Olive Garden's 'No Sugar Added' Dessert Sham

Olive Garden ain't exactly a place for "low-carb friendly" meals

If my wife Christine had unlimited resources and was able to buy anything she wanted in the whole world, then there's no doubt in my mind that she would buy her very own Olive Garden restaurant to fill her need for their famous soup, salad, and breadsticks. The woman would literally live off of this meal every single day if she could, although she does admit she'd probably balloon up in weight just as quickly as we'd go bankrupt paying for it! :D

Unfortunately for her, though, the closest Olive Garden to our house has been much too far away for us to visit. So imagine my surprise a few months ago when some new construction started across the street from the Super Wal-Mart along a main road in Spartanburg, South Carolina and we noticed the sign indicated they were building an Olive Garden restaurant. I think Christine did cart wheels inside the car that day!

When the restaurant opened for business about two weeks ago, I told my anxious wife we should wait a few months after the novelty of the "new" restaurant in town had worn off before paying a visit. She wasn't happy with that answer, but agreed it was probably a good idea. So when I returned back from my work as an extra in the "Leatherheads" movie today, I foolishly asked my wife, "Where would you like to go eat and it can be anywhere?"

Boy, was that a stupid question or what?! She said, "We could go to Ruby Tuesday if Olive Garden is busy." Gee, I wonder where Christine REALLY wanted to go. I told her that they would probably be mad busy on a Saturday and since they were still new and all, but we'd check it out. Predictably, when we pulled into the parking lot, it was extremely packed with vehicles and we parked a long way from the front door. But knowing how much the wifey-wifey wanted to eat there, I told her we'd stay no matter how long it took to be seated. Thankfully, it was only about a 15-minute wait because this place was HUGE inside!

While we were waiting for our table, I saw a few friends from church who looked at me almost with an accusatory look of "How dare YOU come to an Italian restaurant being on a low-carb diet." Of course, out of their mouths came the obvious question, "So, what are you gonna eat?" Good question and I really didn't know until we sat down and looked at a menu.

When we got seated and started looking at the menu for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to notice a section of the menu devoted to people on a diet. There were dishes for people "looking for low-fat options" which included all of their Garden Fare entrées and they even had some options for people who are "watching carbohydrates."

"Savor one of our grilled entreés with fresh vegetables in place of potatoes. Enjoy our pasta entreés with whole wheat linguine."

Hmmm, isn't it interesting the Olive Garden would even acknowledge some people are STILL livin' la vida low-carb in 2007? I like the fact that they recommend grilled meats and even fresh vegetables as part of a low-carb diet. That's awesome since most people think potatoes are vegetables they should be consuming in high quantities. NOT! Plus, this proves that they know people on the low-carb lifestyle can and do eat their veggies. Way to go, Olive Garden!

As for the whole wheat pasta substitute, it may be a better alternative than the regular pasta, but it's still fairly high in carbs. Nevertheless, I had the 5-cheese baked ziti using this alternative for my meal just to give it a try and it was VERY delicious. Christine, of course, loaded up on the basket full of breadsticks, soup, and salad. And, yes, I ate one-third of a breadstick just to give me a little taste. It was okay, but I can DEFINITELY live without it if I had to. That's okay because Christine would keep eating them until they started coming out of her ears!

When we were just about finished with our meal, the waitress came back and I joked with her that she probably doesn't want to ask me if I want dessert since she undoubtedly doesn't have anything sugar-free. She then replied back to me pointing at the menu that they do offer a "no sugar added" dessert for people avoiding sugar like diabetics and low-carbers. That piqued my curiosity, so I checked it out.

Here's a picture of Olive Garden's Torta di Chocolate "no sugar added" dessert:



It certainly looks good with those fresh strawberries dipped in vanilla cream sauce and a warm double chocolate cake oozing with yummy-ness written all over it! But what was it sweetened with? Inquiring minds want to know. So I asked the waitress about it and what kind of artificial sweeteners were used in it. She didn't know, so she went to her manager to find out.

I leaned over to Christine and told her that it probably has some sort of blend of Splenda, ACE-K, maltitol, and/or erithyritol to make the chocolate and vanilla taste palatable as so many of the sugar-free products these days commonly use. But when the waitress came back she declared there were no sweeteners used in the dessert at all and that it has a "flour chocolate" as the sweetening agent.

HUH? What the heck is that? She attempted to clarify by stating the chocolate cake was made of flour (NOT GOOD!) and that there was "no sugar added" besides the sugar used to sweeten the chocolate and vanilla. DOUBLE HUH?! I thought this menu item that is promoted to diabetics and low-carbers was supposed to be "no sugar added?" The last time I checked, if you ADD sugar to chocolate or vanilla, then that makes it ADDED sugar. The sugar doesn't grow with the cacao and vanilla bean! Am I missing something in this equation?

Needless to say, I thanked my waitress for checking on that for me and declared to her that I would pass on dessert today. But can you believe this? If the Olive Garden is seeking to provide diabetics and low-carbers with a dessert they can consume without consequence to their blood sugar and weight, then the Torta di Chocolate just ain't gonna cut it!

What a sham of a product and it makes me wonder how many innocent people with diabetes or cutting their carbohydrate intake see the words "no sugar added" and simply ASSUME it's okay for them on their diet!

$*#$&@*--UGH!--#$*()--ARGH!--E*(0#@--EEEK!

See, it is THIS kind of marketing ploy by companies exploiting people wanting to reduce or eliminate sugar from their diet either by choice or necessity that really gets me fired up. This isn't a game, Olive Garden! This could very well be the difference between life and death for some people battling a terrible disease like diabetes or obesity. Fooling these poor people into buying your dessert that is loaded with sugar carbs despite having the label "no sugar added" is criminal if you ask me.

Of course, if you visit the Olive Garden web site, then you will notice there is no mention of the nutritional information on their menu items anywhere. So we have NO idea how many carbs are in this dessert anyway. Whatcha got to hide, Olive Garden? Are you too afraid of people knowing how many carbohydrates you are actually serving to them? I'm sure it's pretty scary and it would not surprise me a bit if the average dish is well over 100g carbs! Yikes!

How about letting the corporate headquarters for the Olive Garden know how disgusted you are with their so-called healthy dessert option they are promoting to diabetics and people who are livin' la vida low-carb by using this contact page or dialing their toll-free customer service line on weekdays at 1-800-331-2729.

Be polite, but stern in voicing your opinion that a real sugar-free dessert option should be available to genuinely serve the best interests of the low-carb/diabetic customer base who dines at the Olive Garden. Let me know if you hear back from them with a response. If we band together with one voice, then perhaps they'll get the message. We can only hope!

My Pictures From The Set Of 'Leatherheads'

A shot of football actors during filming of the movie "Leatherheads"

Ever since I thought I might have a chance at being in "Leatherheads," the upcoming 1920's period film which is actually a romantic comedy about the birth of professional football directed by and starring the one and only Hollywood superstar George Clooney (do you see him in that picture above--probably not since it's so small, but he's the one wearing #7 on the left-hand side), I've kinda felt like good things were about to happen for me.

Then when I got the fateful call late last month that the casting director wanted to use me as an extra in what is sure to be a blockbuster flick when it comes out in early 2008, I was totally surprised but overjoyed at the opportunity.


There's Jimmy Moore in his doorman costume in "Leatherheads"

A few weeks ago, I experienced my first time ever on the set of the "Leatherheads" movie during the taping of a scene where I portray the doorman of a hotel. That was an awesome time since my character was the only extra in the scene that Clooney's character actually talks to. They miked me up to give a line back, but then decided I didn't need one. YES I DO! PLEASE! LOL!

Nevertheless, it was still a fun experience and I thought that was the end of my work as an extra on a Hollywood film. But then I got another call from the casting office for "Leatherheads" earlier this week asking me if I would like to do some more extra work. Uh, let me think about it...HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU SAY YES?! They said filming would begin on Thursday and last through Saturday if I could make it. You bet your sweet bippy me, myself, and I will all be there.


One of the old-timey cars used on the set of "Leatherheads"

What a weekend it was! The scenes were shot in a town about 45 minutes from my house called Travelers Rest, South Carolina and were all about simulating a football game during the movie where Clooney's team, which he is the quarterback, along with John Krasinski from NBC's The Office, who portrays the rising star of this new football league, are on their way to the big championship game. That's where some nearly 400 or so extras were strategically placed in certain sections of the stands and given instructions to cheer, react, and make the moviegoer believe we are responding to what's happening on the field. Through the magic of CGI, we'll be about 20,000 people when you watch the movie. COOL!

