Day 11: I'm in a glass cage of emotion

I've been on an emotional bender for the last 24 hours. There really is no explaining it, but I've pretty much hit absolutely every emotion on the spectrum. 

Those of you that know me know I've participated in my fair share of hypochondriacal moments. I enjoy a good self diagnosis on WebMD, I'll pretty much watch any show on TLC that deals with uncovering an un-recognized affliction, I was in an anxiety induced blackout during and for about a week after watching the movie Contagion, and its a given that I'm always packing tissues and Purel.  

So it should come as no surprise that I spent a fair amount of my time today googling the symptoms of sugar withdrawal to help explain my roller coaster of emotion. WebMD totally solidified my journey down the rabbit's hole with a 21-slide show that compared a sugar addiction to heroin, and we were off. 

While the neuro-psychology nerd in me read about the technical ins and outs of a sugar addiction, I'll save you that information. The overview was exactly as you'd expect it to be: sugar consumption causes a production of chemicals called opioids in the brain that active it's pleasure centers. This is the same chemical produced when drugs are ingested. Studies show that sugar, much like drugs, activates areas in the brain that reinforce behaviors. This means that -- similarly to a heroin addiction -- your body learns to want and need more of the substance that makes it feel good. To prove this point, scientists provided humans with a compound to block opioid receptors in the brain. Shortly after receiving these compounds, people were less interested in sugary or sweet foods.

While I'm kind of surprised I'm feeling sugar withdrawal symptoms 11 days into this and was totally fine for the first week, all of the information I looked at today only furthered my resolve to stick to the paleo game plan. Here's hoping for my sake and the safety of those around me that I hulk out way less tomorrow...