I told you I would be soon sharing some of my notes from my recent reading.  Well, this isn’t “notes,” exactly, but it is from my reading.

In The Diet Cure, the author suggests that a lot of weight management difficulties are caused by deficiencies of certain neurotransmitters, and/or similar imbalances.  One biggie is carbohydrate cravings.  Many of us are carb-addicted.  This is not just a cutesy phrase, but an actual, physical reality.

The sugars in simple carbohydrates act like drugs, meeting certain “needs” of brains that are deficient in particular neurotransmitters.  All of those well-known, high-carb “comfort foods” really do make us feel comforted!  They’re feel-good foods.  Ironically, so many people are struggling to lose weight because of this carb addiction that they go on low-fat or low-calorie diets, or they look for weight-loss supplements, when most of these things are likely to further disrupt the chemical balances in their bodies, making it even harder to lose weight!

The best option is to balance the body chemistry.  One place that Ms. Ross often starts is by supplementing with L-glutamine.  See, the brain seeks out glucose because that’s its fuel.  So we need plenty of sugars — but in complex carbohydrate forms so that it’s released slowly and gradually to the brain.  When we eat simple carbs, the sugar rushes to the brain initially, but then it’s gone, and the brain needs fuel.  L-glutamine can apparently be used as an alternative fuel for the brain, which allows the body time to break the carb addiction.

(If you use Kindle, a Kindle edition of The Diet Cure is also available.