He also preaches a "no white food" diet to his patients, urging them to choose whole grains, fruits and such rather than starchy white potatoes, pasta and rice.

Not a published diet with its own guru, no-white is a word-of-mouth phenomenon. A woman across from me at the hairdresser announces that she and her husband are eating no white, that is, eliminating granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, even pasta. The 20-something daughter of a friend, living on her own for the first time, says she and her boyfriend have given up white, in this case sugar, processed foods, and potatoes. A local realtor says she hasn't had white flour or sugar since September. All say they're losing pounds and feeling great.

But nowhere is this written down or explained. No one seems to be avoiding foods that just happen to be white: cottage cheese, yogurt, cauliflower, or bananas, for instance. Obviously, cutting out sugar is cutting out carbohydrates since that's a pure carb. But except for web links to raw food advocates and a religious site, Hallelujah Acres, that equates five white foods — including meat and dairy — with poison, there's little around about what to eat.

I started making bets with my sister. I wouldn't eat all day. I wouldn't eat any white food. I would give up sugar completely, forever, as soon as the long hand reached the 12, and until then I could have all the M&Ms I wanted. I started ordering salads all the time.