The Problem of Sugar Sensitivity and Weight You are fat, and diets haven't worked for you. You want to lose weight and not gain it back. You have been motivated to lose weight your entire life. You have tried every diet on earth, from the cottage cheese and grapefruit diet to the cabbage diet. It is all you think about. How can you try so hard and still not have the results you deserve? You know people who decide to diet, lose weight, and that is the end of it. Why is it so different for you?You may be sugar sensitive. This physical and chemical condition changes everything. Take this test for sugar sensitivity. If you answer yes to three or more questions, you are reading the right book. If none of these apply to you, stop here. This is not the solution for you.

You have tried every diet in the world but cannot sustain your commitment.

You try again and again to cut down or control your use of sweet foods.

You feel everything will be okay once you are thin.

You are easily hurt.

You are overly sensitive to criticism.

You need a regular dose of sugar or you get irritable and cranky.

You love office supply stores.

You know what a "sugar hangover" is.

You start things and do not finish them.

You sometimes go blocks out of your way to get something sweet.

You have twenty projects going on simultaneously.

You have several sets of clothes--one fat set and one hopeful set.

You hate how you look.

You pretend that big is beautiful, but you know this is hooey.

You are impulsive.

You like to skip breakfast because it gives you a "starvation high," but you're famished by eleven o'clock and exhausted after lunch.

Your mother bought your clothes in husky sizes.

You get overwhelmed easily.

You wait for new magazines to find one more diet that will work.

You have taken medication for weight loss.

You have taken antidepressants.

Your friends tell you that you look fine, but you feel fat and ugly.

If you have answered yes to three or more of these questions, you are in the right place. You will get answers that will help you understand why you are fat, why you feel the way you do, and what you can do about it. (If you are wondering about the office supply store question, that question comes from a serendipitous discovery made in our online community at www.radiantrecovery.com. We got into an exchange about office supply stores and discovered that we all loved them. It was a little creepy at first, since we had all felt this was a personal idiosyncrasy and not a shared characteristic. But over time, we have come to love this little indicator as a secret code.)

Characteristics of Sugar Sensitives

I have spent the past ten years developing and writing about the theory of sugar sensitivity--that some people are born with a different biochemistry that makes them more vulnerable to the addictive properties of sugar and alcohol. Sugar-sensitive people have lower levels of the brain chemicals that create the simple state of feeling good. They are likely to be impulsive, have a hard time saying no, struggle with mood swings, are more vulnerable to depression, and struggle with sugar addiction. Their self-esteem fluctuates with what they eat. Sugar-sensitive people also tend to be smart, intuitive, creative, funny, compassionate, and tenacious.

The contradiction between the difficult and wonderful parts of being sugar sensitive creates a significant dilemma. You may ask yourself, "How can I be such a nice person and do such dumb things?" Even more relevant to this discussion, you may ask yourself, "How can I know so much...

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., is the author of the bestselling Potatoes Not Prozac and The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program. Dr. DesMaisons lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she has a private practice and runs her organization, Radiant Recovery. Her popular Web site, www.radiantrecovery.com, provides a uniquely safe, supportive community for sugar sensitives seeking recovery.

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