In the bad old pre paleo days, I used to have tons of stress, tons of
cravings, and the dietary habits that come with them. Without a doubt, I
know they contributed to the asthma, overweight and stress in my life.
My comfort foods/drugs of choice were lots of fat, salt, and starch, and
a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. In the morning it would be
more fat and starch, but with sugar this time, and lots of strong coffee
to help me get over that crappy feeling that I d feel every morning.
(Gee I wonder why?!!) Artficially adrenalized, (and all the time I was
depleting my adrenals) I would go through my hectic and stressful day,
barely able to cope, and start the carb craving cycle all over again. I
can t help thinking of the MILLIONS of people in this country doing the
very same thing day after day of their prematurely shortened, lack of
quality lives. When I from time to time watch tv with my husband, I
can t help but notice that EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL for food, is for
carbohydrate laden, heavily processed non-food. Starch, corn and soy
(very likely GMO), excess salt, Sugar and hydrogenated fats. Do ya think
they know something about the addictive quality of these combinations of
so called foodstuffs? Food addictions, cravings, constant hunger; that
little voice that you can t shut off and it keeps saying,  more, more,
MORE!
I know full well that the big agrabusinesses in this country are NOT our
friends and do not have our wellbeing in mind. It s insidious and
inhumane how they tout such a horrible diet and at the same time condemn
the epidemic of obesity. Ok, I m off my soapbox now!
Things are very different for me now. My blood sugar is stable, my
insulin levels are under control, my cravings are GONE, my habits have
radically changed for the better. The  stress buttons  are still there,
but my ability to cope is like night and day. I m calm and happy most of
the time. I don t need comfort foods, because the foods I currently eat
(purely paleo) are satisfying and comforting without being detrimental,
since fat and protein, at least in my case have a satiety factor built
in, so there s no super sizing. I don t get those horrid cravings. I
don t even get hungry! Food has been my healing medicine thanks to
People like Cordain and Audette, and that blessed pioneer of nutrition
Robert C. Atkins. He wasn t paleo, but he was certainly on the right
track. And I m greatful every day.