While I tended to binge on carby things most often, the behavior is still there to deal with. It IS possible to still binge eat and be totally low-carb if you haven't dealt with the emotional aspects. The substitutes can awaken the same reflexive binge reaction as the "real thing" even without the biological payoff.... the reason I had to leave lc bread alone until I started to deal with my "issues". One slice led to another and another and another. It IS harder to binge on things like hardboiled eggs and meat, but it certainly can be done! There are any number of threads about uncontrolled eating of "legal" foods.

Once the behavioral aspect is dealt with, I really think there's a place for the substitutes. There's no real virtue in self-denial, IMHO. If I want a slice of lc bread or a lc candy bar as a PART of my balanced, mostly whole-food eating plan, I feel satisfied, and I'm still on plan.