Hi everyone! 

I thought I'd give a little update about me. (I know some of you have been wondering where I went...)

When I started blogging in 2007, I had no idea it would turn into a 'thing' -- a smattering of cookbooks, a meal plan service (turned into App), a business, a "brand."

But it did, which has been both magical and terrible. 

As many of you know, I have struggled with depression on and off for ...

Thank you for letting me nerd out about neuroscience all week with the Sugar Elimination Series. 

If you missed any of the posts, here they are: 

Welcome To The Sugar Elimination Series
ULTIMATE List Of Hidden Sugars (77 Tricky Names, Many Are Not Obvious)
How Sugar Hijacks Your Brain (Neuroscience)
This Part Of Your Brain Causes Compulsive Eating
The 22 Wackiest Places Hidden Sugar Was Found

I’m so glad this information about sugar is getting out there and ...

At the beginning of this Sugar Elimination Series, I had a contest with my newsletter folks, asking them to share the wackiest places they’ve found hidden sugar. 

Here are some of the craziest answers: 

Salsa
Jarred Pasta Sauce
Beauty products
Green Beans
Toothpaste!!
fast food french fries
Broccoli
Baby teething crackers-all except 2 brand I searched out!!! Why?!?!!
Baby formula
I once found it as an ingredient in a packet of Stevia?!?
pizza dough
shredded hash browns
Instant ...

Welcome to Day 3 of the Sugar Sobriety Series :) 

Yesterday I shared with you how sugar hijacks the brain’s pleasure center (the nucleus accumbens) and today I’ll explain how sugar activates the brain’s reward systems.

Did you catch the plural? Unlike other addictive substances, sugar activates TWO regions in the brain’s reward system: sweetness and calories. This is part of the reason why sugar is so hard to resist. 

Fortunately for us, these rewards don’t travel along ...

Welcome to Day 2 of the Sugar Elimination Series :) 

Yesterday I shared with you that foods containing sugar trigger a special region in the brain (the nucleus accumbens) that is ground zero for all conventional addictions such as gambling and drug abuse. 

This response can even be viewed on brain scans, which is what you were looking at in yesterday’s blog post. Sugar lights up the nucleus accumbens like a Christmas tree. 

Today I’m going to geek ...