“The diagnosis or name of the disease is inconsequential compared to identification of the biochemical and environmental causes.”
- Sherry Rogers, MD
Harm reduction is a concept in public health and addictions counseling that acknowledges that while a person may not stop doing a high risk behavior, there is value in promoting behaviors that reduce overall harm. The harm reducing behaviors mitigate the potential dangers and health risks associated with, for example, prostitution, drinking, and drug use. Promotion of the use of condoms, needle exchange programs, and designated driver campaigns are good examples.
As Herr (1998) noted, at least 7 out of 10 causes of death are related directly to lifestyle, behavior and personal choices. Still, as a culture we are sleepwalking into the epidemic of obesity and diabetes, not to mention all the diseases and addictions that are their companions. Even though there is a mountain of evidence connecting poor blood sugar regulation, alcohol addiction, and foul mood chemistry with the consumption of refined carbohydrates (Larson, 1997), most of us don’t recognize even the most flagrant symptoms as consequences of poor diet. These are the loud but inarticulate warnings of a dangerous, pre-diabetic state. Anxiety. Mood swings. Insomnia. Cravings. Irritability. Fatigue. Fuzzy thinking. Weight gain. They fairly scream at us, “Change your diet”, but we haven’t been taught their language.
Of all your organs, your brain is among the most sensitive to poor nutrition (Bland, 1987). That is why the earliest symptoms of poor nutrition usually include learning issues (Simontacchi, 2007), brain symptoms like anxiety and depression (Schachter, 2006), or poor concentration (Bock, 2008). Over time, other systems cave in too, so other health problems accumulate like overweight, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease. But long before this happens, you’re likely to see foul moods and fatigue. If the disease process is started in childhood (and remember, The Centers for Disease Control predict one of three American children will end up diabetic before age 50), it is likely to be interpreted as a behavioral problem or attentional issue rather than as the early signs of an adult-onset disease.
What’s going on here? Misidentification of the nation’s most pressing addictions challenge: At the biological core of these seemingly distinct health challenges are environmental and biochemical forces that combine with our bodies to make for an addictive food supply. To understand why the food supply is so addictive, it’s necessary to recognize that there are two general kinds of brain nutrients: building blocks and fuel. It may help to think of a car engine. You need steel to build the engine and you need gas to fuel it. Our engine – brain – is more than half structural fat (not the flabby kind), the kind that keeps cold water fish flexible in frigid oceans. The working parts – neurotransmitters – are made from the amino acids in the protein food we eat. And the fuel is glucose, from sugars and starches. In our culture, we tend to eat way too much fast fuel (refined carbohydrates like cake, chips, soda) and not enough slow fuel (fiber-rich fruits and vegetables) and not enough building blocks (high quality fats and an array of protein foods). We may eat enough protein, but our processing and preparing methods reduce its food value. In that case, eating what seems to be enough still does not supply the necessary nutrients for learning brains and good mood brain chemistry.
The addictive relationship with Western processed foods rises from quirks of metabolism that make us crave fast fuel (read refined carbohydrates) even when what we really need is . . .