Sugar and Emotion

CE Credit Hours: 5
APA, BBS, BRN

Research is demonstrating the behavioral and neurochemical effects of excessive dietary sugar intake, and sugar’s powerful drug-like (opioid) effects on the brain and body.  In addition to being increasingly linked to mood, excessive sugar intake in the American population is now taking center stage in the pandemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease, and is now being implicated in facilitating certain types of cancers. This course will present research illustrating the neurochemical, psychological and behavioral effects of sugar on mood and behavior. The dietary condition induced by improper sugar intake, known as Functional Hypoglycemia (FH) will be presented, and the Functional Hypoglycemia Questionnaire (FHQ), a tool designed to identify FH will be introduced. Clinicians will have the opportunity to combine this information with the principles, guidelines, and tools learned in the previous Nutritional Assessment and Macronutrient Therapy courses, to reduce the impact of dietary sugar intake on client mood and behavior. Clinicians will be given knowledge of the scope of practice guidelines for helping clients increase their awareness of their dietary sugar intake and its deleterious effects.

Instructor: Ephimia Morphew-Lu, MS, CN

Ephimia Morphew-Lu is an M.S. in Psychology with a decade of experience in the field of psychology and human performance. She spent the majority of her career at NASA as a Senior Engineering Psychologist supporting the psychological and performance capabilities of pilots and astronauts for NASA and the U.S. military. She is the founder of an International scientific society and peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments, has won numerous awards in her field of specialty, and has published widely in her area of expertise. In 2004, she resigned from her career with NASA to pursue a full-time career in the field of nutrition and nutritional psychology. She has since been personally trained by the country’s leading experts in amino acid therapy and holistic nutrition. In addition to her professional training, Ephi has personally suffered from both a chronic autoimmune disease and debilitating pain disorder for over 25 years. Motivated to relieve her own pain and find a cure, she has consulted a plethora of physicians and health practitioners during these years, and has been prescribed an equal amount of medications – all with no relief. It was not until she stumbled into the field of nutrition that she was able to replace many of the medications she was taking with nutrients. She has now dedicated her life to bringing this form of therapy and healing to her clients, fellow practitioners, and the medical and health community.

Instructor: Aska Hokazono, MS, RD

Aska Hokazono, MS, RDN, is passionate about helping others achieve optimal health with nutrition. She is a Dietitian Fellow at the San Francisco VA hospital, as well as a dietitian at the San Francisco Free Clinic. Aska is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist by the Commission on Dietetic Registration, and is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, California Dietetic Association, Bay Area Dietetic Association, and Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine Group.

JFKU-CE is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists, by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to provide continuing education for MFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs & LEPs and by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) to provide continuing education for RNs.  JFKU-CE maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

JFKU-CE is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists, by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to provide continuing education for MFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs & LEPs and by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) to provide continuing education for RNs.  JFKU-CE maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

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