I don't think people have any idea how much time and energy goes into making a two-hour film happen, but I will tell you it's quite exhausting. And I've only been on the set for a few days--I can't imagine what it's like to be a member of the crew for the 5:00am reporting time to be on set and then working until past 8:00pm most nights. You think I'm joking, but those are the grueling hours so they can try to squeeze in every last second of work into each day to make the film what it needs to be.


It was surreal seeing everyone dressed in 1920's attire

You won't hear me complaining about it, though, because this is Hollywood baby! The hourly pay is only $7.00 for extras, but I'd do it for FREE just for a chance to be seen in a film expected to be watched by millions of people worldwide on the silver screen and then when it comes to DVD. Although my second experience on the set began on Thursday, they actually began shooting these scenes in Travelers Rest last Sunday when the co-star of "Leatherheads" Renee Zellweger was on the set. Oh dang, I hate I missed that and wish I'd been there! I still haven't seen her yet.

The extras who were there on Sunday and then again on Wednesday said I was lucky I didn't work those days because the heat was so unbearable. We had record-high temperatures here in the Upstate of South Carolina with the highs reaching in the mid-to-upper 80's in the middle of March. That wouldn't be bad if this was a movie set on a beach or if the costumes were shorts and T-shirts. But they had everyone wrapped up in layers of wool coats, scarfs, and top hats like they wore in the 1920's that got just a wee bit toasty under the baking sun.


This was my outfit as a football fan in "Leatherheads"

When I arrived on the set on Thursday, there was a significant cooling trend that came through and kept the highs in the lower 60's. Ahhhh, much better. Even still, it was very windy, cloudy, and a fine mist of rain was coming down for a while during our filming (FOOTBALL WEATHER!). In fact, at one point the rain began coming down hard enough that they sent us all back inside to eat lunch while they waited for Mother Nature to cooperate. I suppose unpredictable weather is one of those things that filmmakers deal with and can't really control.

We ended up waiting in the extras holding area for about seven hours before a member of the casting crew came in and said, "Okay, you can go home for the day." Yep, that's how it goes. The natives were getting restless from being bored out of our minds doing nothing and we were hoping for more action come Friday. We weren't disappointed. After another 5:00am call time, we were on the set by 8:00am and got in a LOT of filming of various takes, retakes, retakes, and...(did I mention we had some retakes? Hee hee!) before lunch came at 2:00pm.

There were several times when the camera passed right in front of where I was sitting, walking, or standing. It's all orchestrated to make the scene look as authentic as possible. Unlike my scene as the doorman where I'm pretty sure I will be seen, it's hit or miss whether these scenes that the camera caught me in will actually show up in the final cut. We'll just have to wait and see when it hits the big screen.

One of the scenes was with Clooney doing the Statue of Liberty play where Krasinski was supposed to come behind him for the handoff. Unfortunately, these are actors and not athletes, so we saw a few fumblerooskis and dropped balls along the way. It was funny because all of the extras in the stands would start booing them. But it was all in good fun, though, and they eventually pulled the scenes off to make them look believable. Clooney threw a pretty good spiral, too!

Speaking of the aforementioned Mr. Krasinski, who I admittedly had never heard of before this (I just don't get the comedy on The Office), he was a hoot on the set. We were about 100 feet away from him sitting in the stands, but you could hear him cracking jokes and keeping the football actors, extras, and crew loose on the set. I'm sure his name will become QUITE familiar after this co-starring role in "Leatherheads" with Clooney and Zellweger.

One more thing that was funny about Krasinski was when they had him running the length of the field down the sideline for a big play and he'd have to do the take about 10 times. Instead of hopping on the camera cart, he simply turned around and sprinted back to his starting position. That's impressive for an actor although he did look a bit lanky running down the field. I'm sure the magic of Hollywood will make him look like a pro! :)

We were graced with a little extra excitement when one of the football-playing actors portraying the character of "Big Gus" (you'll know exactly who this is when you see the movie--he'll be hard to miss because of his weight) noticed a member of the paparazzi hiding in the woods ostensibly trying to take photos of Clooney for his newspaper or magazine. When "Big Gus" saw this guy, he suddenly started pointing and yelling to the top of his lungs, "Hey, hey, get out of here. I see you, you've been outed. Now get out of here."

Of course, everyone on the set looked in the direction "Big Gus" was pointing and saw an embarrassed photographer scrambling to get away fast enough. As the guy tripped several times while attempting to leave, all the extras start laughing at him and then cheered "Big Gus" for spotting this creep. On Wednesday, police actually snuck up behind another photographer and arrested him, according to the extras who were working that day. The officers found him covered in kudzu attempting to camoflauge himself. It obviously didn't work! Are these people THAT hard up to get a photo of Clooney? Sheez!


I won this "Leatherheads" banner during a drawing on Friday

During some of our downtime in the extras holding area on Friday, they had a drawing for some "Leatherheads" knick-knacks. My name was pulled out of the jar and I won that banner you see above. It'll be a nice reminder of my experience in the film. But I'll have many more memories in my head watching Clooney in his role as both actor and director. This man is very good at what he does and showed it quite often over these past few days. What an honor it was to be a part of his film.


This is the "thank you" letter they gave to the "Leatherheads" extras

As we were wrapping up work on the film for the weekend, all the extras got a signed letter from the Extras Casting Director for "Leatherheads" named Tona B. Dahlquist thanking us for being a part of the movie. Um, I think WE should be the ones thanking YOU for the opportunity to be a part of something like this--so, THANK YOU! I don't know how people do this for a living with all the hard work that goes into it, but it sure is exciting for those of us who live somewhat "normal" lives in comparison.

But my Hollywood experience isn't over yet! They've asked me to travel a couple of hours north to Charlotte, North Carolina for more scenes as a football fan this Thursday, April 5th. If the call time is 5:00am, then I guess I'll be getting up at 2:00am that day to get ready and then drive there. It'll be a long day I'm sure, but hopefully it will be worth my while if I get into the movie for a few more glancing seconds. I'm excited. I'm stoked. Ready or not, world, here I come. :D

Ingles Supermarket Supplying Customers With Uninformed 'Heart-Healthy' Diet Advice

Ingles dietitian McGrath should not be passing on bad dietary advice

Health information is everywhere these days. From your doctor’s office to public service announcements on the radio and television to annoying and utterly meaningless “heart-healthy” claims that appear on the packaging of some pretty awful food products on grocery store shelves today. Like I said, this stuff's EVERYWHERE!

But imagine my surprise to find information about health in a very odd place--your friendly local supermarket. I was flipping through one of those weekly circular grocery store newspapers with that week’s specials for Ingles grocery stores when I saw this blaring headline that you couldn't help but pay attention to:

“It’s all about the heart!”

As the skeptical person I have unfortunately become regarding any and all health claims about “the heart” these days, I admit my curiosity was piqued. Yet I was bracing for the predictable and was not disappointed by what passes as good health advice in 2007. I'm sure you can predict it, too.

With a picture of a smiling young dad carrying around his mouth-wide-open cherub of a baby (very cute, too!) as the mom gazes on with prideful joy and all smiles as well. Of course, they’re out taking a brisk walk as evidenced by their attire because we know EVERYONE should get in “regular exercise, at least 20 minutes every day,” according to this article right slab in the middle of the Ingles grocery flyer written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath, RD, LDN.

Oh goodie, another duh-duh-dietitian (nightmares still haunt me about this one--LOL!) telling us how we are supposed to eat. Yippee freakin’ skippy. So what else exactly does she have to share about “the heart” in her company’s circular ad? Too bad for the unsuspecting average Joe and Jane reading this flyer, the answer to that question sadly is PLENTY!

You knew McGrath would say SOMETHING about cholesterol and she hits the ground running with it in the first paragraph when we are spoon-fed that good old standby line that “high LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol and low HDL ‘good’ cholesterol” is what “increases your risk of heart disease.”

ARGH!

Can we safely say based on this thorough blog post I wrote about cholesterol recently those archaic beliefs are absolutely not true? Ms. McGrath, please educate yourself better about nutrition if you are going to disseminate information to the public about their health, especially as it relates to “the heart.” The very latest research shows you are wrong.

How do I know this? Check out what she says are “other culprits” besides hereditary reasons for “high cholesterol.” This is verbatim what McGrath provided in the article:

Smoking
Lack of exercise
Poor eating habits (high fat diet)
Stress
Being overweight or obese

She added, “Making small changes in your eating habits and lifestyle choices may be all it takes to reduce…total cholesterol under 200mg/dL.”

