The Hemp Connection:
food choices

6:30 a.m., Miami International Airport, feeling jet-lagged and just about destroyed from over 24 hours of travel, I looked through my stupor at the people who have come to reside in my head as “The Airport Couple,” a poignant lesson in what happens when you don’t take care of yourself. I love to people-watch at the airport, but this was not my usual people-watching.

They both have canes, are morbidly obese, and have extra-large sodas and pound bags of candy – plain M&Ms for her, peanut for him. The breakfast of champions, especially if it’s Diet Coke. They are struggling to breathe, to move, to walk, and even to eat the candy, yet they persevere. They both have an unhealthy pallor that comes more from poor health than bad airport lighting. Neither one makes eye contact with anyone else, not even their spouse. Their isolation, even in the midst of dozens of people, is profound.

Their misery and shame is palpable, and I feel like I should avert my eyes from their pain, and the practice of their addiction to food/sugar. It hurts to watch them, but I am unable to stop glancing sideways at them, in the way that children do when they notice a grotesquely fat or deformed person and simply cannot keep themselves from staring. I am wondering how they are going to make it onto the plane, and if they’ll even survive the flight, let alone whatever comes next. Selfishly, I hope I won’t have to spend the next six hours stuck sitting next to one or both of them. I feel intense sadness for the way that they’re trapped in their bodies, in their diseases, and their disconnection. I wonder which diseases they have, and how many. I make assumptions about diabetes, thyroid disorders, cholesterol problems, and heart disease. As time passes, and my flight is delayed, I add gout, emphysema, and of course depression to the list.

She is probably 52, but looks closer to 70. Walking is laborious, studied, and painful. Her thighs are so fat that her ability to walk a straight line is distorted. Yet she proceeds to the nearest shop to purchase more snacks for him; clearly, this is a form of care-giving. I think he is older, although it is hard to tell. He is almost immobilized, stuck in the confines of the narrow, hard-railed bench/chairs that are uncomfortable even for people of average size. I look for an oxygen tank, certain that must be part of their apparatus. He is wearing extra thickly cushioned diabetic shoes. I wonder about toe amputations. I think long and hard about this human catastrophe, and how preventable almost all of it is.

We struggle, day in and day out, to manage our PCOS, and whatever other diagnoses come with it. We get tired of eating right, limiting sugar and other carbs, avoiding alcohol and grain-fed meat, getting up at 5:30 a.m. to make it to the gym, taking supplements, and going to the doctor quarterly for check-ups. We complain that it isn’t fair that we’re stuck with this condition. We deal with, or don’t deal with, our depression, our anxiety, our obsessions and compulsions, or the thoughts that we might be bipolar. We adhere to diets and violate the diets. We struggle, and wonder why. I’ll tell you why – you don’t want to be The Airport Couple.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.

One of the most frustrating things about PCOS, from my perspective, is that, although we share a common constellation of symptoms (or else we wouldn’t have the diagnosis), every woman’s body is unique. So the dietary treatment of this condition is constantly evolving. I spend a lot of time studying the impacts of food on mood and brain health, and of course, in the great scientific tradition of self-experimentation, I’m always trying out new theories on myself. I wonder, watch, consume, and observe various foods, quantities, and combinations, and then see what happens. I also make observations based on my client’s self-reports, and my interpretation of what happens to their mood and overall sense of well-being, as affected by what they consume. My findings from this moderately unscientific study: • There are no absolutes • The rules change all the time • People believe an astonishing variety of things about food, many of them bearing absolutely no basis in science or reality • Science is probably way behind where it needs to be to support our health • M.D.s are highly unlikely to offer sound advice about food – far better to seek out the services of a dietician • The only thing the food police can agree on is that we should all be eating plenty of organic dark leafy greens • The body is fine with certain foods on some days, and not so fine on others • PMS induces chocolate consumption, wild carb cravings, and a desire for rare, salty beef • Almost everyone with PCOS gets out of control when they over-consume refined carbs • If you’re gluten-sensitive, you will get brain fog if you abuse gluten • It is true that weighing yourself daily, or multiple times a day, contributes to anxiety, and may well be a symptom of an eating disorder • Everything you ban is that much likelier to become the object of your obsession, unless you take steps to balance out your body and your brain chemistry • Details matter • Consistency matters • Treats are really good for staying on track, if they’re chosen wisely • Weight loss is rarely easy; maintenance is even harder • Depressed women with PCOS almost always overeat, not undereat • The less you sleep, the more you eat • Caffeine can be devilishly addictive, or of little consequence • Dairy is the subject of much debate, and a great deal of angst, given its popularity as a self-soothing food category • Carbs are not evil – they’re necessary for healthy brain function – but the belief that they are is remarkably fixed. My point here is that we must consider the challenges of modern dietetics, medical science, and brain treatment (from either a pharmacological or psychological/therapeutic perspective) as a process of constant evolution. If you’re doing something that isn’t working, change it up. If what you’re doing is working, but not working well enough, change it up. If you have a gut sense that something’s bogus, listen to yourself. And if you’re feeling burned out, disgusted, and hopeless about trying to figure this out, give yourself a break, retreat, do the best you can, and come back at it with renewed vigor, a calmer mind, and a more balanced perspective. Seek consultation with experts. Read up a bit. It’s all just information – no judgment. The ability to thrive depends upon your ability to adapt. Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses. If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.