<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> This is in response to a recent discussion on how many carbohydrate foods should be in the diet. As I understand it, you can tolerate a much higher proportion of your diet in complex carbohydrates than in fats or proteins. It is very important that the overwhelming proportion of your carbohydrates be complex rather than simple sugars. I find the following foods very useful: Sweet potatoes: Oil the skins before microwaving them. The skins will then peel off fairly easily. Add a little butter. Irish potatoes: I scrub them with an abrasive dish cloth under running water rather than peeling them. I then microwave them, add a little butter and eat the peelings as well as the starch. Raw vegetables such as carrots and squash are surprisingly good and satisfying. Rice: I usually use brown rice, and usually not as simply boiled rice. When I make bread, it usually includes some rice flour. I grind my own flour ingredients with a Braun coffee bean mill. It works very well and is much cheaper than grain mills. Rice porridge (I grind the brown rice in a coffee mill, mix it with two parts water to one part rice flour, heat it in a microwave, then add a small quantity of butter and honey. Grits: I prefer the yellow grits, i.e., grits made from yellow corn, but you may prefer the white kind. They are much easier to find also. For you folks in snow country, I know that's a foreign dish so let me give you a couple of suggestions for preparation. Follow the instructions on the box for the amount of grits you want, then add, instead of the salt in the instructions, an amount of seasoning salt or lemon pepper in an amount half again as much as the instructions for salt. You might then also add some cheddar cheese, or perhaps a small amount of burgundy wine. With experience, you'll learn to vary these combinations to produce a variety of tastes. These are just a few suggestions. I hope you find them useful. [log in to unmask]