Did you notice how right dab in the middle of that laundry list of mostly reasonable explanations for elevated cholesterol, McGrath couldn’t resist putting in a jab at a “high fat diet?” Yes, it is true that smoking, lack of exercise, poor eating habits, stress, and obesity can lead to elevated cholesterol levels. Fair enough.

But who says “high cholesterol” defined as 200mg/dL is necessarily a bad thing when the research does not support this?

Oh yeah, that's right--doctors and dietitians like McGrath actually think a “high fat diet” is harmful. Of course they do siince that's the only message they know. Yet with all this consensus on what is considered healthy for “the heart,” how can some layman without any nutritional background like Jimmy Moore go around claiming that all of them are wrong and he is right? Do you wanna know HOW I can? Because the science is proving they are wrong and I trust the unbiased studies I cite so often here at my blog.

Sadly, most of the people in the medical community who still actively promote low-fat as the only way to eat healthy for “the heart” have failed to update their education beyond the 1960s. Hello people! There’s a whole lotta learning to do that somehow has failed to cross your eyeballs for several decades. If you truly care about your patients, then start the learning process immediately!

I don’t know if some of the old-timers have the attitude that there’s nothing new to teach them since they’ve been treating patients the same way for their entire career or what. But even the new doctors have this same indoctrination about low-fat diets being somehow healthier for people despite all the mountains of research otherwise.

Maybe it’s the medical schools that need to heed the message to update their educational materials for these fresh medical students. But you and I both know that’ll never happen as long as the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and other such “health” organizations keep spouting the same failed low-fat message over and over again. This maddening cycle needs to end if we are ever going to move forward in tackling obesity.

The following may seem obvious to those of us who have been livin’ la vida low-carb a while, but I’ll say it anyway for the many newbies and those who are first getting used to the vernacular of diet-speak.

Whenever you hear the phrase “high fat diet” (like McGrath used), I want you to translate that to mean a low-carbohydrate diet. The low-fat diet advocates like throwing this around as if it is something awful (much in the same way the people who support abortion call people who are pro-life the much more agregious-sounding “anti-abortion”).

Conversely, when you hear “low-fat diet,” I want your brain to understand that to be a mostly high-carb diet since they recommend people consume a mindboggling 60-75 percent carbs daily as part of a supposedly healthy diet.

This will help keep it in the right perspective for you.

McGrath also discusses a list of 10 ways to show you care about your heart that are a mixed bag—some good, some bad, and some absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt ignorant advice. Let’s take a look:

1. Reduce the saturated fats in your diet. Eat less red meat or leaner cuts of red meat. Eat more chicken, turkey and fish and try having vegetarian meals.

Why would I do this when saturated fat has been found to be a HEALTHY thing to eat, hmmm? There is no good reason at all to eat less or leaner cuts of red meat. NONE!

While those other meats are delicious ways to get your fat and protein, I will certainly be enjoying a fat, juicy steak if I so choose. As for the “try having vegetarian meals,” my only question is how many vegetarians I can eat? HA!

2. Bake broil or grill your meat. Avoid eating fried foods.

Hmmm, this is a tricky one because I agree with the advice to shun the fried foods specifically because of the breading. But if you want to fry up your meat in a pan full of butter, then knock yourself out. It’s a healthy way to enjoy that succulent protein-loaded food.

While it’s nice to bake, broil, and especially grill meats, don’t fall for the illusion that cooking these ways is any healthier than cooking meat in fat. Avoid the trans fats, of course, but you shouldn’t worry about saturated fats as long as you are livin’ la vida low-carb.

3. Read the label and avoid trans fats.

Excellent advice, Ms. McGrath. But I’ll take it a step further. While you are reading the label making sure you avoid trans fats, also read the ingredients list for anything “partially hydrogenated” to make sure they aren’t putting hidden trans fats in there and failing to list them in the nutritional info since it may contain less than 0.5g per serving (I blogged about this practice as it relates to carbs, too!). But that doesn’t mean it’s trans-fat-free! Sneaky, isn’t it?!

4. Stop smoking.

Well duh!

5. Increase your fiber by eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans every day, such as Kashi Go Lean cereals and Quaker oatmeal.

Can you tell Ingles got some corporate sponsorship dollars by slipping in a product mention here and there? What’s sad is those products are just awful for you because they are very high-carb! Yes, I know they have whole grains in them, but does that make them healthy? McGrath seems to think so, but I don’t.

As for the generic advice to eat more fruits and vegetables as well as beans to get more fiber in your diet, I think it’s time we stop this across-the-board approval of everything. For fruit, you need to keep them low-glycemic, or low in sugar, such as berries and melons. As for veggies, non-starchy and green leafy vegetables are best like salad greens, cauliflower, and green beans, just to name a few. Beans are too high in carbs to be eaten when you are losing weight no matter what the health “experts” will tell you!

6. Switch to low-fat or fat-free dairy products (milk and yogurt).

Again, why would I do that? Your body needs fat and you should include this vital macronutrient in your diet, not exclude it. Of course, milk is fairly high in carbohydrates so try to go for lower-carb substitutes like Calorie Countdown (which Ingles just so happens to sell, by the way!).

Have you tried fat-free cheese and yogurt? Yucky poo! I think I’d rather eat something that rhymes with poo! EWWWW! It’s disgusting to consume, so why bother? How about eating the full-fat version as part of your new low-carb lifestyle and enjoy the foods that are making you healthier than you’ve ever been before!

7. Switch to canola or olive oil, such as Italica Olive Oil with Omega 3 or Harvest Farms Organic Canola cooking spray.

Nothing like the unabashed product endorsement, but I like the idea of eating more olive oil which is arguably one of the best ways to enjoy more fat in your diet (along with butter, avocado oil, and macadamia nut oil).

8. Get regular exercise, at least 20 minutes every day.

No question, exercise complements your low-carb diet.

9. RELAX by praying, meditating, reading a book or exercising.

In other words, try to de-stress your life with whatever methods work for you. If you believe in God, then pray for the Prince of Peace to deliver you from your problems through regular quiet times using the Bible for inspiration.

But even if you are not a Christian, finding a book by your favorite author or taking a quick run around the block can do wonders for relieving the tension that builds up in your body from life itself. Enjoy your life and don’t just endure.

10. Lose weight. Sometimes just losing 10-20 pounds may help lower cholesterol.

To help “the heart,” just lose weight. I mean, these dietitians like Ms. McGrath act as if people are so oblivious to the obvious that it’s almost as if they look down on fat people. We already know livin’ la vida low-carb can help lower cholesterol primarily through the weight loss is produces.

The whole “it’s all about the heart” motto that Ingles through their dietitian Leah McGrath is trying to communicate to the public is that eating a low-fat diet (remember, translated as “high carb) is far superior to a high-fat diet (which is livin’ la vida low-carb). But now you know nothing could be further from the truth.

It seems to me that a grocery store should be about the business of providing food products and solid service to their customer base and not be taking such a strong position on what constitutes a healthy diet. People can find that information elsewhere and decide what’s best for them.

Personally, having the Ingles dietitian lecture me about what is good for “the heart” is quite insulting to say the least, although Leah McGrath seems nice enough in the Ingles commercials. Maybe she's willing to be convinced of the error of her ways.

You can leave your feedback for McGrath about her one-sided dietary advice by using this contact page.

Would You Take Diet Tips From Your Dentist?

Why is it that everybody and their momma thinks they are some sort of "expert" when it comes to diet and health? I’ve seen it from my veterinarian and now it’s coming from my dentist, too! Jeepers creepers!

I’m not kidding.

In the mail this week I received the monthly newsletter from Rocky Creek Dental in Greenville, South Carolina and my dentist Dr. John R. Piccione. I usually enjoy reading this update on taking care of your teeth health, but the April 2007 issue included some rather suspicious diet advice as well. What does a dentist know about nutrition and bodily health aside from the ones in the viscinity of the pearly whites?

On the back side of this newsletter, Dr. Piccione included two recipes for his patients to eat and enjoy as part of their healthy lifestyle. Now, you would think a dentist would discourage people from eating sugar to protect their teeth from decay—nevermind the fact that it’s unhealthy for your body, too.

