Hi {!firstname_fix}

We are taking a two week break from classes because I am in Wisconsin and Minnesota to present at a Native American Wellbriety conference and then down to Minneapolis to do planning for the program development. We have gotten funding to develop alcoholism treatment program materials for the White Earth Reservation.

We have posted a schedule of the classes for the next month. So you can go ahead and sign up for what you want to join.

A number of you have asked me about how the classes work. I conduct them via email through Yahoogroups, so it does not matter where you live or what time zone you are in or whether you can get to the computer at a specific time. After you register for payment, you will receive an autoresponder email from me with instructions on how to get to the class. Please be sure to click on the link in the email that will take you to Yahoo to sign up

If you come right now, sign up, then immediately return the autoresponder email to join the Yahoo group through which the class will be conducted, we can fit you in... Just click on the links above.

Also, I would like to thank all of you for your continuing input on the classes. It is VERY helpful to me and I think it means we are creating a real resource that suits your needs.

Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover.

A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of the page. Do not email me, do not get mad at me, just click on the link and you will be forever removed.

And be sure to visit our Radiant RecoveryŽ website and Community Forum regularly.

Warmly,
Kathleen

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April 18, 2005
** Quote From Kathleen **

Once you have experienced a week of radiance, you will always return to it. Your molecules will remember and want it.

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** Testimonial for the Week**


Hello to all,

As of tomorrow I will have written in my journal for 30 days..consistently!! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, emotional and physical feelings are all there. It wasn't always perfect and it wasn't always complete but I DID IT! I honestly wasn't' sure if I would be able to do this so this truly is a milestone. I've drawn smiley faces along the sides of tomorrow's journal page.

For those of you looking for help I can say that, prior to March 7, I was inconsistent. I kept a journal - with a day here or there - since October 2004. I started getting more consistent in January and even more so in February. I have not tried to analyze the journal or draw conclusions. That just seemed too overwhelming. Now, I think I can begin to do that some. I am still making the shift away from judging what I'm putting in my mouth. This will be a BIG step for me.

Some tips that have worked for me - I try to put the time I feel things, I especially find it helpful to spend time with the journal first thing in the morning and last thing at night - I think it fortifies my commitment. I like the idea of writing in the journal as "dessert" and have tried to do this. Sometimes I forget but always come back to it. I can say that, for me, the novelty of writing in the journal has worn off a bit and I find myself getting a complacent. And, who knows, I may "forget" my journal at times. It's all learning.

The bottom line for me is that my healing is a top priority at this time. And, journaling is a big component of the healing. So, here I am doing the journal..meal by meal..day by day.

I know the YOU can do it too. We'll help each other along this path.

All the best,

K

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**Recipe of the Week**


Gotta love those greens! (smile) Here is a yummy recipe that is sure to win over your family to eating greens. I adapted this from a real simple magazine recipe.

BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC LEMON CRUMBS

Grate the zest from the lemon and then cut the lemon in half, squeezing the juice from half the lemon and putting it aside. Put the bread in a food processor or blender to make bread crumbs. Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the bread crumbs and sauté over medium heat until toasted. Add the crushed garlic and the lemon juice into the pan. Add the salt and cook, stirring constantly, until dry. Place the florets on a microwave-safe plate and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove and sprinkle with the Garlic Lemon Crumbs.

Note from last week's recipe: I regret that I omitted the source of the recipe. The twice baked sweet potatoes are from Delicious Living Magazine and the original recipe can be found at http://www.deliciouslivingmag.com/recipes/index.cfm?fuseaction=recipedetails&recipeid=639

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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**


A number of you have been asking about the special weight loss class we will be doing. As soon as I get back from the Great Lakes, we will go ahead and get started. Look for a specific YLD email from me with a full discussion of what we are doing.

For those of you who are not yet YLD members, Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun.
 


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**David's Corner **



Kathleen has been traveling this week. She took a special George's Junior mixture with her. She put George's Junior, All One Vitamin powder and some baby oatmeal in a baggie.
Then she used her travel blender wand, added some of the Cod Liver Oil singles in an individual pack. She called me to say it was yummy and worked perfectly. You can try it too.


Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

Thanks
David

And of course, we have something for everybody in our store


 
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**Our Online Groups**


Hi I am Chloe the geo coach for the BigSky group. It is for folks living in Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Idaho. I live in Salmon, Idaho, one of the most beautiful areas in America. Our group is kinda quiet so would love for you to come and join us. I am very excited and grateful to give something back to this community that has given me so much. Hope to see you there.

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** Featured Topic**
The C57 Story
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.


Science has a lot to learn about sugar sensitivity. We can't just go to PubMEd, put 'sugar sensitivity' in the search field and find hundreds or thousands of citations telling us all about our unique bodies and behaviors. But the story is therein the science writings, encoded in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. If we listen and watch our own stories, we can go back to the literature and better understand the whys of what we are living.

