I have been a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan since I was a child. I am really excited about my team being in the NBA Finals for the second year in a row.
What I’m not as excited about is a video I recently watched on the ESPN website (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4210837) about Lakers star Lamar Odom and his massive addiction… to candy. In it, you can see the 6-foot 10-inch forward gobbling up massive quantities of sugary treats.
Odom has been a giant source of frustration for Lakers fans. He is unbelievably talented, but often acts like a space cadet during games. Once, when he was taking the ball out on the sidelines, he walked onto the court before he threw the ball in, causing a turnover. During the Lakers last home game against the Denver Nuggets, Kobe Bryant threw him a pass, but the ball hit him on the shoulder because he had spaced out and was not paying attention.
On sports talk shows, Odom is constantly criticized because no one knows if he will play well or not. He can play great, and be worth his 14 million-dollar salary, or he can act like he is “missing in action.”
Odom freely confesses that he just can’t help himself when it comes to the sweet stuff and always keeps a stash on hand of Gummi Bears, Honey Buns, Lifesavers, Hershey’s white chocolate, Snickers bars, cookies, and more. He eats the sugary snacks morning noon and night, and even says he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, chows down on some treats, then falls back asleep.
This is bad news for the Lakers. I’ve been telling my patients for years that sugar acts like a drug in the brain. It causes blood sugar levels to spike and then crash, leaving you feeling tired, irritable, foggy, and stupid. Eating too much sugar impairs cognitive function, which may explain why Odom doesn’t always make the smartest decisions on the court.
Excessive sugar consumption also promotes inflammation, which can make your joints ache, and that’s definitely a bad thing for a professional athlete. It is also linked to headaches, mood swings, and weight gain. Weight gain isn’t a problem now for Odom, but it is for the average person who isn’t playing full-court basketball for hours each day.
As a fan and a physician, it concerns me that our professional sports organizations and players are not more concerned about brain health, which includes nutrition. My advice to Odom and to all sugar addicts is to get your sugar consumption under control. You’ll feel so much better and your brain will function better, too. And, maybe the Lakers can get their 15th championship and Odom can get his first.
You can read the article I wrote for ABC News here.
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Dr. Amen, thank you so much for writing this blog post and bringing this to people’s attention. Your theory makes perfect sense. What amazes me is why does it take a smart doctor like you who happens to be a fan to warn Odom about how his sugar habit could be triggering his brain fog, space cadet-type behavior and erratic performance? Why isn’t his own doctor alerting him to the dangers of his massive candy consumption?!
FYI, see my blog post in which your solid theory is mentioned, as are your books.
http://www.sugarshockblog.com/2009/06/lakers-lamar-odom-is-candy-messing-up-his-performance-on-the-basketball-court-.html
Dr. Amen, what is your opinion on the energy drinks such as Red Bull and the “five hour” shot? Are they just as bad as candy? I take these when I need a boost especially if I have a long drive ahead of me and it always works… atleast better than coffee and donuts.
Connie: Thanks for the support and rational thinking!
Energy drinks are a short term fix and more problems than they are worth. Caffeine constricts blood flow to the brain, not a good thing.
Dr. Amen,
Being a college student as well as an aspiring basketball coach, I simply want to say thank you for the insightful post written above. I’ve always been a very big L.O. fan and would love nothing more than to see him take home the title.
A.M.
I think it’s also worth noting that Lamar has been having serious back spasms and a bruise almost the size of a grapefruit on his back that debilitates his athletic prowess to a large degree. I’m certainly not saying the candy helps, but I think when you see him struggling in a game and not looking as aggressive, it has a lot more to do with severe back pain than his excessive sugar intake. The combination of the two probably doesn’t help.. Good article either way, GO LAKERS!
I know plenty of people with ADHD who “self-medicate” with the sugar. It is a stimulant, isn’t it?
I wonder if that could be an issue with Lamar.
Gina Pera, author
Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?
http://www.ADHDRollerCoaster.org
Do you think it might have something to do with adrenal exhaustion?
Apparently, this fascinating study turned out to be a moot point as of June 13, 2009.
I have been reading so much about insulin resistance and sugar. My joints swell it seems when I injest too much caffeine or I eat sugar. I have always been allergic to sugar…I am also a recovering alcoholic…25 years of sobriety…but even as a young child, if I ate sugar or processed foods, I couldn’t stop and it would knock me out. Now I can’t each any at all…none…so sensitive…diet is so key…no simple carbs and no sugar and very,, very little caffeine…and cardio exercise everyday – I just want to feel good..no brain fog, no joint pain, energy and no depression….I work at it all the time…reading The Ultra Mind Solution and Freedom from Disease…talks about insulin and Alzheimers and other inflammatory diseases…thanks for listening.
It is funny that his personal doctors don’t put him on some type of regimen to get his sugar intake under control. Surely they see that it is affecting his multi-million dollar career.