But, believe it or not, that’s exactly what he did with the following recipe that sounded like something that would be good for you. But this could be very deceiving until you look at the ingredients list:

SPINACH SALAD
1 bag spinach
1/3 cup SUGAR (ARGH!)
2 cups strawberries, sliced
Purple onion (med. Chopped)
1 Cucumber, chopped

Why would you want to ruin such an awesome meal like this by adding SUGAR to it? This would be an excellent recipe if you simply substituted Splenda or some other substitute sweetener in lieu of the sugar. Can you believe a dentist, considered an expert about health-related issues, is allowing this in a recommended recipe for his patients? UGH!

To make matters worse, check out the additional dietary advice he provided in the instructions for making this recipe:

“Combine above and serve with BREADSTICKS, and you have a great meal!”

YIKES! Unfortunately, that doesn’t sound like a great meal to me, Dr. Piccione. Adding insult to injury, you then promote the consumption of high-carb breadsticks to further worsen the problem with this meal. What horrible dietary advice!

I guess our culture has become so accustomed to serving bread or crackers with a salad that people don’t even give a second thought to skipping it altogether. Now there's a thought! And we’d all be a lot better off if we did this one simple step.

How about we make a deal with me, Dr. Piccione? I promise not to talk about how to take care of tooth health if you agree to skip giving out any more advice on a healthy diet? Your patients will be much better off in the end.

You can e-mail Dr. Piccione to let him know what you think about his ridiculous diet tips for his patients at rockycreekdental@yahoo.com.

4-16-07 UPDATE: The good dentist Dr. John Piccione found my blog post today about his newsletter. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased with what I had written in this post.

Here's what he wrote in an e-mail to me:

Jimmy,

WHOA--I thought I could sneak that recipe in as a way to promote tooth decay. I applaud you for uncovering my evil intentions--the world is a better place because of your discovery and comments.

No sense in calling me first to inform me of this faux pas--it's more fun to have fun with it on the Internet. But I did have a good laugh when I read your posting.

For those who have more of a sense of fairness, you used a little artistic imagination calling this a diet tip in your blog. We do not have a section called diet tips in our newsletter. We have a section where our staff shares recipes with our patients.

I never personally tried the recipe, but I like to give my staff a chance to participate in the newsletter. The contributor of the recipe was probably more interested in sharing her "love of cooking" than worrying about its dietary impact.

Most of my patients are fair minded people with common sense. Certainly they can use a little artistic liberty to substitute the sugar for something more healthful, rather than using the mistake as tool to put someone else down to build themselves up.

I will however be more cautious in the future.

John Piccione

Here was my response to Dr. Piccione:

Hey Dr. Piccione,

I appreciate your note, but this kind of faux pas happens far too often for me to ignore it and let it slide. I apologize if you feel I was demeaning to you or your staff with the comments I wrote, but that was not at all my intention (nor was it to "build" myself up through it).

While it might have been an innocent oversight, the fact is people rely on the information they get from their doctors and dentists to be reliable and safe for them and their health. Unfortunately, the introduction of sugar into a recommended recipe (whether you explicitly provide it as a "diet tip" or not) is neither healthy for your teeth nor your body.

THANKS for your e-mail and I appreciate the opportunity to engage in the debate of ideas about healthy living. Take care and THANKS for helping to educate the public about their health!

Comments anyone?

GoLower's Carbcast #3 Features Jimmy Moore

Have you checked out the brand new podcast show from the UK-based low-carb products company called GoLower?

As you know from my reviews of the GoLower nut bars and the new GoLower chocolate creme bars, I'm a fan of GoLower and could not be more pleased to know they are helping low-carbers in Europe and America enjoy product that are low-sugar and delicious.

Ever since I interviewed GoLower Founder and CEO Hannah Sutter last year, I knew this was a special woman concerned about the health and weight of people who struggle with obesity. If more food companies had this kind of leadership and business model for actually serving the overweight public, then perhaps we could move forward in coming up with a solution to the problem.

The immense admiration I have for GoLower is mutual as they have been very supportive of my efforts here at my blog. That's why they invited me to share a few minutes about my low-carb weight loss experience in their Carbcast Episode #3. It's only a few minutes long and you might learn a thing or two more about Jimmy Moore that you didn't before. :)

Be sure to leave a comment and thank GoLower for featuring me on their Carbcast.

Got Low-Carb Leg Cramps? Get More Potassium

I've noticed a trend among the e-mails I have been receiving lately. It looks like people are trying to get back to the basics of their low-carb lifestyle and ask questions that most of us long-term low-carbers are already familiar with. That's okay because I realize there are a bunch of new people who are livin' la vida low-carb in 2007.

You'll never see me complain about answering one of these elementary low-carb questions because it means there are likely hundreds or even thousands more people who have the exact same question. So, in the interest of continuing the education about low-carb living, I'd like to share with you a short, but extremely good question about low-carb.

Here's the e-mail from my reader:

I love doing low-carb and it totally works for me, but I have a problem--horrible debilitating leg spasms. Have you every heard of this?

Have I ever HEARD of this? Oh yeah, I know ALL about the leg cramps you get when you first start livin' la vida low-carb. My wife Christine can testisfy the many nights I used to wake up at 2:00am screaming in pain from leg cramps. Holy cow, this is a very nasty side effect of going on a low-carb diet that I wish somebody had told me how to avoid beforehand.

Thankfully I taught myself what I needed to do to overcome these excruciating leg spasms that would sometimes cripple my legs for days. Yes, I STILL hopped on the treadmill and walked through the pain from these leg cramps because absolutely nothing was going to stop me from succeeding.

Despite these horrifying memories during my first year of livin' la vida low-carb, I have the answer that could help you and anyone else who is putting up with their own pain. Some have it more severe than others, but there is a simple remedy--POTASSIUM! As I wrote about in my book, proper supplementation is important throughout your low-carb weight loss and I list potassium as an essential ingredient for your low-carb diet.

I took about 300mg potassium and even found some almonds that were "salted" with potassium and are absolutely delicious. Atkins bars and shakes are also LOADED with healthy potassium levels, too. Read your labels and try to get more potassium in your diet. Beware of bananas, though, which have a ton a potassium, but are loaded with sugar at a grand total of 29g carbohydrates. EEEK!

For now, try to work through the pain in your legs. I've been there and it DOES pass...eventually. You and anyone else suffering from these cramps are gonna make it (I promise!). Hang in there!

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 38: One-On-One With CarbSmart's Andrew DiMino

You asked for it and now you've got it for the very first time in Episode 38 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore." It's my first-ever podcast interview and I invite you to listen to it RIGHT NOW:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 38 [21:41m]: Play in Popup | Download

Allow me to introduce you to a man named Andrew DiMino in Episode 38. He is the President and Founder of one of the most successful online low-carb retailers and brands called CarbSmart and he was gracious enough to sit down for a one-on-one chat with me during my recent visit to Reno, Nevada.

Can't get enough of the podcast? Check it out in a variety of ways by:

1. Listening at the official web site
2. Going to iTunes
3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez
4. Subscribing to the RSS feed

I asked Andrew the hard questions and he responded like a champ in a very articulate and professional manner. See what he has to say to the critics who think the low-carb products that are on the market today are just more junk food. He also talks about the history of the name CarbSmart and how it has become a household name. Also, if you lament the disappearance of some of your favorite low-carb products in recent years, then you'll be pleased by something CarbSmart is doing.

Listen and share your feedback about the show. Agree? Disagree? Either way, please tell us what you think!

Tune in on Monday as I share my interview with Leslie Wheeler from the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association about the current state of the BBQ industry and how low-carbers are leading a comeback of sorts for the fine art of grilling.

Clooney Calls, Sligh Falls, Taking A Pause

I've only got a few seconds to blog so I can get some shut-eye for my loaded weekend that starts at 5:00am on Thursday. So I'll just shoot a few posts up and squeeze in a blog here and there when I can.

Where will I be? Hollywood called again and they want me back for George Clooney's upcoming 1920's movie "Leatherheads." Although I thought originally I was going to portray a football player in the film, they used me as a doorman in the previous scene (I actually got into a scene with Clooney himself delivering a line to me--COOL!).

They'll need me again as an extra in the football stands for filming on Thursday through Saturday about 45 minutes from my house. So, I'll be staying in a hotel near the set and blog when I can. But I expect the taping will go from sun up to sun down every single day the next three days in a row! Wish me luck...or is that break a leg? No, please don't wish that one on me! LOL!

You know, I REALLY wish I was wrong about Chris Sligh on American Idol when I blogged about his weight being a liability in the competition. Although I don't think he helped himself on Tuesday night with a horrid version of the classic song "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police, you can't help but think his pudgy appearance might not have appealed to the voting audience very well.

