By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Some people experience hunger or thirst after enjoying a chocolate bar or piece of cake. If you have a difficult time concentrating after eating a carbohydrate-focused meal, you may well have carbohydrate addiction. Extreme fatigue might hit you and negatively affect your memory and creativity after excessive intake of carbohydrates. Low blood sugar will put you in an anxious state on an empty stomach and make you sweat or feel dizzy. At worst, you may suffer depression.

Many may attribute such symptoms to severe stress or spring fatigue, but Oriental medic Namgoong Jin of Barunmom Oriental Medicine Clinic said with proper self-diagnosis of the addiction, one can easily get better.

Here's how to self-diagnose carbohydrate addiction.

1. Feeling hungrier after having breakfast than skipping it. (6points)

2. You feel very tired and don't feel like moving after eating too much. (1)

3. Always feeling very hungry and tired around 3-4 o'clock. (2)

4. After dinner, sometimes canceling appointments due to laziness. (4)

5. Wanting to eat more after having cakes or snacks containing sugar. (5)

6. Feel very tired or anxious two to three hours after eating meal and feeling better having snacks or a cup of coffee. (3)

7. Desire to eat under stress. (3)

8. High sugar or fructose with meals. (1)

9. Easy weight gain with age. (3)

10. Family obesity (3)

11. Sedentary lifestyle (3)

12. Vulnerability to stress (3)

13. Hyperlipemia, hypertension or diabetes (5)

14. At least one parent with hyperlipemia, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, arteriosclerosis or palsy. (4)

15. Regular intake of estrogen, stool softener pill or history of medicine to take care or other chronic disease related to blood sugar. (4)

If your overall score is less than 13, you are relatively safe.

Namgoong advised high-protein food for breakfast rather than bread and butter. ``Milk and cereal are also not advised,'' he said. ``All things in moderation,'' he added.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr