According to the LA Lakers basketball star Lamar Odom, candy is a great refueller for before a game and helps him to play better. Odom's problem, though, may be that he doesn't restrict his sweet intake to just before a game, instead he gobbles sweets all day long!

A YouTube video shows ESPN reporters following Lamar's personal assistant around as he shops for the player's ultimate achilles-heel – candy, and lots of it!

Odom laughs when he says: “I'm the supplier on the team - if you need that candy fix, I got it!”

The player admits to going through 4 or 5 packs of Hershey's Cookies and Cream chocolate bars per day, as well as eating Starburst and Skittles at 3 or 4 am before falling back to sleep.

Despite himself and his trainers being besieged with letters from fans and professionals warning of the health risks associated with eating so much sugar, Odom attributes his best performances to his high sugar intake.

“It’s funny because the games I played well were the games where I ate candy for breakfast. It’s the reason why I got double digits in points and rebounds. I guess I’m going to have to eat candy for breakfast in order to play well.”

Doctor's Orders

LA Lakers coach, Phil Jackson has apparently received comments from professionals warning of dire eventual sugar crashes. Jackson admitted that diet is certainly a problem area for many players: “A lot of these players come from positions in life where their diet probably is one of the main things they have to correct when they become professional players.”

Despite what Odom says, committed Lakers fan Dr. Daniel Amen, a child and adult psychiatrist in Newport Beach, is appalled by Odom's diet and cites it as the cause of the player's mistakes:

“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.”