‘No flour, no sugar’ is simply that

Dear Dr. Gott: Your “no flour, no sugar” diet is not enough. I want lists of foods to be avoided and menus so that I can plan my meals. Your diet isn’t a diet at all. It’s just four words.

Dear Reader: That’s just the point. “No flour, no sugar” is a diet. Its strength is its simplicity. The diet is effective (judging from the thousands of letters I have received), nutritious, cheap and easy to follow. Readers don’t have to order expensive lists of meal plans, do’s and don’ts. Most important, once excess weight has been lost, the diet can be modified on a personal level. (I do not have to encourage readers to purchase volume 2 at $28.95. All they have to do is begin judiciously consuming some carbohydrate food, such as pasta and bread.)

I should close by expressing my concern that readers (such as you, who send me several letters a month insisting on complicating the diet issue) are missing the proverbial boat. The strength of my diet, as I mentioned earlier, includes simplicity and easy modification. Please don’t confuse the issue by complicating it unnecessarily. Order my health report “Losing Weight,” try the diet, and revel in the fact that you have saved enough money to enjoy an evening at the movies. It is not necessary to become compulsive about dieting. (In fact, could certain compulsions be at the root of our new, national epidemic of obesity? More on that in another column.)

If a label lists “wheat flour,” for example, as a component, the product should be avoided, whether it’s white or natural makes no difference. If, on the other hand, the label lists “wheat” or “rice,” the food is OK to eat.

As I have explained before, other foods – such as vegetables, salads, meat, fish, poultry and fresh fruit – can be consumed in moderation but freely. In fact, I often advise my patients to keep a tray of fresh-cut vegetables in the fridge for snacking in the evening while watching TV. Such food, along with supplying vitamins and natural fiber, is extremely low in calories.

My diet is not so much what to eat as what not to eat. And, remember, it is the most inexpensive diet in the world today.

For a copy of my Health Report “Losing Weight,” send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: I am 80 and chronically constipated despite the regular use of laxatives, daily use of Metamucil, a sensible diet and 8 ounces of warm prune juice. What can you suggest as a next step?

Dear Reader: I’ve had good luck from the “colon cocktail”: 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1/2 cup of bran and 1/2 cup of prune juice mixed together and taken every day. Take 1 to 2 tablespoons per day as needed. This mixture will last up to a week in the refrigerator.