Diet Satisfies Cravings Of Carb Addicts

BALTIMORE -- Do you cringe at the thought of a low- or no-carb diet? There is a diet that will limit your carbohydrates, but allow you to have the foods you love once a day.

Two doctors said that many overweight people are that way because they're addicted to carbohydrates. Drs. Richard and Rachael Hellers of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Baltimore said that people who are carbohydrate addicts have a recurring -- often escalating -- desire for starches, snack food, junk food, and sweets.

Sound familiar? Probably, because the Hellers say 75 to 80 percent of obese people and 25 of 45 percent of normal weight people are addicts.

They say there are five questions that will tell you if you are one:

1. After having breakfast, are you hungry before lunch?
2. Do stress, fatigue or boredom make you want to eat?
3. Once you start eating starches, do you have a hard time stopping?
4. Do you have a mid-afternoon slump?
5. Do you have a family history of obesity, hypertension, or diabetes?

The Hellers said if you answered yes to two questions, you may be mildly addicted. Three to four affirmative answers indicate moderate, and all yes shows you are probably strongly addicted to carbohydrates.

Their answer is the carbohydrate addicts diet.

You start with two complimentary meals daily consisting of 3 to 4 ounces of meat, fish or chicken and roughly 2 cups of salad or low-carbohydrate vegetables. But you do get a reward -- your favorite carbs.

Always start with a cup or two of salad, then your plate is divide into thirds -- one third protein, one third low-carb veggies, one third high carbs with your choice rice, bread, pasta, dessert.

The doctors said you can even have seconds, but they have to be balanced in the same way. Also, the entire meal has to be finished within an hour.

Here's a surprise. The Hellers said don't use any artificial sweeteners except at your reward meal -- the body doesn't know the difference between artificial and real sugar.