for your littlest eaters - Radish Magazine

food for thought
Hooked on sugar
What kids eat is powerful medicine — for good and for ill
By Margaret Adamek
The statistics aren’t new, and they aren’t pretty.
Nearly one-third of American children are overweight.
Forty percent of girls and a third of boys born
in 2000 will acquire Type 2 diabetes by the time they
turn 50. At the same time, increasing numbers of
children are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder,
depression and generalized anxiety disorder.
While many schools focus on diet in combating
childhood obesity and diabetes, few pay
attention to how diets affect student behavior and
academic performance. Most often, the interventions
for these problems are pharmacological —
the Drug Enforcement Administration reports
that 85 percent of all amphetamine prescriptions
are administered to children, and doctors now
prescribe 30 times more legal amphetamines to
children than they did in 1990.
As schools and communities consider the
importance of food in the lives of our children,
it is critical to acknowledge how what we eat —
in particular, the glut of refined carbohydrates
in our diets — affects our brains, behavior and
health. Since 1970, American consumption of
high-fructose corn syrup has increased by 40
times, and we eat 300 calories more per day.
One-third of American children eat fast food
every day.
An array of evidence suggests that obesity,
diabetes, depression, anxiety, attention deficit
disorder and assorted addictions share neurochemical
roots that are seriously influenced by this
high-carbohydrate diet. According to Dr. Kathleen
DesMaisons, author of “Potatoes Not Prozac,” sugarsensitive
people are born with low levels of the brain
chemicals serotonin (a condition tied to depression,
aggression, and poor attention and impulse control)
and dopamine (drug and alcohol addiction, low selfesteem,
violence and anger). They also have volatile
blood sugar (associated with diabetes, fatigue, moodiness,
feeble concentration and emotional outbursts).
40
As with any addict looking for a fix, sugarsensitive
people with these traits seek substances that
alleviate the symptoms, if only temporarily. And, as
with any addiction, the short-lived relief compounds
the problem — people grow helpless to the pull of
refined carbohydrates and low-protein foods (the
template of the contemporary American diet), which
only deepens their despair. Research suggests that
a dependency on refined carbohydrates that begins
early in life also creates a higher risk of addiction to
drugs and alcohol as adults.
“The good news about biochemically based
behavior is that it can change, and it can change rapidly,”
DesMaisons says. “You do not have to pursue
years of psychotherapy to get results.”
DesMaisons has developed a food plan that stabilizes
the biochemical conditions behind sugar sensitivity
and improves the body’s regulation of blood
iStockphoto
sugar. The diet is highlighted by the steady removal
of refined carbohydrates and processed foods.
DesMaisons champions quality protein and complex
carbohydrates, fresh fruits and vegetables, essential
fatty acids, and consistent mealtimes. For children,
sweetened and caffeinated drinks are out.
I have partnered with DesMaisons to found the
Sugar Project. A key part of our strategy is offering
local, sensible tools for transformation in family diets,
school meals, alcoholism treatment and public
health interventions. We have seen powerful
results in thousands of people from these lowcost,
food-based solutions.
After a recent workshop I gave to high
school biology teachers, a teacher told me, “My
rural school district is worried about methamphetamine
and our kids. This is true for maybe 10 students.
But the behavior and psychological issues
associated with teenage diet that you describe fit
every single one of my 130 students. This is a
huge epidemic happening right under our noses.”
A public alternative high school for at-risk
students in Appleton, Wis., responded to the
same issues by changing student diets. Students
were required to eat breakfasts and lunches at
school that contained omega-3 fatty acids, dense
protein, fresh vegetables and fruit, complex carbohydrates
and freely available water. Truancy
and dropout rates, school violence, classroom
disruptions and academic underachievement
evaporated.
“Even though it may seem obvious and
simple, the foods in this plan actually create profound
physical and emotional change,” DesMaisons
says. “Don’t be deceived by the simplicity. This is
powerful medicine.”
“Hooked on Sugar” by Margaret Adamek was originally
published by the Center for Ecoliteracy. Copyright 2004-
2011 Center for Ecoliteracy. Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved. For more information, visit www.
ecoliteracy.org.