One Step at a Time

I’m currently reading a book on sugar sensitivity, called (I’m not so fond of the title):  Potatoes, Not Prozac, by Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD.   No, I am not at all feeling as if I need antidepressants, Mom.  Move on.

 According to this book, sugar sensitivity is an inherited body make-up, similar to the genetic make-up of an alcoholic.

 I know that food affects my mood and my sleep a great deal.  I also know that I am cursed with a sweet tooth.  I think Mark would testify to that, with my University-era passion for ice cream.  Even when I am eating healthy and losing weight, I find myself naturally drawn to sweeter food:  grapes, etc.  And I’ve documented for awhile my battle with Diet Coke, and other products containing Nutrasweet.

This book was written for me.  I’ve made attempts to reduce sugar / detox from sugar / etc. in the past, but I love how DesMaisons lays out a very slow (read:  realistic) plan for change.  I’ve been doing her food journal for awhile, and am now grouping foods into meals only, plus a bedtime snack (which I’ll tell you more in a few paragraphs — hang in.)  The premise of having anything you want to eat, as long as you eat it as part of a meal, is a good one.  It’s takes the “magic” out of sneaking a chocolate here and there, as your blood sugar is much more stable if those types of foods are eaten with others.  Sounds too simple, heh?

 So, I’m eating three meals.  And then I’m having the bedtime snack.  Enter the spud.

I’m not a huge potatoe fan.  We eat them at dinner maybe once a week.  So I was skeptical of all of Desjardin’s claims about my less-than-favorite slow-releasing complex carb:

“If you eat a baked potato (with the skin) as a snack before bed, you will put the biochemistry in motion to get the tryptophan into your brain to make serotonin.” 

Translation: you’ll wake up feeling great, and you’ll sleep better.  And, many of her clients report that they have very vivid dreams after eating a potatoe at bedtime.

Last night was Night #3. 

Holy cow. 

I’m a believer!

I have woken up feeling about 50% more rested, despite having gone to bed at the same time or later than usual.  As well, usually I wake up feeling nauseous, and can only manage breakfast after being up for a couple of hours.  Instead, I’ve gotten up feeling healthily hungry, but not starving.

And the dreams!  Oh my.  In the past, I have been a technicolor kind of dreamer, but once I had kids, my dream life fizzled due to exhaustion.  The dreams I’ve had in the past three nights have been incredible … (no more said there…

So, I want to know if it’s just sugar-sensitive me … Try it for a few nights.  Have a baked potatoe with skin as your bedtime snack and see if you notice any positive changes in your sleep, morning energy, other dreams. 

Get back to me.