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Monday, December 31, 2007
A Collection Of Low-Carb News To Kick Off 2008
It's the dawn of a new year, but low-carb hasn't slowed a bit!
Waving goodbye to the end of another year simply means it's time to say hello to a new beginning as the calendar year turns over yet again. While 2007 was indeed a year to remember, I'm so looking forward to 2008 and all that awaits people who are contemplating, in the midst of, or head over heels about the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle.
Good things are happening all the time and it is always a pleasure to share with you the very latest in the wonderful world of livin' la vida low-carb. My commitment to you is to keep doing this in the new year so you'll always stay ahead of the game. In fact, I'm happy to share with you a collection of positive low-carb news right now to help kick off your 2008 the right way. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
I've shared with you many times over the past few years how researchers are beginning to see an unmistakable connection between the prevalence and growth of cancer tied to the existence of high levels of insulin in the body. Most notably was this Time magazine article on German researchers using a high-fat, low-carb diet to combat cancer in the most dire of patients with astounding results.
Now researchers out of Yale University have found that women with high levels of insulin in their body are likely to develop breast cancer. Although the lead researcher Dr. Melinda Irwin recommends "exercise and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat," what they need more than anything is a sugar-free, low-carb diet rich in healthy amounts of fat, including saturated fat, to combat and prevent this disease.
The problem I have always had with generalized recommendations from people like Dr. Irwin who say we should "eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with a low-fat diet" is that it is not backed up by the latest published research and in my opinion is simply a copout for providing guidance about which foods are better. Not all vegetables are good for you (potatoes and other starchy ones especially) and neither are all fruits (bananas alone have 29g carbohydrate in them!).
It's nice to see the research is finally showing the detrimental role that insulin is doing to our health brought on by a high-carb diet, but it's high time we start matching up our dietary recommendations to adequately take on these health challenges properly. Share your comments and concerns with Dr. Melinda Irwin about her study by e-mailing her at melinda.irwin@yale.edu.
This Atkins book co-written by Dr. Stuart Trager and Collette Heimowitz
I've been reading through this "new" Atkins diet book and the overriding message that I am seeing is that there are different levels of carbohydrate tolerance for each individual and this book will help guide you regardless of the amount of carbs your body will permit you to eat. There are menus for varying levels of carbohydrate intake from 20g a day to 80g a day, so you never have to guess about what to eat.
Dr. Trager is a fitness expert who uses his experiences in Ironman competitions and implementing a low-carbohydrate nutritional approach to help others reach their weight loss goals. I've blogged about him previously in this blog post and he devotes a major portion of the book on specific exercises you can do to go along with your Atkins diet.
As for Collette Heimowitz, I've interviewed her at my blog before talking about the continuing role of Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. in the realm of diet, health, and nutrition. She has been a long-time supporter of livin' la vida low-carb sharing with others all the research and data supporting low-carb living.
I will likely be sharing a book review of The All-New Atkins Advantage as well as some possible giveaways real soon, so keep reading the blog for those updates! This looks to be a good book for anyone needing a little bit of extra hand-holding as you begin the low-carb lifestyle.
A few weeks ago, my wife Christine and I shared with you some great low-carb gift ideas to share with people who are livin' la vida low-carb on special occasions like birthdays, Christmas, and other such events involving presents. One of those products I told you about was something called the Cal-Carb Clicker which allows you to keep track of your calories, carbohydrates, and water intake all in one device that's super-easy to use.
Well, this little gadget is gonna hit the big time on New Year's Eve as the clock strikes midnight to head into 2008 because it will be featured for the first time ever on the QVC television shopping network. If you are up late watching the ball drop in Times Square, then be sure to switch over to QVC to watch Sandy Martucci, one of the two sisters who invented this gizmo, talk about it sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. This thing is expected to blow the doors off of QVC and it's exciting that one of the things it measures is carbohydrate intake. AMAZING!!!
If the Cal-Carb Clicker does as well as QVC expects selling at around $12, then they will keep offering it as part of their regular programming. This is excellent news because more and more people are discovering the importance of carb control and this tool will help them keep better track of it. And that's a VERY good thing! :)
As much as all the evidence keeps pointing to low-carb as being one of the healthiest ways you could possibly eat, I have come to the conclusion that there will ALWAYS be somebody out there who thinks the sky is green. When it comes to the alleged healthiness of a high-carb diet, this guys takes the cake (both figuratively AND literally!).
Joining in on the lunacy are researchers from Arizona State University who put out this damning press release against low-carb diets recently that claims (among many things) ketosis from a low-carb ketogenic diet will kill you, your bones will dry up and crumble like a cookie, and your LDL cholesterol will go up so high your arteries will explode! Okay, maybe it wasn't filled with that much hyperbole, but it might as well have since all of those flimsy excuses are the same ones we've heard over and over again for years.
What do they recommend instead? Eating a more "moderate" level of around 120g of carbohydrates daily as a STARTING POINT and much more than that if you even dare try to exercise a little. They say your body needs carbs but we know better don't we? It's called gluconeogenesis and is a very natural part of human physiology and metabolism.
