Chewing sugar-less gum helps some patients lose weight. In other patients, sugar-less gum triggers sweet and starch cravings. Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi satisfy sweet cravings for some patients. For other patients, diet pop triggers binging. Some patients can use as much Equal, SweetnLow and Splenda as they want. Other patients find that once they start using artificial sweeteners, they start eating sugar. Some patients can live on fast food hamburgers (no buns) and consistently lose weight. For other patients, fast food hamburgers trigger sweet and starch cravings. You probably already have a good idea of which foods set off your carbohydrate cravings. Avoid them.