Confessions of a Sugar Addict

Hi, my name is Lilly and I am a sugar addict. This is my story.

When I was in high school I weighed 115 pounds and stood 5 ft. 9 inches tall.  I ate all the time, was always hungry, never satisfied.  I was relentlessly teased about this.  My mother used to tell me that I had a hollow leg where all the food went.  My friends' parents told them I was nice, "but boy can she eat."  I used to have a banana split every afternoon after school.  I would make it with (most likely) Breyer's ice cream.  At least two scoops.  I would put on it Nestle's instant chocolate syrup which I made with water; hot of course.  I did this almost every day.

Needless to say I was tired all the time.  I would force myself to stay awake after my banana split until dinner.   When my mother would call me to set the table and come eat I would be falling asleep, hardly able to stand up.  As soon as food was placed in front of me I would gobble it down and be full of energy, talking and alert.  In the morning my mother would have to bring me a glass of orange juice before I had the energy to get out of bed and get dressed.  The orange juice always worked.

I thought my eating patterns were odd and started looking for something else.  I tried being a vegetarian.  I liked eating the combinations of beans and rice to get full protein but I was never satisfied.  I only had whole grains and only ate "natural" sugar like maple syrup and honey.  That did not last long because I was so hungry.

My family history is full of type 2 diabetes.  I thought maybe I had something like that, so in college I got a 3 hour glucose tolerance test.  The test is done by having you drink an intense sugar load.  Very sweet syrupy stuff.  Then they test your blood and urine.  What is supposed to happen is the blood sugar is supposed to rise and then fall appropriately over time back to normal.  My blood sugar rose minimally and then crashed.  No wonder I was tired said the doctor.  He diagnosed me as having an insulinoma which makes insulin in too high an amount and drops your blood sugar too low.  No treatment was offered; no dietary suggestions were made.  I did what I could to just get through college.

In 1976 I had a head on collision.  I thought I was going to die.  My hips were crushed from the impact and my face was smashed by the steering wheel.  I herniated a disc in my neck and had a paralyzed right arm.  The paralysis was relieved in one treatment by a doctor who did a Cyriax maneuver on me.  That solidified my desire to become an osteopathic physician.  It also began my osteoarthritis disease process.  I inherited the osteoarthritis gene from my father but the car accident clinched the process.

I also developed a yeast infection that was not curable.  The yeast could be cultured and grown on a Petri dish but the usual treatments failed to make any difference. I read the Yeast Connection and followed the diet.  No sugar, no yeast, no fungi of any kind.  I developed an exquisite sensitivity to alcohol.  I would become intoxicated by eating sugar in food like a tomato sauce.  I would lose sensation in my face and my speech would slur.  If I smelled an alcoholic drink I would become intoxicated by breathing someone else's drink.  I tried many treatments but the disorder would last 10 years.  I stopped eating sugar.

Then I heard Paavo Airola speak.  He is a wonderful speaker, younger looking than his age, clear and articulate.  His approach is vegetarian, whole grains, juicing and fasting.  He said there was a cure for arthritis, so I took him up on it.  I felt good and looked well (my friends told me I was not so pale) but I could not sustain it.  I was always hungry.  I never felt satisfied.  I did not eat refined sugar or refined grains.  I did eat maple syrup and honey.

Then I fell off the wagon altogether.  I was enticed by canolis.  I have Italian friends who would have beautiful, delicious canolis.  I refused them at first.  But then I ate them.  It started slowly with just a taste, then a little more of a taste, then the whole thing.  Then I started sneaking cinnamon buns when I would travel so no one would know.  I would buy a box of cookies and eat the whole box in one sitting.  I felt awful and I felt like I could not let anyone know.  I love carrot cake.  Before we were married, my husband would bring me a piece of carrot cake and I would feel obligated to eat it.  I finally asked him to stop.  He loves ice cream and I wanted to join him in eating ice cream so we would eat it together.  It was social. 

I realize though, I am an addict.  I can not stop.  I can not eat one.  Just like an alcoholic who can not have one drink, I can not have one sweet.  I can not even have fruit that is very sweet.  Like watermelon.  Watermelon is so sweet that it is the top of a slippery slope for me.  The sugar controls me, not the other way around.  So for me at least, I must abstain completely.  I can not "cheat".  I can not have one piece of wedding cake at my best friend's wedding.  I can not share the corn of the summer.  Yes, corn is very high in sugar and has a similar effect on me.  If I am to maintain my health I must abstain completely.  Bummer.

What do I eat now?  I eat whole food, very little grains, no sweet fruit.  I eat berries in the summer and an occasional plum.  I stay away from the sweet stuff.  I can not even have a taste.  I feel satisfied and well.  Although I have significant osteoarthritis I am able to function at a high level.  I no longer have the hypoglycemia but I am still teased about how I need to eat.

How did I learn to do this?  The dietary approach to life that has helped me the most is the metabolic type diet.  I first learned about it from Dr. Joe Mercola and then its developer, William Wollcott.  I am a protein type.  Protein types need a high protein, low carbohydrate diet with a fairly large amount of fat.  We are at high risk for hypoglycemia and type 2 diabetes.  We are especially sensitive to the effects of sugar.  I am now fairly strict about my diet.  I stick to the plan.  If I stray I feel awful:  tired, cranky, achy and foggy thinking.  So I don't stray.

The metabolic type test is offered at the Center. Let us help you feel satisfied and well.  Call us today. 703-734-1774 email:hl@centerfhl.com