Hello, I am new (and desperate ). When I am overweight, it is usually by about 20 pounds, which I know is not a huge amount, but it disturbs me, especially since my daughter is getting married next month. I have a varied dieting past, and I have to admit that the best I felt on a diet (and the most weight I lost) was on Atkins. What made me feel good was the constant energy and never being hungry.

I have multiple sclerosis, and when I read The China Study and John McDougall's books and Roy Swank's book, I began to have hope that there was a diet that could reverse or at least stop the course of my illness. It is a vegan, extremely lowfat, whole-foods diet. It is thought that dairy especially is linked to the development of MS. When I saw the movie Food, Inc., about the terrible animal farming practices, it reinforced my desire to live a vegan lifestyle.

I followed the McDougall diet religiously for 7 months. I didn't feel bad on it, but I gained weight. I think now it's because eating so many starches made me hungry and tired, so I would eat more starches to take away the hunger. When I added Green Smoothies (half greens, half fruit, blended) to the diet about a month ago, the weight added on even more quickly. Very discouraging.

I picked up the Hellers' book The 7-Day Low-Carb Rescue and Recovery Plan last week, and I have been reading this forum, and I have to say I think the CAD/CALP was made for me. I yearn to feel slim and energetic again.

My only problem is that I hate to give up the hope of treating my illness with diet, and I would love to eat vegan or at least vegetarian. It almost seems like a choice between feeling good (and slender) or stopping my disease (and respecting the environment). What a choice.

This is McDougall's recommendation for hypoglycemia (which we might call "carbohydrate addiction"?):
" Change to a starch-based diet, with no refined foods. Limit fruits initially, because of their high content of simple sugars. Eat frequently, maybe six or more times a day when beginning. Eat plenty of food at each meal, and don't be concerned about gaining weight (because starches make you thin)."

Well, I am here to tell you, this did not work for me at all. Starches made me gain weight.

Has anyone else here had experience with struggling about the pros and cons of the CAD/CALP diet? My pros are that I lose weight easily on it, my energy levels are smooth on it, I feel good, I lovelovelove the food. My cons are that it goes against the vegan diet that is supposed to halt MS in its tracks and I liked feeling "virtuous" on a vegan diet because it is supposed to be good for the environment.

Anyway, hello, everyone, this looks like a great forum!

(Oops, I really meant to post this in the CAD/CALP section, if someone knows how to move it there, I would appreciate it. )