I can zap the carb craving by eating something  protein.  But it's hard when
they bring a basket of great bread while you are waiting for your steak.

Ora    

[...]

In my humble opinion, a problem with hi-IG hi-carb *lo-fiber* foods such as
candies, sweet drinks, refined white bread, or any food with lots of added
sugar, is that they are not very satiating. Thus you will never have
enough. You'll always want some more, just immediately or after a short
while, and you *may* end up eating too much.

Notice I say that you "may" end up eating too much, not that you surely
will, as I reckon different people have different reactions.

Anyway, if you want some *satiating* carbs, you might want to try some low
to middle-IG, low to middle-carb, *hi-fiber* foods such as:

* vegetables such as zucchini, peppers, salad...;

* most fruits (whole and raw,not juices);

* legumes;

* "al dente" whole durum-wheat pasta or bulghur, together with lots of
vegetables;

* whole grains in kernels, like decorticated spelt or durum-wheat or oat or
barley;

* basic muesli (with no raisins or dried fruits) made with oats and seeds
and nuts;

* pumpernickel rye bread...

I would look for organic whole grains, as they keep the outer husk of the
kernel.

Empty carbs...,no nutrition, leaves you craving.   start
loading on protien, carb cravings will dissapear..then add
salads.  then more protien.  you need about 1graham of protien
a day per llb of body wt if you excercise... you are probably
getting half that.

so you crave carbs.

Phil Scott

You may be suffering from malnutrition. Perhaps the breads you crave are
your only (or the best) dietary source of certain nutrient(s) which your
body desperately needs. Those breads may contain only small amounts of
the lacking nutrient(s) but still more than the other foods you eat.
Thus your cravings for large quantities of those foods.

I had that happen to myself a few times, though not with bread. There
were certain foods that I craved in larger quantities. Thanks to the
online nutritional databases I looked at nutrients found in the foods I
craved and soon found what I was missing - since they were all high in
the nutrient I was lacking - the copper mineral.

A more reliable way of detecting nutritional deficiencies is to use
nutritional software. You will have to specify all the foods you eat
every day, which takes 5-10 minutes/day ones you get the hang of it. The
program will give you instant results showing your intake of all well
known nutrients like vitamins and minerals, proteins, carbs, fats etc.
including RDA% and other stuff. You may see what you are lacking after
only a few days of use.

You didn't write how much you exercise and what kind of breads you eat.
Many breads are made from grains which contain phytic acid. Phytic acid
binds with certain minerals (calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and
especially zinc) and therefore prevents their absorption. Frequent
consumption of phytic acid containing foods may cause malnutrition. All
grains (except amaranth, millet and rice) and beans must be soaked
before consumption. This lowers or eliminates phytic acid. Overnight
soaking in water that is not depleted of minerals is thought to be
sufficient.

Nutritional software links: http://nutritionsoftware.org
I use BeNutriFit. It's cheap and sufficient for my needs:
http://www.benutrifit.com

Online databases:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
http://www.nutritiondata.com

2 weeks of abstinence.

Seriously.......

Foods with a "high glycemic" index (like refined carbs/bread) tends to spike
your blood sugar levels
causing the body to compensate/overcompensate with insulin, then the craving
starts all over again.
This could lead to blood sugar problems later.
Dr. Ray Strand explains it quite well on his website at www.releasingfat.com
Another good explanation is here at
http://www.usana.com/en/products/ca/macros/what_macro.shtml

Cosmo
cosmo@trulyhealthyandwealthy.com