has anyone else heard about this? I heard it on some talk radio program I was flipping through... some doctor was claiming that a carb-addiction is actually a response to an allergy, and that people could actually get checked to see if they're allergic to sugar.

basically he was saying, that unlike other food allergies, you don't always have to break into hives -you actually have constant cravings for some sort of carb,startch, or sugar.

i wish i listened long enough to catch the guy's name but i was already so late for work!!!!!!!!!

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SW: 230
CW: 205
GW: 135
http://smallersize.blogspot.com

Smalleris,
YES I have been hearing this for years and I DO believe it. There are also conditions where the body has a yeast overgrowth, which also will trigger allergies. The food allergies that plague most people are to dairy and wheat. Evolutionarily, humans weren't really meant to eat either one of those types of foods, so it stands to reason that we would be allergic to them. I believe that sugar is VERY addicting, and if one has a yeast problem, the yeast is "directing" their addiction to sugar. Yeast needs sugar to survive. If you cut it off, you get cravings like mad. This way of eating is a WONDERFUL way to get those yeastie beasties under controll. It's very difficult, but it can be done. Adding probiotics will help the process along.

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I spent Friday at an allergist/asthma specialist, and they aren't really into food allergy testing. He hit me up on all the normal allergy testing, but said since I felt so much better, and the asthma had settled down, and I don't plan on getting off the plan again - he was big on the hives thing and really didn't think it was an allergy. So he didn't see a reason to test.

I know it was an allergy, and I would have like to know if it was wheat or the sugar. But, I don't plan on starting up on either again, so guess it really doesn't matter.

well, whatever!, I have a very slight allergy to mold - and I did manage to get a flu shot, so guess I'm ahead. I wouldn't have worried so much since I work from home, but I'll get major exposure in a couple weeks at a business conference - so feeling pretty lucky to have gotton one.

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Mary Kay 1/1/04 - 232
5/19/08 (5/23/08) - sw226/(cw222)/mg210/fg160

Dr. Atkins touches on the allergy/addiction issue very briefly in DANDR.

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Libby

2004 174/142/138

Begin Again 2007

164/159/142

Oh and don't forget about wheat gluten problems. I think that is a culprit in many allergies, even respiratory ones.

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Yes, I have heard this to be true and have seen the proof in my own food addictions. There are certain foods that I crave intensely which make me feel HORRIBLE after I eat them.
I've heard this described as a *mild food allergy or intolerance* -- one that does not evoke a severe histimine reaction (like hives or aniphylaxis [sp?]), but one in which your body exhibits a negative reaction (headaches, nausea, fatigue, irritability).
My big offenders are nuts and corn.
UNFORTUNATELY,
these *mild* allergies can become increasingly severe if you don't heed your body's early warning signals. It can take years of eating the offending food before your body exhibits a *true* allergic response, but that doesn't mean that you won't benefit from avoiding that food entirely. I continued to eat macademia nuts despite feelings of lethargy and mild headaches afterward... until about a year ago, eating them resulted in my breaking out in hives. :(
Now I avoid them completely.

As for sugar, I think it is more of a yeast overgrowth problem and/or a psychological addiction rather than a *true food allergy*. This is just my humble opinion, but it's becoming increasingly well-known that sugar stimulates a withdrawal reaction that is comparable to heroin addiction! This could explain why it is so prevalent in our food/culture. I've always said that sugar was "my drug of choice." I'm glad Dr. Atkins has helped me to "kick the habit." LOL

HTH,

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Summer

www.radiantrecovery.com

That's a site that could probably answer a lot of questions about sugar sensitivities...this woman wrote a book about people who were sugar sensitive and it answered A LOT of my questions...grant it, her book was more where you follow 7 steps in order to start losing weight and all - and you switch from eating white things to eating brown things...that was, like the 4th or 5th step, I think...but it was a real eye-opener...even if you don't agree with the whole book, I would recommend it to anyone who has a carb or sugar addiiction. It's considered an inheirted gene...I could never understand why I craved sugar so much growing up when there was hardly ever sugar in the house...you'd figure I just wouldn't like it for that reason, or that I would find the taste objectionable...but nope, once I started, I couldn't seem to stop...and after reading that book, I began to understand why...

Sheyla