On Mon, 8 Nov 1999, Mary wrote:

> I think alcoholism is not genetic, it is genetic only in that the mom feeds
> the child the same foods she is eating. A high carb mom is going to give her
> family high carb foods in most cases leading to carb/sugar addiction and
> then alcohol addiction. Note in the book SUGAR BLUES the author states that
> alcoholism is sugar craving.

This is yet another reason to throw this book away.  The
implication of this claim is that alcoholics would not drink if
they could eat sugar instead.  There is nothing to support such a
claim.  While there is evidence that the "reward cascade"
metabolism of sugar and alcohol have some common features, it
hardly follows that alcoholism is just sugar craving.  There is
now evidence that alcohol molecules actually occupy certain
neurotransmitter receptor sites in the brain; sugar molecules do
not.

Although there is some evidence for a genetic predisposition to
alcoholism, there is little to suggest that this is the whole
story.  A person with two alcoholic parents is more likely to
become an alcoholic than a person with one or zero alcholic
parents, but that person is still, in absolute terms, unlikely to
become an alcoholic.

> The  implication is that   alcoholism could be ameliorated with a high fat
> low carb diet. Instead people are told they are sick and need AA.  Go to an
> AA meeting and what do they serve: coffee and sugar cookies. No wonder
> people do not seem to "recover" from alcoholism.

Do you mean that people on a high-fat and low-carb diet would
find it easier to drink alcohol in moderation?  That's an
interesting implication.

> Could this also be true of drug addicts? I would like to see the diet of a
> drug addict and am willing to bet it's very high carb high sugar.

An interesting thing about many alcholics and drug addicts is
that they are often not much interested in food at all, with or
without sugar.  The gaunt "junkie" look that some models
unfortunately cultivate is testimony to this.

Todd Moody
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