Disease processes are mysteries waiting to be solved. Sometimes the simplest question will unveil the most thorny problem and lead to its resolution.
Dr. Bill Wilson channels Sherlock Holmes
During my long 12-hour days managing sick hospitalized patients I sometimes miss things that in retrospect are fairly obvious. I can usually sniff out patients with sugar-brain or CARB syndrome fairly quickly. These patients have typical brain dysfunction symptoms such as mood swings, excessive anxiety, fatigue and difficulty concentrating and focusing. They also always have excessive body fat even when their size or BMI is normal or below normal. Regardless of their size or weight they are too flabby because their body is storing too much fat. You actually need to measure body composition to document this hidden fat but after measuring the body composition of thousands of patients over the years, I am usually pretty good at seeing this hidden fat.
Recently I saw 45-year-old female with chest pain in the emergency room and she was admitted to the hospital to rule out underlying heart disease. She was not overweight and seemed to be the picture of health. She had no ongoing chronic illnesses and she reported exercising an hour every day. She worked at a high level corporate job where she seemed to function at a high level. When I first interviewed her she seemed to be eating a pretty healthy diet. She consumed very little sugar and kept her carbohydrate intake very low.
Her work up was negative for heart disease or other serious problems and as I was about to discharge her from the hospital I decided to delve a little deeper. I asked her one simple question: “Do you crave carbohydrates–either sweets or starches?” As it turns out she has struggled with horrible starch cravings for years but has worked very hard not to eat them. At times her defenses broke down and she binged on starchy foods like chips, potatoes, bread and rice.
I then quickly outlined the CARB syndrome concept and she listened intently. At this point the floodgates opened and she poured out the history she withheld when I first admitted her into the hospital. Like many patients with CARB syndrome she didn’t think a physician would be interested in her cravings. After all, what do carbohydrate cravings have to do with chest pain? As it turns out this symptom provided me with the window I needed to see the true nature of her medical problems.
When she was younger she had terrible bulimia and in recent years her primary care physician diagnosed her with ADHD because she was having so much trouble concentrating and focusing at work. He prescribed the stimulant Adderall but she become too jumpy and nervous on it so she stopped taking it. In the past she tried the Atkins and South Beach diets because she felt better when she reduced her carbohydrate intake. Over the years her weight also fluctuated tremendously as she bounced from one fad diet to the next. Even now with her weight and BMI in the normal range she had an obvious roll of flab around her abdomen. With this short burst of new information it was clear that she had CARB syndrome.
I outlined a simple approach for managing her illness and gave her references to read and study so she could manage her own illness because at the present time most physicians are unaware of the CARB syndrome concept. She was astounded that all of her problems could be the result of one disease process. For the first time in her life everything seemed to fall into place. That’s the nice thing about being in the trenches. It gives me the opportunity to observe first hand what happens when you give people high quality information that they can use to dramatically improve their health.
If any of this seems familiar to you, I suggest that you spent some time on this web site learning about the condition sugar-brain and the potentially serious disease CARB syndrome. They are both triggered by long-term exposure to excessive fructose primarily from sucrose (sugar) and HFCS and high glycemic carbohydrates primarily from grains. Over time these dietary elements can adversely affect you brain leading to a common condition called sugar-brain where you start to crave sweet or starchy food pushing you to consume more of the food that is frying your brain. At this stage your body will also start to accumulate too much fat even as you diet to lose weight.
Over time sugar-brain can transition to a potentially serious disease called Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. With CARB syndrome you can develop up to 22 brain dysfunction symptoms that make it harder to function in many settings. Your body will also continue to store too much fat.
Don’t despair. Both sugar-brain and CARB syndrome are treatable and reversible conditions if you know what to do. And with good information, you have the power to get well. This site is dedicated to teaching you how to prevent or reverse sugar-brain and CARB syndrome.