How else do you explain Sanjaya Malakar surviving and not even making the bottom three...AGAIN! I guess radio shock jock Howard Stern and his endorsement of the "Vote For The Worst" campaign is having an impact. People can't possibly like that screechy voice and who the heck has ever seen anyone do a mohawk with pony tails like he had on Tuesday?! That show's getting weirder and weirder to me!

By the way, I got a call from a newspaper columnist in Michigan who read my column about weight being a factor on Idol and the reporter interviewed me for about 30 minutes to get my take about the subject for a feature story that will run either late this week or early next. When the article runs, I'll post it on my blog so you can read it. How about that? Jimmy Moore is now a commentator on entertainment news. HA! Yeah right! But hey, I've got opinions and I shared them quite openly.

I wish I had more time to blog, but my sleepy eyes are setting in and that alarm clock will come buzzing early tomorrow. I'm taking my camera with me this time and I'll get pictures when I'm allowed to. They don't allow them on the set since the movie is set before digital cameras and cell phones were even conceptualized. SEE YA SOON!

Cholesterol Comeback: Prove It's Unhealthy

I've been thinking a lot about this whole issue of where to find "low-carb friendly" advice about diet, health, and fitness concerns over the past few days. My e-mail box is literally bursting (yes, I know it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway to make my point) at the seams with question after question from people worried about this and that health indicator on their low-carb diet. Somehow, some way we need to have a place where people can go for answers and I'm open to suggestions.

Some people might say that's what I do at my blog, but not exactly. Although I am pretty well-versed in most of the basic knowledge and even some secondary data about how and why livin' la vida low-carb works, I am by no means the all-encompassing low-carb diet expert with an answer for every question that comes my way. With that said, though, if I don't know something, then I'm happy to tell you and I will then go to the REAL experts and find you an answer you can use.

Two different people e-mailed me this week regarding the neverending confusion and concern over the subject of cholesterol and the ongoing myth that elevated levels of it in your body will lead to the development of heart disease. I brought in a very special guest today to help answer one of the e-mails directly, but let me handle the first questions myself since they are pretty easy.

Here's what my reader wrote:

Jimmy, can you provide a quick retort for laymen fools that believe the cholesterol/heart disease connection myth? Also, how do you respond to doctors who want to put you on statins?

Interesting questions and I'm happy to assist. As for the quick retort, I like to turn the question back on them (and you can even use this on the so-called health "experts" too!) by asking--"Can you provide any scientific proof that there IS an undeniable connection between elevated cholesterol levels and an increased risk of developing heart disease?"

After they stare back at you dumbfounded for a few seconds, follow up your question with this--"The fact is there isn't any and actually studies have shown that it is more lethal and dangerous to have cholesterol levels that are too LOW which can also lead to bouts of severe depression!" You can even show them YOUR proof: here's the study published in the January 22, 2007 issue of Laboratory Investigation conducted by researchers out of Duke University.

The researcher in that study has been raked over the coals for daring to share the truth because the cholesterol/heart disease myth has never been about health--just billions upon billions of dollars in MONEY FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. The cholesterol drug industry in collaboration with aggressive pill pushers visiting doctor's offices across the country have so successfully scared the living daylights out of people regarding their cholesterol levels that they are willing to take a bone-jarring, nightmare-inducing statin drug (which most low-carbers will tell you to avoid at all costs) like Zocor, Lipitor, or Crestor to artificially "lower" their numbers.

Why do people do this to themselves when more and more class action lawsuits are being filed against these harmful medications all under the illusion that they are making your heart healthier?! That's what makes me sick when I see that idiotic Lipitor commercial featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, boasting about how much he just loves statin drugs and that everyone should be taking one. What a crock of you know what!

UGH! Not me buddy because I'm not interested in damaging my body anymore from taking those prescriptions that nearly killed me! I was on both Lipitor and Crestor before I started livin' la vida low-carb and quickly came off of them when I lost my weight and began educating myself about what they were doing to me. I don't know how people put up with the joint and muscle weakness and pain that comes from taking these ridiculous medications!

Regarding your doctor and the statin drugs, what I have said is I'll take my chances with my low-carb diet. They don't want to hear that, but my cholesterol numbers (especially the HDL and triglycerides) have improved so much that I'm not worried about the fact that my LDL is somehow "too high." Says who? I've seen studies indicating high LDL can be beneficial to you--check 'em out for yourself here and here. I hate to say it, but frankly it's getting harder and harder to trust doctors anymore when modern research is proving their treatment of patients has not updated to the 21st century yet.

Here's just a little of what I know to be true from what I have learned about cholesterol and livin' la vida low-carb: eating a low-carb diet will raise HDL "good" cholesterol and significantly lower triglyceride levels and in conjunction with an exercise program will lower total cholesterol levels. In fact, the very latest studies have shown that your HDL and triglycerides levels are a better indicator of heart disease risk than LDL or total cholesterol.

It's all about breaking years upon years of cholesterol indoctrination much in the same way that you have had to do with the low-fat diet. How hard was it to convince yourself that eating fat was HEALTHY for you when you first started livin' la vida low-carb? I'll admit it was the most difficult mental aspect of this new way of eating that I had to get my head wrapped around because we have been told our entire lives that fat clogs your arteries which seems to make sense intellectually. But when you finally discover the truth about that theory and then apply the lessons learned to your own life with great success, then you become a believer!

The same goes for what has been described as "the great cholesterol con." That's why independent Australian researcher Anthony Colpo released a book about it in 2006 called (strangely enough!) The Great Cholesterol Con which is now in its expanded and updated second edition! This sensational book is the magnum opus on the subject of cholesterol and should be in the library of anyone and everyone who purports to care about health (if you doctor hasn't read it yet, then order a copy and give it to him ASAP!).

Colpo is quite the witty chap as we quickly discovered in my interview with him and the man really knows his stuff. If you want to talk with someone who has dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's on the subject of cholesterol, then Colpo is your man! Although he was forced to shut down his phenomenal web site TheOmnivore.com, he still has an online presence at his Low-Carb Muscle forum. So check it out!

But I have him here today to answer the more intricate question from my second reader who reported in an e-mail some rather specific numbers in his lipid profile that had his doctor up in arms. Now my reader is greatly concerned and doesn't know what to do about his "high" cholesterol numbers. Colpo gives a fantastic response, but first let's read the e-mail from my reader:

Hi Jimmy,

Visited the doctor this morning. She wanted to get a look at my cholesterol numbers since I told her I wasn't going to take my Zocor anymore. After reading Anthony Colpo's book that you convinced me to buy, I quit taking my statin about 2 1/2 months ago. Got my new numbers (I'll have to look up the old ones) and they went up quite a bit.

I follow low-carb pretty well and rarely cheat, I could probably eat more veggies but I definitely eat more than pre-low-carb. I've lost 70 pounds in the last year doing so and the doctor was happy with that and she knows I'm low-carbing. She hasn't said anything bad about it and today told me to keep it up if its working.

Of course, though, she's not entirely happy about my new cholesterol numbers and I've mentioned how I have read that the tests are not accurate, cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease, etc. Her only reply is that all the cardiologists would disagree with me.

Anyways, here are my latest numbers:

Cholesterol: 234
Trigs: 89
HDL: 41
HDL risk factor: 5.7 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is)
VLDL: 18 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is)
Direct LDL: 163
LDL/HDL ratio: 4.0

Of course, she is concerned about how the numbers have gone up, specifically the LDL. I don't think that they're that bad. I still need to lose more weight and until I hit where I want to be (don't know where that's at yet, I'm 6'4" about 250 now but I have lots of muscle and wide shoulders) I will try not to worry about these numbers too much.

I'm kinda looking for your take on them and whether I should request a special test since my triglycerides are below 100 to figure out the exact makeup of the LDL and maybe show her its not so bad. Now I just need to work on getting off some of these blood pressure medications. Love the blog. Keep up the good work.

I loved this e-mail because it is EXACTLY what I used to fear myself and how so many other readers I am sure must feel about the same scenario. Before I get to Colpo's response (and it's a goodie!), let me address a few things first. Anyone who is following a low-carb nutritional approach will have different test results than those who eat a higher-carb program. Dr. Mary Vernon says the best way you can tell that someone is doing low-carb the right way is you'll notice their triglycerides are below 100. Since my reader's number is at 89, then he is right there.

