Fwd: The Straw That Broke Cranky's Back

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Mon, 29 Mar 2004 08:13:17 -0500

HSI - Jenny Thompson

The Straw That Broke Cranky's Back

 

The Straw That Broke Cranky's Back

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

 

March 29, 2004

 

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Dear Reader,

 

Are you feeling out of sorts? Down right cranky? In the mood

to push people out of the way and spit nails? It could be

that diet you're on.

 

But not just any diet. According to a team of researchers

from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), eating

a high-fat diet (in other words: Atkins) " will make you an

emotional zombie. " And of course, the British tabloid The

Mirror couldn't resist spinning that quote into this

headline: " Atkins Zombies: Diet Sparks Depression. "

 

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Barking and biting

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First, let's be honest, dieting makes most of us cranky.

When someone tells me they've just stared a new diet, I give

them a wide berth because I've never known anyone who was on

a diet and wasn't at least a little cranky, especially

during the first few days.

 

That crankiness is the brain reacting to the sudden lack of

fuel. Deprived of its usual foods, levels of serotonin and

beta-endorphin (chemicals in the brain that regulate

feelings of happiness and well-being) quickly begin to drop.

The result: fatigue, depression and crankiness. This is the

brain crying, " Feed me now! "

 

(As a side note: Guess who tend to be even crankier on

diets? Women. Apparently female brains produce less

serotonin than men, so crankiness goes way up when the food

intake drops. Men, for your own safety I advise no

wisecracks, please.)

 

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Potato fix

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But back to this study. Researchers at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology recently conducted a study in which

serotonin levels were measured in 100 subjects, while half

the group ate high protein foods and the other half ate

foods that were almost exclusively carbohydrates. The high

carb group had higher serotonin levels and were described

as " more relaxed. "

 

The lead researcher - Dr. Judith Wurtman - told The Mirror

that, " If you eat a potato when you feel grumpy, you will

feel better in 30 to 40 minutes. "

 

Sure, that's perfect if your goal is to have a sweet

disposition for an hour or so. But as a dietary guideline,

the potato-for-grumpiness trade-off is a perfect way to GAIN

weight. A potato is a very high glycemic food that creates a

sugar spike, just as a candy bar would. It's like getting a

sugar fix. So you might relieve grumpiness for the moment,

but it's just one part of a cycle that constantly calls for

more sugar for grumpiness relief. If you constantly feed

that cycle, you're certain to gain weight and set the stage

for type 2 diabetes in the process. But, if you stop feeding

that cycle, you'll eventually break it, the crankiness will

subside and your body will be less likely to cry for carbs. when

you're cranky.

 

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The flip side

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According to an MIT press release, Dr. Wurtman's husband -

Richard Wurtman - is the MIT clinical research director and

the one who discovered that carbs prompt the brain to

produce serotonin, but only if very little or no protein is

eaten.

 

BBC News shared an Atkins response to the MIT study. Dr.

Stuart Trager is the chairman of Atkins Physician Council,

and whenever a new attack on the Atkins plan appears, he's

the one who prepares a response. The poor man must put in an

80-hour week just fielding all of these ludicrous attacks.

 

In the BBC article, Dr. Trager cites a study that shows how

the control of carbohydrate intake helped more than half the

study subjects improve mood. Other points made by Dr.

Trager:

 

* Moods are governed by a complex brain chemistry that

involves more than just serotonin levels alone

* Bringing carbohydrate cravings under control (as opposed

to simply satisfying them) helps people stabilize blood

sugar and lose weight

 

Adding to Dr. Trager's comments - and slamming the door on

the concept of carbo-loading to improve mood - Dr. Brigid

McKevith, a British Nutrition Foundation scientist, noted

that if as little as 2 to 4 percent of a meal is protein,

the serotonin created by the carbs is unlikely to make a

difference. And to this Dr. McKevith added, " many foods -

such as milk, beans and even potatoes - contain both

carbohydrate and protein. "

 

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Quite a jump

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As has been the case since the name " Atkins " first came on

the scene, there is always a good deal of controversy and

confusion whenever people are trying to compare diets or

draw conclusions. In this case, I first heard the basic

details of this study from a radio report that took the idea

of low serotonin production due to a high protein diet,

linked that idea with the possibility that low levels of

serotonin may be associated with heart disease, and then

took a huge running leap to jump to the conclusion that the

Atkins diet may cause heart disease. That's quite a stretch

to say the least. Not to mention irresponsible " reporting. "

 

What the radio report didn't mention - and what you won't

find in most of the coverage - was that Dr. Wurtman has

developed a weight-loss program of her own called Adara,

which offers personalized fitness plans as well as " wardrobe

consultations. " The Adara program claims to

address " overeating prompted by the failure of high-

protein/low-carbohydrate dieting. " And on the Adara web site

you can order Serotrim, a high-carb beverage designed

to " control mood and appetite-related disturbances. "

 

You know what makes me cranky? Researchers who publish

studies because they have a financial interest in the

results. .

 

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The record doesn't lie

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As I've said many times, the Atkins diet isn't for everyone.

Some people need more carbohydrates than others. And many

people don't need to go to the extreme of eating nothing but

protein in order to lose weight. What can't be denied is the

fact that the Atkins plan has helped millions of people lose

weight and develop healthier eating habits over the past 30

years.

 

Does Atkins make you cranky? Maybe for a few days. But bad

research makes me cranky even longer.

 

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... and another thing

 

Psoriasis is a poorly understood skin disorder that has no

certain cause. With psoriasis, skin cells multiply too

rapidly, resulting in painful, itchy rashes. But there are a

wide variety of ways to treat the condition naturally.

 

In This Week in the HSI Forum (3/12/04), I shared some

psoriasis remedies offered by members on the Forum. These

remedies included fish oil, lecithin, vitamin D, nettle

leaves and sarsaparilla. But if those don't do the trick, I

have two more treatments to try.

 

A member named Letha sent an e-mail with this comment: " I

have had a friend that has had good results treating her

psoriasis with the yolk of an egg. Do not use the white. Use

the yolk like a shampoo. Rub it on the affected area with a

little water to keep it from being so thick and

unresponsive. For some reason, the protein in the yolk acts

like a healing agent to rashes.

 

" Another friend burned her scalp using hair color. I told

her to use the yolk of an egg to massage into the burned

scalp and then rinse it as if it was a shampoo. This

immediately cured her problem. She uses egg yolks to wash

her hair now instead of shampoo. Hope this simple remedy

will help someone else too. "

 

If the egg yolk method doesn't work, then you can try this

suggestion from a member named Carol: " A friend of mine used

Pycnogenol & if she rubbed it on the place, psoriasis went

away. "

 

Pycnogenol is a powerful antioxidant that I've told you

about in previous e-Alerts. It's a pine bark extract that

contains a variety of polyphenols that have been shown to

have anti-inflammatory effects.

 

Psoriasis patients respond in diverse ways to the various

remedies for this complex disease. To read more about

psoriasis and a wide variety of other health issues, just

visit our web site at www.hsibaltimore.com and go to the

Forum where you'll find members discussing health care,

nutrition and natural treatments.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

" Carbs Essential for Effective Dieting, Good Mood, Wurtman

Says " Tech Talk, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

2/25/04, web.mit.edu

" Atkins Zombies: Diet Sparks Depression " Lorraine Fisher,

The Mirror, 3/2/04, mirror.co.uk

" Atkins 'Can Put You in a Bad Mood' " BBC News, 3/1/04,

news.bbc.co.uk

" Rival Says Atkins Diet Can Make You Depressed " Sarah

Boseley, The Guardian, 3/2/04, guardian.co.uk

 

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