Little Sugar Addicts: End the Mood Swings, Meltdowns, Tantrums, and Low Self-Esteem in Your Child Today

Kathleen DesMaisons first book, Potatoes Not Prozac, changed my life. I went from a completely depressed person well on my way to taking anti-depressants, to a happy, confident person who loves life--all because I changed the way I ate! Since healing my own body and mind I have changed my children's diets with miraculous results. Before Kathleen's program my kids would whine, scream, hit, be totally out of control, throw tantrums and in general, I didn't like them very much a lot of the time. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong?!? How could I feel this way about my kids and what could I do about it? No amount of parenting advice or classes could change what was going on with them. Well, after getting myself steady on Kathleen's program I started to look at my kids diet. It took a little time and adjustment, but now by feeding them differently and at consistant times they are mostly fun, loving, compassionate, focused, easy to talk to and the joys I always knew they were. Food was the answer, pure and simple! Get this book if you've ever had those feelings of helplessness with your kids. It will change your life and your families life!

My experience is much like the previous reviewer's, only I was a bit older when I found Dr. DesMaison's work, and started following her food program. Her books explained my whole life....depression, mood swings, meltdowns, temper tantrums, low self-esteem etc. "Doing the food" changed all of this. I've just finished reading "Little Sugar Addicts", and I think how wonderful that families today have this available to them, and what a difference it would have made in my family's lives. What is so different about this is it is not the parent/s *telling* the children what to do, but inviting the whole family to participate in what and how changes will be made. Lots of quotes from real people that are doing this plan. It works. I recommend this book to all parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles, friends with children. What a difference it will make.

If my mother had had this book when I was a child, my whole life would have been different. Doing the food program would have spared both of us a lot of pain. I didn't find out until I was nearly 40 and Dr. DesMaisons wrote her first book that it was the food I was eating that had made me so depressed for most of my life. Doing her food program changed my life. I don't have children of my own, but reading this book makes me almost wish I did. DesMaisons explains that limiting sugar in your house isn't enough - the process she outlines will help your children see the effect that sugar has on them, and buy into the whole process of eating healthy food and avoiding sugar. One of the most interesting pieces of information, in my opinion, is that the majority of tantrums are caused by blood sugar crashes. Once a child is in biochemical meltdown, punishment doesn't work, but a cheese stick will. And by making sure your child eats some protein every three hours, you can prevent meltdowns. I grew up feeling bad because I was a very difficult child. Reading this book gave me compassion for myself as a child. I wasn't difficult on purpose - I had a biochemical imbalance. With the right food, things would have been very different.

This book is an excellent collection and celebration of years of experience helping families clean up their food and being delighted by the rewards: a cheerful, funny, smart, affectionate and connected family. I am the 'Connie' quoted in the book who says you get your easy kids back. I've been 'doing the food' myself for about 3 years and as the mom, I cook and shop per this program. I have a 17 yo daughter still at home (3d of 3) who has come along this food journey with mom; as a teen she still chooses sugary junk food sometimes, but by gum she is completely knowledgable about its effects! DD much prefers her cheerful, calm mom. She remembers the old days of moodiness, gloom, cranky. Our house is a place of affection, laughs, and consideration where before it was too often drama, crisis, silence and slammed doors. (Turns out that mom's 'pizza coma' kind of scared her but she never said so at the time!) It's quite unbelievable until you experience it, how big an effect regular, sugar-and-whites free meals can have. Little by little, step by step, recipe by recipe we have moved to fresh whole foods and family meals. The reviewer of the book sounds kinda spooked herself at changes like this, LOL. But EVERY change we have made, we made because we like the new way BETTER and feel better. None of this grim stuff for us. Really, it is fun and funny to see what we are ready to change and what we aren't, sometimes. And I say, never, never, never underestimate what kids will 'get.' My DD has not read one word of any of DesMaisons' books, and thinks the full 'no whites' deal is just for middle-aged me who obviously screwed up earlier (I am dealing with overweight)... but even so, here is what she has spontaneously shared with me: - she thinks her clear skin and luscious figure is from good food available at home - she always has breakfast and lunch; no starve/binge - she notices her high school friends - no breakfast, no lunch, and then kaboom, regrettable choices - she knows about low serotonin and its relation to diet (they studied it in health!) - she knows about beta-endorphin and its role in craving / addiction - she knows it is inherited and biochemical - one time reading a book for English class about an addicted teen, she said, Mom, she was sugar sensitive before she ever started 'using' - she knows buying junk is out of her own allowance You can totally arm your kids with understanding & information. they will LIKE it and their feeling of control! How I wish I had this when my kids were little!

This is a must read for every parent, whether you think your child is a sugar addict or not. We have all experienced children having melt downs, tantrums, mood swings, low self-esteem. Often we've been at a loss how to address these, have read tons and tons of self-help books or sought counselors for behavior modification techniques in an attempt to find a solution. Rarely did we find the help that produced long-lasting results. Dr. DesMaisons' program takes a different approach, based on her understanding that behavior is often linked to diet, and particularly sugar sensitivity. Just by changing what and when we eat, we change how we think and feel. Amazing results in family dynamics have occurred where her program has been implemented. This book gives step by step guidelines and examples of how it works and how to work it. Compassionate, deeply experiential and humorous as well, it will become a classic in helping us help our children to express their smart, creative, loving selves! Kudos for groundbreaking information and a true gift to us all! Gretel