Beat Fat, Sugar Addiction; Detox Liver to Lose Weight

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Do you feel like you can't lose weight because you can't stop eating cakes, cookies and French fries?  If you can't beat your cravings, you could be addicted to sugary and fatty foods, and to kick your addiction, you have to detox your liver, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz of The Dr. Oz Show.

"Sugary and fatty foods affect the pathways to the brain in the same way as heroin or cocaine," Oz said.  "Sugar acts directly in the brain to inhibit the effect of leptin and increased appetite so you never feel full.  So then you keep eating, and you become leptin-resistant."

"What you need to do is break the addiction by detoxing the liver, which has stopped metabolizing fat properly.  Sugar consumption causes fat to build up in liver cells, which decreases the liver's ability to metabolize fats and sugars and detoxify your body," he added.

Oz told ABC News the following four steps for detoxing your liver:

Step 1: Replace all grains with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower for one week, and bulk up on foods from the allium family -- garlic, chives, leeks -- because they are full of flavonoids.

Step 2: For withdrawal, take a Vitamin B complex to help with carbohydrate cravings and 1,000 mg a day of chromium picolinate to help with sugar withdrawal.

Step 3: Eat meat in a four-to-one ratio, meaning four portions of white meat, fish or tofu to one portion of red meat).  Also eat leafy greens and citrus fruits that contain vitamin C to boost your innate antioxidant system.

Step 4: Address emotional eating. Emotional hunger is sudden, while physical hunger is gradual.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio