A serviceman who came to our home to fix the hot water heater saw a copy of my book, The Serotonin Power Diet, and engaged me in a discussion about his weight. “I just lost 35 pounds on a liquid protein diet,” he told me. “But now I am struggling, I was determined to eat breakfast before leaving the house and to take my lunch with me. But I am really busy and keep forgetting. So instead of grabbing something really caloric at a fast-food chain, I just don’t eat until I get home at night. And then, I can’t stop eating.”He went on to tell me that he would almost gulp two large portions of whatever his wife made for dinner and then an hour or so later, go back into the kitchen to look for more to eat. “I just don’t feel full,” he said.Did I really want a starving man fixing my hot water heater? I wondered as I tried to address his worries about his eating. “The nice thing about food,” I told him, “is that when you eat enough of the right kind, it really takes away hunger. That is why people tend to eat three meals a day. Their bodies get hungry, they eat, they stop being hungry and then five hours or so later, they eat again. And what is even better is that when you snack on certain foods an hour or so before a meal, these foods will really decrease your sense of hunger so you will be satisfied with less food at the meal.”The hot water heater was fixed but the serviceman didn’t leave. “You know,” he said, “after you go on one of those low calorie, liquid diets, you lose all sense of hunger, when to eat, how much to eat, even feeling full. I feel like an infant, starting to learn what eating solid foods is like and how much I should be eating.”I told him to make sure he put himself on a consistent eating schedule so his body would become accustomed to being fed at around the same time every day. In a few days, I went on, he would feel hungry when he woke up because he would not be eating large amounts of food late in the evening of the day before. Several hours after breakfast, his body will tell him to eat lunch, a meal that should not be skipped. If he forgets to pack a lunch, he can go into a fast-food chain and get grilled chicken or a lean hamburger, a salad and yogurt and fruit. As long as he avoided high fat sauces on sandwiches, breaded fried foods, or cheese, he wouldn’t be overeating. Then an hour or so before he ate dinner, maybe on the way home from work, he could eat a carbohydrate snack. At this point, he looked startled. “The people running my diet program told us to stay away from carbohydrates, “ he said. “They are the reason why I gained so much weight. I would eat doughnuts, French fries, cookies, chips, candy bars, ice cream, I love carbohydrates but if I start eating them, I know I will gain back my weight.”I reassured him about staying away from the list of high fat, junk carbohydrates he used to eat. But then I explained that most carbohydrates were healthy, low in fat and could really help him control his overeating when he was home. “When you eat a small bag of fat-free pretzels or a low-fat granola bar or small sandwich bag filled with a very low-fat breakfast cereal like Shredded Wheat squares, your brain makes a chemical that turns off your appetite. This chemical, serotonin, does two things to help you control the amount of food you eat. When serotonin is active, it takes the edge off of your appetite before you start eating and it makes you feel full sooner than you would if it were not active. So instead of eating two of everything your wife prepares for dinner and then looking for more food to eat, you will be content with a small portion at dinner and no after-dinner snack.”I asked him how long it took him to get home when he left work. “About 45 minutes,” he answered. “Well then, keep some of these low or zero-fat carbohydrate snacks in your car. Eat about 1 to 1 l/2 ounces of pretzels or low-fat crackers or cereal on the way home. By the time you are ready for dinner, your serotonin will be actively decreasing your appetite and you will not be overeating at, or after, dinner.”“Thanks,” he told me. “ I never thought of food as taking away hunger but your explanation makes sense.” “Yes, it really works,” I replied. “And unlike hot water heaters, it works all the time.”