You can get the VAP test done to see the actual breakdown of the particle size of your LDL makeup, but Dr. Vernon says LDL particle size in low-carbers who have triglycerides below 100 are the safer large, fluffy kind that are not a risk to your heart. But as Dr. Jeff Volek said in his interview with me, low-fat diets actually INCREASE the number of the dangerous small LDL cholesterol that he describes as "not so healthy" which leads to an even GREATER risk of a cardiovascular event. Yikes!

There's so much more to say about this, but let me share with you what Colpo had to say to my reader's concerns:

First of all, thanks for buying my book! I'm glad the information has helped empower you to the point where you are now critically analyzing the information your doctor disseminates--something a lot more folks should be doing.

As you would know from reading my book, cholesterol does not in any way "cause" heart disease. You have obviously challenged your doctor with this contention, and the fact that the only answer she can give in response to your cholesterol skepticism is "all the cardiologists would disagree" speaks volumes. If she is so sure that cholesterol itself causes heart disease, she should be able to articulate why in a coherent, scientific manner.

Whether she realizes it or not, she is implicitly admitting that she cannot defend the cholesterol paradigm, so instead she is using an "appeal to authority." This line of appeal is essentially a non-argument. It does not in any way explain why cholesterol is a causal factor in heart disease--it merely states that many employed in the field of cardiology think it is.

A majority of people once believed the Earth was flat. The fact that these folks shared a widely-held point of view did not in any way change the fact that it was utterly false. Nowadays, we laugh at those who still think the Earth is flat; I believe it won't be too long in the future before we do the same with people who think a perfectly healthy and absolutely essential natural substance like cholesterol causes heart disease.

Furthermore, she is wrong when she alleges that all cardiologists would disagree with you. I personally know of numerous cardiologists who agree that the cholesterol theory is complete hogwash. These include Texas cardiologist and preeminent CoQ10 researcher Peter Langsjoen. Another example is Paul De Groot, a retired cardiologist who, along with Uffe Ravnskov, caused an uproar when he recently appeared on the Dutch TV show "Radar" and tore the cholesterol theory to shreds.

I will reiterate: Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease. As I am fond of saying, if you are eating, exercising and living right, then your cholesterol levels will be wherever they need to be.

There are numerous factors that contribute to "eating, exercising and living right." As you know, many of these are described in my book. Eating a nutrient-dense diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding high blood sugar levels, avoiding high bodily iron stores, avoiding excess adiposity, keeping good sleep habits, ensuring optimal essential fatty acid intake, and following a judicious supplementation regimen all help to stave off heart disease.

However, if one or more of these factors is not being achieved, then it can also affect cholesterol levels, by raising total cholesterol and/or raising LDL and lowering HDL. This is where the confusion arises--the modern medical establishment is still following the lead of early researchers who confused cause with effect.

Let's take magnesium for example.

Sub-optimal levels of this essential mineral have been implicated in a whole host of diseases, including heart disease. Having read my book, you'll know that magnesium is one of the "non-negotiable" items in the chapter on supplements. The average Westerner has a pathetic intake of this versatile mineral, and desperately needs to take measures to improve his/her magnesium status.

Magnesium is absolutely critical for cellular energy production, and sub-optimal levels will leave you increasingly prone to arterial spasm, blood clotting, and arrhythmia. Low cellular magnesium levels will exacerbate the damaging effects of psychoscial stress, and will also magnify the damage caused to heart tissue during a heart attack. In other words, low magnesium levels are a cardiovascular disaster waiting to happen.

Guess what? Magnesium is also involved in the regulation of cholesterol production. Low magnesium intakes can lead to rises in LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels.

The current medical approach is to identify this "unfavorable" change in blood lipids, and prescribe a cholesterol-lowering drug. This is a terribly short-sighted "Band-Aid" approach. The intelligent strategy would be to correct the life-threatening magnesium deficiency! Magnesium is a nutrient essential to optimal physiological function; toxic synthetic statin drugs are not!

By the way, while we are on the topic of magnesium, I strongly recommend Seelig and Rosanoff's terrific book, The Magnesium Factor. Ignore the authors' tendency to believe the reigning cholesterol nonsense, and you'll find a wealth of extremely helpful information on magnesium, including how to determine the correct dose.

Magnesium is just one example, but my book outlines many more. The bottom line is that you should make sure you are doing everything in your power to supply your body with the nutrient-rich, fitness-enhancing, low-stress environment it needs to thrive. If you do that, you'll achieve benefits no amount of cholesterol paranoia could ever hope to achieve!

All the best,

Anthony Colpo

Classic Colpo, as always! Man I love the way he just puts it out there and lets you decide what to believe based on the clear and irrefutable evidence. In this wild and crazy debate over the supposed dangers of having "high" levels of cholesterol, it's nice to douse the other side with a big ole heaping helping of a water tower full of cold, drenching truth to extinguish their flickering fire once and for all. I realize it's gonna take repeating this message over and over again for most people to start believing it (which is why this subject will come up again here at my blog), but the paradigm shift has already begun.

My cholesterol comeback? PROVE IT'S UNHEALTHY!

Otis Who? Healthy Muffins For The NexGen!

Now you have a different kind of muffin to enjoy

Once upon a time in my life as a graduate student I had a job as a portable food vendor in the Virginia Beach, Virginia area called Corporate Cafe. Yep, I would arrive early in the morning and load up a big cooler full of sandwiches, sodas, juice, bagels, cookies, and muffins to make my rounds at the nearby car dealerships and golf shops selling all of these high-carb garbage foods just to pull in a few bucks while I was attending graduate school. I'm not proud of it now, but it was just a job at the time and my nearly 400-pound self didn't mind eating away the profits on a regular basis.

One of the most popular and bestselling items I sold was the muffins made by a baked goods company called Otis Spunkmeyer. Their humongously gigantic muffins were very appealing to the eye because of their jumbo size and the perceived value for the money you spent on them. Nevermind all that nasty white flour, corn syrup, artificial colors, and sugar they load into these things which were nothing but bad news for both your weight and health. People loved 'em then and probably still drool over them now.

It's been nearly 15 years ago that I had that food vendor job and I sold those Otis Spunkmeyer muffins for a couple of bucks at the time. Now that I'm livin' la vida low-carb in the 21st century, though, I have longed to find a company that could come up with a similar kind of muffin as those ones I used to sell except make them healthy. If people are willing to shell out that kind of money for an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin, then how much more valuable would a low-carb equivalent be?

Well, you wait is now over thanks to a company I found called R&B/NexGen™ Foods. This brand new healthy living business has dedicated itself to bringing great-looking and excellent-tasting quality low-carb foods to the market to enjoy as part of your healthy lifestyle. Founded and led by Dr. Peter Radatti and Dr. Keith Berkowitz (husband of the awesome Valerie Berkowitz, formerly worked with the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins at his Atkins Center For Complementary Medicine, and you may recall he was the one who helped Men's Health editor David Schipper lose 33 pounds last year on a low-carb diet), they are hoping to provide superb foods for the next generation (thus the name of their company--NexGen!).

Their very first product introduced to the marketplace are those amazing ready-to-eat morsels of low-carb goodness you see displayed so beautifully at the top of this post called NexGen™ Muffins. Each super-sized 4-ounce muffin is available in three delicious and nutritious flavors for you to enjoy: Lemon Poppy Seed, Banana Walnut, and Orange Pineapple.

As soon as I saw "egg" as the very first ingredient in these muffins instead of high fructose corn syrup or white flour, then I knew this was going to be a special product indeed for people who are livin' la vida low-carb. They have a proprietary blend of fiber as well as natural poppy seeds and walnuts baked right in them. Mmmm. Plus, they use the much-healthier butter instead of margarine, natural flavors, no preservatives, and just a tiny bit of sucralose (Splenda) and canola oil to make them turn out exactly right.

I have personally tried all three flavors and can personally attest that they really do taste as good as they look! Even better is the nutritional content in each half-muffin serving size--a miniscule 2g net carbs, 100% sugar-free, just 80 calories, only 5g fat, 50 percent of your RDA for calcium, and a whopping 12g dietary fiber in each power-packed half-muffin serving! This ain't some chintzy low-carb pretender product, people--it's most definitely a high-quality real deal food you will immediately fall in love with for all the right reasons.

