utilize the available insulin, but that is beyond the scope of this article.)

What causes a person to get caught in the cycle of eating sweets and starches instead of wholesome foods in the first place? There can be many reasons – family habits, susceptibility to advertising, peer group influences or simple lack of education about what the body requires for health may all play a part. I suspect one of the largest factors is a shortage of neurotransmitters in the brain. Sugar can act as a drug to make a person feel good when certain brain chemicals are in short supply.

Neurotransmitters in the Brain

Our brains produce a number of potent chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicals are so powerful that the hardest drugs pale by comparison. Four main neurotransmitters or groups of neurotransmitters virtually dictate all our moods:

1. dopamine and norepinephrine are energizers
2. gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is a sedative
3. endorphins are pain killers
4. serotonin stabilizes moods, focuses the mind, and promotes sleep

When we are deficient in any of the above neurotransmitters, we may be depressed, anxious, lethargic, or in pain. In short, we don’t feel good and may turn to sweets, alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs to make us feel better. Addiction to sweets or alcohol often causes weight gain. This affects us emotionally, causing us to crave even more of our addictive fixes to dull the pain of a reduced self-image.

Neurotransmitters are made from amino acids. Amino acids are the end result of protein digestion and if we lack sufficient enzymes for digesting our protein (see part I of this series) we will not have the necessary amino acids to make the neurotransmitters necessary for optimal brain function.

Stress uses up neurotransmitters very quickly, so people who make sufficient neurotransmitters under normal circumstances may become deficient under stress. As a result, many people “binge” on sugar or turn to alcohol or drugs when their neurotransmitters are depleted through stressful events. This is why people who have never had problems with weight control may suddenly gain after going through a stressful period in their lives.

The Problem with Dieting

Dieting causes a lot of stress to the body and, as a result, depletes neurotransmitters as well as hormones. When people go on restricted calorie diets, their bodies interpret this as starvation – a very stressful condition. Stress causes the adrenal glands to release the adrenal hormone, which causes the glycogen that was stored during the cycles of insulin release to be converted back to glucose.

After a period of time, the adrenal glands will become “exhausted”, especially if the body isn’t taking in the necessary nutrients (protein and B vitamins) to replenish it and keep it functioning optimally. The person on the diet feels even worse and may even quit the diet and revert to previous addictive eating patterns, quickly gaining back all weight lost and often more.

The lack of food also puts the body into “economy mode” where metabolism slows down and all available food is hoarded by the storage systems of the body. Dieting encourages the body to become more efficient at conserving food, which can lead to further weight gain down the road.

Restrictive diets that deprive the body of necessary calories or nutrients can be so stressful that they actually cause weight problems where none previously existed. We see this frequently among teenage girls who have been convinced by the media or their peer group that they are too fat when in fact they are perfectly normal. Anorexia or bulimia are extreme cases of depleted brain chemicals causing distortions of mood and perception and leading to potentially serious disorders.

Amino Acid Therapy

Author Julia Ross in her book The Diet Cure documents excellent success in her clinic using amino acids (in addition to a nutritional plan providing optimal levels of other nutrients) for normalizing brain chemistry and stabilizing weight. The following amino acids have proved useful:

1. L-glutamine can be used as a fuel source
2. L-tyrosine and l-phenylalanine are precursors for dopamine/norepinephrine which provide energy
3. GABA in combination with taurine and glycine can induce calmness and relaxation
4. D-phenylalanine and DL-phenylalanine are precursors to endorphins which relieve pain and produce feelings of pleasure and love
5. L-tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin, which induces emotional stability and self-confidence. (SSRI drugs like Prozac are geared to increasing the amount of serotonin by preventing its “uptake” or destruction)

(Note: Tryptophan is one of the essential amino acids, one the body cannot manufacture in sufficient amounts and must procure from food. However, like the amino acid lysine, it is denatured at a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit and no longer useful to the body. For this reason, it is important that some of our protein comes from unheated sources.)

Ross has found that people are given the amino acids in conjunction with a nutrient program no longer crave the denatured sugary foods they were previously addicted to. She has also had excellent success with people addicted to alcohol. Many ex-alcoholics simply substitute sugar for alcohol – normalizing brain chemistry addresses the underlying cause of the addiction so cravings for both cease.

Food Allergies

Many people suffer from food allergies and don’t know it. It may take many hours after eating an offending food before any symptoms appear and by that time, most people have already forgotten what they ate for breakfast, or lunch or supper the previous evening.

Ironically, the foods we are most allergic to may also be the foods we are most addicted to. The body becomes used to a certain level of a substance and when it decreases, a desire for the offending food is triggered and we take another dose. The most common allergy-causing foods are wheat and other gluten-containing grains, milk and milk products, eggs, tomatoes, soy products and sugar in all forms.

I suspect that the root cause of many of these allergies is a lack of enzymes, which causes the foods to be incompletely digested. Those incompletely digested molecules then enter the bloodstream where the body’s immune system senses them as foreign invaders and attacks them. This places the immune system under constant stress, depleting body reserves of nutrients still further. The end result can be insufficient neurotransmitters and the consequent desire for mood-elevating foods or drugs.

Initially, a person who suspects food allergies will need to eliminate those foods from the diet while including plenty of good nutritious food that the body is not allergic to. Once nutrient reserves are replenished and enzyme function is restored it may be possible to reintroduce foods that formerly caused problems.

Recent research by Peter D’Adamo and others has revealed that blood type may be related to food allergies or intolerances. Certain proteins in the blood may react with proteins in foods and cause adverse effects.

According to D’Adamo, the four blood types evolved at different stages of human evolution, presumably in response to dietary changes. Some people have found adhering to a diet suitable for their blood type to be helpful for balancing body weight.

Developing a Nutrient Program

The above information is just a brief overview of how foods affect our brain and body chemistry. There are many individual differences and foods that are beneficial for one person may be detrimental for another. Still, there are general guidelines available to help us develop an optimum nutrient program.