The Power of the Beta Endorphin Story

I continue to be intrigued by beta-endorphin and it's relationship to the story of sugar sensitivity. I began my relationship with beta-endorphin when I learned two intriguing themes. The first came from the work of Dr. Christine Gianoulakis at McGill University. She noticed that two different strains of mice responded to the effects of alcohol in very different ways. The C57GL/6 mice had a far more potent reaction than their "dry" brothers and sisters, the DBA/2 mice. Because of this intensity of the response, they really go for the booze. C57s are called alcohol-preferring mice and DBAs are called alcohol-avoiding mice.

As an aside, many other studies have shown that not only do the C57s have a high preference for alcohol, they also love sweet things. In fact, some scientists are working with the concept that a preference for sweet may be an indicator of a risk for alcoholism.

Dr. Gianoulakis and her colleagues have worked with these mice for a long time. They discovered that the C57's and the DBA have very different levels of beta-endorphin. The C57's are born with much lower levels of beta endorphin in their brains, so their brains increase the number of receptor sites to try to catch more of the beta endorphin molecules. This is called upregulation. Because they have more places to catch the beta-endorphin, they get a bigger response to things that evoke beta-endorphin.

At Risk For Alcoholism

Dr. Gianoulakis extended her study to people and examined a whole group of people who are known to be genetically predisposed to alcohol addiction, the children and grandchildren of alcoholics. Children and grandchildren of alcoholics seem to be the human equivalent of the C57 mice. They, like the mice, have lowered levels of beta-endorphin and a heightened response to things that evoke beta-endorphin like alcohol and sugars.

As Dr. Gianoulakis was publishing her work, a number of other scientists were noticing that that sucrose quieted pain. They discovered that not only does sucrose quiet physical pain, but also it quiets the pain of loss or social isolation. When a group of baby chicks were taken from their mama, they peeped and peeped. When they were given sugar water, they stopped crying for mama chicken.

Sugar as a Drug

Dr. Elliott Blass, then at Cornell, wanted to understand how this happens. How could sugar act like a drug? He did some experiments and showed that sucrose cut physical and emotional pain by evoking the brain's own beta-endorphin. Beta-endorphin is the body's natural painkiller. It is called an endogenous opioid or internal painkiller. Morphine and heroine are opiate drug, which mean they go and sit in the brain's beta-endorphin receptor sides and get the brain to block pain signals. Sucrose acts like an opioid drug such as morphine or heroin. Not as intensely, but on the same beta-endorphin system.

And, if we return to our friends the C57 and the DBA mice, we discover that the C57s have a 35 times more powerful reaction to morphine than do the DBAs. Think of that. Insert sugar in the place of morphine, and we begin to see why some body and brain types seek it, love it and get addicted to it. Now the sugar story and the connection to C57's is well researched through out the scientific literature. But no one in the science lab is yet making this leap from the C57 profile to the sugar sensitivity profile in people. But the "match" is extraordinary.

How We Are Like Those C57 Mice

If we start thinking of ourselves as little C57 mice, we can have LOTS of clues about why we act the way we do. And we can start understanding why our DBA friends cannot in any way understand why we keeping going back when hey are able to just say no.

As we continue this discussion, let's stop for a moment and take one cautionary note about our attitudes towards the different types of mice (or people). Scientists do not look down upon the little C57s. Nor do they laud the DBA. They simply know that they are two very distinct strains with different body chemistries. If they wish to look at the effect of a given intervention and want to see the differences in different body types, they order both kinds of mice.

Getting Rid of the Negative Spin

So, we can work on taking the negative judgment and shame off of the C57 way of life. Our first step is understanding. As we get how this works, we can start making choices for healing. And then TURN US LOOSE!

Let me list some of the C57 "facts" I have found with my own research. I can then reflect with you on what it might mean for our healing.

  1. All C57's regardless of their gender like sweet stuff more than DBAs. A C57 male will prefer sweets more than a DBA female will.
  2. In a situation called defeat-induced learned submission, the DBAs looked for an escape, while the C57's crouched, became immobile and defensive. Defeat-induced learned submission comes from a release of beta-endorphin
  3. The defeated mice developed tolerance to the beta-endorphin released in response to defeat.
  4. C57's get hyperactive with morphine. DBAs do not.
  5. Caffeine antagonized the hyperactivity in C57's caused by morphine, i.e. when the C57's were given caffeine and then morphine they did not become hyperactive.
  6. When withdrawing from morphine, C57's become lethargic and passive.

Next week we will Apply the Science to Ourselves

ŠKathleen DesMaisons 2004.

Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster puts it all together
Naomi gathers the recipes
JoAnna, the liaison for Rolling Hills gathers the testimonials
Terri, the liaison for Ambassadors sends over the ambassadors quote
Marie, the liaison for diabetes gathers the info on the online lists
David, who runs the Radiant RecoveryŽ Store talks about what new products we have.