Additionally, you won't find ANY trans fats (those terrible partially hydrogenated oils that are bad news for you), modified food starches, wheat gluten, soy flour, sugar alcohols (YEAH, no maltitol!), chemical preservatives, artificial colors, food additives, GMOs, or grains in the NexGen™ Muffins. In other words, they're REAL food! :)

What about diabetics? Can they have these marvelous muffins? Well, because they are completely sugar-free and very low-carb, absolutely these are the perfect food choice for a diabetic to consume. How about someone with Celiac disease or a gluten intolerance? Again, these are gluten-free and wheat-free products, so people with that disease can eat these with confidence. However, the minority of you who are like me and are salt-sensitive should be aware that each half-muffin serving has 250 milligrams of sodium--which is plenty low as long as you don't eat three in a single day (I know it'll be tempting!).

The key ingredient in NexGen™ Muffins is the incredible patent-pending "fiber flour" substitute that provides much more fiber than the average American consumes on a daily basis. As people who are livin' la vida low-carb already know, fiber is a vital part of your healthy lifestyle change, so getting ample amounts in your diet is crucial.

Since both soluble and insoluble fiber is not digested by your body, it does not get absorbed into the bloodstream like sugar and other refined carbohydrates so readily do. That's one reason consuming fiber on low-carb is so good for you. It also helps promote regularity, removes toxins from your body, balances the acid that lingers in your intestines, binds with fatty acids to improve your lipid profile, and greatly slows the digestion of carbohydrates so your blood sugar remains stablized.

In fact, there has been plenty of published research that indicates fiber is also helpful for lowering blood pressure, dropping LDL and total cholesterol, warding off weight gain, and even significantly reducing the risk of such epidemic health ailments as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Type II diabetes. This sorta begs the question--why isn't EVERYONE eating more fiber? That's why we need more products like NexGen™ Muffins.

Okay, I'm sure you are thinking all of this talk about health is great and all, but do they really taste as good as they look? All I can say about that is I've eaten about a dozen of these muffins over the past couple of weeks and can verifiably say that they have an incredible texture along with a naturally sweet taste. Far too often you get a funky wang or a gritty feeling in your mouth with some low-carb products. But not with NexGen™ Muffins because the creators have taken great pains to do these the right way.

If I had one minor criticism about them, then it would be that they can be a little hard to swallow from being so dry with the tons of fiber that are in them. But I came up with a solution to that problem rather quickly. After you heat the muffin in the microwave for about a minute (or a little bit longer if it's still frozen), stick a pat of butter on top and let it ooze down inside and along the sides to moisten the muffin. Another trick that works is slicing it open with a slit at the top and pour some whipping cream over it in a bowl. The opportunities to be creative with these muffins is literally endless!

This is the very first ready-to-eat low-carb muffin product I have ever seen on the market and I expect it will do very well with the right kind of publicity and distribution. There are plenty of low-carb muffin mixes available, but not ones that you can just pop in the microwave to warm up and in seconds be ready to devour as part of your low-carb lifestyle. With NexGen™ Muffins, now you can!

Because these muffins don't have any preservatives in them like the aforementioned high-carb Otis Spunkmeyer ones do, they do not have a very long shelf life apart from remaining frozen. They must be kept in a freezer and can then be transferred to a refrigerator with a 7-day shelf life. I keep three in the fridge at a time and move a frozen one down to replace the muffins I consume. It's a different way to look at muffins, but they are radically different from those garbage ones you are accustomed to.

The creators of these superb new NexGen™ low-carb products are now working on other products that they hope to introduce to the market in the near future, including ready-to-eat pizza, tortilla wraps, and dinner rolls--no doubt all of them will use the same high-quality "fiber flour" substitute in place of traditional white flour. I can't wait! I'll look forward to telling you about those when they hit the market. You'll be the first to know! :D

If you have any specific questions about the R&B/NexGen™ Foods line of low-carb products or if you are a retailer interested in selling these fantastic foods for your customers, then please e-mail them anytime at info@nexgenfoods.com. Be sure to tell them you read about their company from Jimmy Moore at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog. THANKS and enjoy eating healthy for a change!

ORDER NOW from CarbSmart and stock up on these amazing muffins!

Leaving A Low-Carb Legacy Beyond Your Lifetime

I wanted to share with you about a book I bought over ten years ago called Reflections From A Mother's Heart. I picked up this very unique gift by a company called J. Countryman for my own mom and gave it to her for Mother's Day in 1997. Little did she know at the time that this "gift" for her would soon become a gift for me and my future kids.

This was a book of memories that allowed my mother to share her life's story in her own words. The 200+ pages were mostly blank waiting to be filled in to a wide variety of questions about mom's life. From the very basic information such as where she was born and raised as well as some of her favorite items right down to personal questions like "What do you remember about your first kiss." (Mom conveniently left the answer to that question blank! :-~ That's probably a good thing! LOL!)

Anyways, I had completely forgotten about this little book I gave Mom a decade ago until she returned it back to me mostly filled with personal hand-written answers to the questions in the book for one of my presents this past Christmas 2006. Reading through everything my mom had written, I learned much more about her than I ever would have imagined. This is HER legacy that needed to be passed down to me and her future grandchildren.

So that got me to thinking. Should those of us who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off after a lifetime of struggling with it write our own story much in the same manner? We could call it "Reflections From A Low-Carb Dieter's Heart" and provide page after page of the difficult questions of what it was like to be overweight or obese, the thing that triggered your weight loss experience, and what you are still doing today to keep the weight off for good.

Click here to read more about this idea of journaling your low-carb weight loss success so that future generations in your family can learn from your personal triumph over a lifetime of obesity.

Jimmy Moore Tells All About His Low-Carb Diet Weight Loss On Atlanta Radio Show

My interview with "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy" Sunday was so much fun

One of the unique opportunities that I have the pleasure of doing from time to time is appearing as a guest or feature in various media outlets. I've had the privilege of being interviewed in various places across the country on television, radio, blogs, newspapers, and the like so much now that I actually feel comfortable doing this format extemporaneously with no preparation whatsoever. When you live it, then it just flows out of you naturally.

So how about it, Maury Povich? Regis Philbin? Jay Leno? Oprah Winfrey? I've got a real story to tell and rest assured "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man" will certainly keep it entertaining for you, I can promise you that! :D

I guess people are intrigued by characters like Jimmy Moore who successfully lose half their weight and then keep it off for good. That's exactly why the Atlanta, GA-based "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy" radio show interviewed me on Sunday night. What's funny is I almost didn't make it on the show because I forgot to call in at the appointed time. OOPS! My Internet service provider was acting funny all day on Sunday (Charter was offline for nearly eight hours!) and my day was totally thrown off as a result.

So I was sitting in my living room around 7:15pm Sunday night right in the middle of watching the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" (wickedly funny film that is totally worth the price of admission just to see Meryl Streep in the lead role--GET THE DVD!) when my phone rings with a frantic person on the other end asking "Where are you?" After a couple of seconds of wondering who in the world was asking me that question, I bopped my head like the V-8 commercials and said, "Oh yeah, the interview. Sorry! I'm ready to go, though!"

Seconds later, I was on WGSR-AM in Atlanta LIVE with Dr. Adam Shafran (aka "Dr. Fitness") and Lee Kantor (aka "The Fat Guy"). They also had in the studio a model and actress who simply goes by the name of Kathie. She just finished work as body double for Alyssa Milano in a commercial and her feet and legs appear in a lot of advertisements you have seen. Check out her amazing reality show called "Real Savvy Moms" which she just completed filming last week in New York.

Listen NOW to the replay podcast of the entire March 25, 2007 episode of my appearance on "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy" by CLICKING HERE. My segment is the first one after their opening monologue. You'll hear them say they "hope" Jimmy Moore will be coming up after the break. That's because I freaked them out by not calling on time. Mea culpa!

What an awesome show it was and they made it engaging, entertaining, and a downright good time! These guys definitely know how to have fun and now have me longing to find some co-hosts to join me on my own podcast show now. Probably won't happen, but I guess you could call me the doctor fitness and former fat guy all rolled into one now. :D

The questions they hurled my way were quite intriguing and I was all-too-happy to share openly and honestly (as I always try to do!) about my experiences livin' la vida low-carb. In fact, at one point during the interview, they asked so many questions in a row that I completely forgot the question and asked, "Now what was the original question again?" Hee hee! I suppose that happens when you get three people all asking the guest to talk. Nevertheless, I did my best!

They describe my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog as "the best blog in the low-carb world...the one stop shop for all things low-carb." COOL! THANKS guys! And they couldn't get over my former fettish for Little Debbie snack cakes which I went into great detail explaining as well as my previous Coca-Cola addiction before my nearly 200-pound weight loss. Listen to the show and hear all the dirty secrets about my life as a 400+ pound slob of a man.


The hosts of "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy" hard at work behind the mike

Be sure to visit their popular podcast show, the companion blog (which they asked for my advice about improving since mine is so successful), and the official web site for "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy." What amazing resources for people living a healthy lifestyle and I was privileged to be a part of their fantastic show.

They were so thrilled by my energetic presentation about livin' la vida low-carb that I was invited back for another interview in the future. We will DEFINITELY have to do that (maybe when I release my next book...very soon!). Let me know what you thought of the interview and be sure to let "Dr. Fitness And The Fat Guy" know how much we appreciate their willingness to host a low-carber on their program. :) Send them feedback by e-mailing them today. THANK YOU!

Where Can I Get Reliable Low-Carb Advice?

My e-mail box has been rockin' and rollin' lately with lots of outstanding questions and comments from people who are livin' la vida low-carb to lose weight, improve their health, and radically change their life for the better. That's exactly what it did for me and I am happy to provide a place of refuge where people feel comfortable enough to ask questions that will help them get to that same place in their own life.

As I have stated many times, though, I am not a doctor or a nutritionist (although I am looking into trying to become a trained dietitian--if only there were a program that was "low-carb" friendly to teach people like me the ins and outs of it all). So the information I provide here is from two perspectives. First, it is from my own empirical research and investigation into this amazing lifestyle change known as low-carb living. And second, it is from my own personal experience losing a ton of weight and improving my health with this remarkable nutritional approach.

With that said, I sometimes receive a much more complicated question from a reader desperate for an answer that I have no idea how to respond to it. That's okay because I never pretend to have all the answers. But I do know a few people in the low-carb community who DO have the knowledge and experience to accurately provide answers to the tough topics.

Here's the difficult e-mail I received late last week:

Dear Jimmy,

Thanks so much for your blog. I am enjoying and learning so much. Personally, i have been pregnant and/or nursing for the past 11 years, so my weight has been all over the place and low-carb living during the past 4 years has helped me so much with all of the typical issues.

Alas, this e-mail question is not about me, though--it's for my husband.

He has had extremely high cholesterol/triglycerides issues (total cholesterol is about 400 and triglycerides are over 1200). About 3 years ago he did the low-carb thing and lost about 30 pounds (was still overweight but no longer obese) and his numbers went way down to normal or almost normal (while taking the drug gemfibrozil). After resuming normal American eating habits again, he gained the weight back and was switched to another drug and the numbers are through the roof again.

I also have a question about another issue he has--kidney stones. These have been determined to be made from uric acid. In my research one of the recommendations for improving this is to avoid eating meat and even chicken. My husband wants to go back to his low-carb ways, but how do we know if this low meat thing is for real or if it is the standard government scare tactic that "saturated fats are bad" line?

So I suppose my general question in the end is when it comes to diet recommendations for specific medical conditions, where can I get reliable information that is "low-carb friendly?" Thanks for all your work in the low-carb world!!

WOW, where do you start with an e-mail like that?! I've never heard of cholesterol and triglycerides being that high, but it is obvious livin' la vida low-carb would SUBSTANTIALLY reduce both numbers as it has in the past. If it worked so well before, then why would this person subject themselves to the "normal American eating habits" again?

That's why you constantly hear me talk about making this way of eating a permanent lifestyle change. People sometimes look at me like I'm some kind of alien when I declare to them that I am still on the Atkins diet. What?! Why would you keep doing that "extreme" diet long after you have gotten your weight and health under control? My answer--precisely because I want to KEEP my weight and health functioning the very best it can for the rest of my life. Period. End of story.

Call it "extreme" all you want, but it's working EXTREMELY well for me. :)

Regarding my reader's question at the end about where to find reliable "low-carb friendly" medical advice, it is available from a couple of outstanding sources that I very highly recommend to you. I have previously discussed them here at my blog, but I'll share them with you again--the "Ask Dr. Vernon" blog from low-carb practitioner Dr. Mary C. Vernon (who helped me out with this e-mail today which I will share with you in a moment) and "The Salerno Strategy" blog from Dr. John P. Salerno who used to work directly with Dr. Robert C. Atkins at his Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine a few years back.

Additionally, there are people like Regina Wilshire from the "Weight Of The Evidence" blog, Protein Power author Dr. Mike Eades and his fantastic blog, Adam Campbell from "The Fitness Insider" feature at Men's Health magazine, and so many others. I know most of these people personally and rely on their many years of collective low-carb wisdom to guide me when I am stumped about how to answer an e-mail like the one I shared in this post.

Thankfully, Dr. Vernon stepped up to the plate to answer this one for me:

This is a common problem. Here's why-

Elevated triglycerides are a marker for abnormal glucose metabolism. I'd argue that evidence exists to show that the high levels of insulin tell the liver to make fat--that is, to synthesize triglycerides.

Get a 3 or 5 hour glucose tolerance test with insulin levels at the baseline (fasting) and 2 hour draw. Best is a 5 hour GTT with insulin drawn at every blood draw. The insulin and glucose normals are described in Atkins Diabetes Revolution.
I have seen many patients completely normalize their triglycerides and cholesterol levels by using carbohydrate control.

Now, about the kidney stones--

The kidney stone formation is linked to the underlying metabolism with the high insulin levels just like the trigylcerides are. It's not the protein, it's the carbs that cause the kidney stone formation in susceptible people. The Atkins diet gets blamed, I think, because if you cycle on and off of it, as your husband did, then you might form stones when you are off of the diet.

When you begin to control carbs enough to lose weight, usually one loses the extra water that high insulin levels pull into your body. This causes increased urine production and "washes out" the stone. So it seems to happen on the diet, but really happened before. I've followed lots of patients and I have only had one patient with "new" kidney stones in all these years!

OK, so let's hypothesize that my data and I are both wrong. What if some folks do form kidney stones on the diet? Potassium citrate can be used as a preventative. I discuss this with anyone who has a history of kidney stones because I want my patients to be healthy and feel good. Passing a kidney stone does not feel good.

So, check out the glucose tolerance test, get your husband to discuss potassium citrate with his physician, and keep the carbs controlled. Patients with the metabolic response to carbs like your husband has will always have it. Losing the weight doesn't make the tendency to have this problem go away. So make the changes lifestyle changes.

He is at risk for blood vessel damage based on what you have told me--so if he has chest pains take them seriously and get medical attention immediately.

Hope you find this helpful.

Mary Vernon

I learned a lot from Dr. Vernon's response and I appreciate her willingness to provide an answer to this very complex question by my reader. You can send your own questions to Dr. Mary C. Vernon anytime by visiting her "Ask Dr. Vernon" blog anytime. She may feature the answer to your question in a future post, so give it a try!

As always, I am happy to field your question about livin' la vida low-carb anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Of course, with over 1650 blog posts, it is possible I have already blogged about the issue you are concerned about (most of the time I have). If you do a Google search of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" and then the subject matter of your question, then most of the time you'll find my columns. If not, then give me a shout, okeydokey! SEE YA!

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 37: Obesity 'Experts' Need To Try Harder

I invite you to listen to Episode 37 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore." It's about what some British health "experts" came up with recently to deal with the ever-growing (literally!) problem of obesity. Check it out:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 37 [18:19m]: Play in Popup | Download

I find it quite entertaining to watch a group of people who pretend to have all the answers about a subject like obesity trying to come up with solutions that have absolutely NOTHING in the world to do with the underlying problem. One would think they would want to interview and poll people who were formerly obese and beat it to get a more accurate picture of what really works. But nooooooooo!

Nevertheless, what we find out in Episode 37 is the so-called health "experts" think they know better. HA! Dream on people! If you want to help the overweight and obese, then you need to arm them with knowledge that makes real sense, not idiotic proposals that do absolutely nothing except cause more heartache and headaches! Plus they need to know that what they are doing has already worked for other people.

Get more of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb with Jimmy Moore" by:

1. Listening at the official web site
2. Going to iTunes
3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez
4. Subscribing to the RSS feed

What do you think about those six ideas out of the UK for defeating obesity? Will they really work or are they like putting Band-aids on a gaping wound. Share your comments and let me know what you think about these proposals.

Feel free to share what has helped you stay on the straight and narrow while losing weight or what would help you get there. Speak up and be heard! Call our listener comment line at (206) 203-4192. THANK YOU for checking out "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" podcast today. Come back on Thursday for a special one-on-one interview with Andrew DiMino from CarbSmart! Don't miss it!