These pompous, self-proclaimed researchers--Carol Johnston and Pamela Swan--need to get off their high horse every once in a while to start living in the real world like the rest of us rather than the fantasy land of higher academia! I'm sure they'd LOVE to hear from YOU, so feel free to e-mail them at carol.johnston@asu.edu and PSwan@asu.edu.
If you haven't been to the "Nutrition Data" blog yet, then you are doing yourself a huge disservice because they offer some really fantastic information about diet, health, and nutrition. And they also are quite the fans of livin' la vida low-carb, too. In this recent post about dietary dogma against low-carb diets, an excellent response was provided by Monica Reinagel for people confused about how to discern the good information from the bad as it relates to low-carb studies that seem to contradict themselves (as will frequently happen when the zealots release their biased research while genuine studies show the truth).
I especially liked Monica's four tips about what to do for living healthy:
1. Do what works...If a low-carb diet is the only way for you to do it, then the possible risks are probably justified.
2. Consider your health history. If you are diabetic or have metabolic syndrome and have weight to lose, a lower-carb diet may be a better choice.
3. Monitor your risk factors. Regardless of which dietary dogma you ascribe to, have your cholesterol, triglycerides, and inflammation markers (CRP) tested on an annual or bi-annual basis.
4. Don't over-simplify...A diet rich in low-glycemic carbs like vegetables and legumes is not going to have the same negative effects as a diet high in high-glycemic carbs like rice cakes and white bread.
See what I mean...don't you LOVE it when you find someone of like mind? In 2008, make it a point to visit The ND Blog early and often! And let Monica hear from you about what you think of her site by e-mailing her at feedback@nutritiondata.com.
Speaking of this fabulous web site, I just had to share with you about a recent poll conducted by NutritionData.com that simply asked the question, "What motivates you to eat healthier?" Wanna know what the surprising results were depending on what part of the United States you live in? Check this out:
One-third of Americans want to look good (33.3%) and just under a third want to feel better. But the results of the poll showed that Americans have different motivations for eating healthier based on where they live.
- Americans living in the Heartland States want to change their diets to lower their risk of diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer
- People living on the East Coast of the U.S. eat healthier in the hopes that they will live longer
- People in the South and on the West Coast try to eat better in order to lose weight and/or look good
- Americans on the West Coast change their diets for the better so that they will have more energy
What do you think about this? Is it true based on where YOU live? This should be a lively discussion in the comments section. :D
Have you been looking for a page on the Internet that would accurately describe what the low-carb lifestyle is REALLY all about, explain in simple terms what makes this way of eating so effective, and put it in language we can all understand? Well, look no further than "Why Low-Carb Diets Work" by author Adam Khan. He did a yeoman's job of breaking it down in digestible chunks for virtually anyone to grasp the basic concepts of livin' la vida low-carb. Whether you are a low-carb expert or a novice, this one's WELL worth the read!
Lead researcher Dr. Kelvin Yamada, professor of Neurology at the St. Louis, MO-based Washington University School of Medicine, and his team of researchers found that the key to helping people with epilepsy the release of leptin brought about as a result of a ketogenic low-carb diet. The science is a bit complicated to follow, but the bottom line is livin' la vida low-carb was shown to help reduce the occurrence of seizures in laboratory rats.
One of the greatest low-carb resources on the Internet is the About.com Low-Carb Diets page from Laura Dolson. She works tirelessly to provide accurate, informative, and professional information regarding anything and everything that has to do with the low-carb lifestyle. I wanna be like Laura when I grow up! :)
Recently, Laura shared a post entitled "Seven Steps to Greater Carb Control" that is essential reading for anyone who thinks livin' la vida low-carb is an impossibility for them. It's amazing how making some very minor changes in your current habits can reap huge rewards in both your weight and health management. I know from talking to Laura that health is a HUGE part of everything she does, so take some advice from someone who has been there and cares.
Now that the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has given the green light to low-carb for diabetics, it will be very interesting to see how many amazing stories of blood sugar control that start happening for people who will try this for perhaps the first time as a means for treating their diabetes. While the ADA is focused on the weight loss aspect of livin' la vida low-carb, it's what will happen as insulin production slows for Type 2 diabetics that will be the really fun thing to watch for.
Here's a quick excerpt, but be sure to read the whole column:
"I essentially eliminated refined carbs, such as white bread, white potatoes, rice, pasta, sweets, muffins, and starchy veggies. The result? My sugars indeed dropped. They were consistently lower, and my insulin doses dropped. Maybe best of all, I was no longer chasing high blood sugars - you know, the ones that come from refined carbs, where you just can't seem to knock them down all day. My Lantus dose went from 20 to 12.5 units, and my pre-meal Humalog was all but cut in half. The results were so dramatic and made my life so much easier that I never went back to my old ways."
Riva's story is merely the first in a long line of successes that are to come now the the ADA has given recognition and credence to the healthy low-carb lifestyle. If you have an amazing story you'd like to share about how low-carb has helped you control your diabetes, then please feel free to send it to me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. It's important for the ADA and other health entities like them to know that real people are getting healthy eating this way. THANKS for sharing!
I had the privilege of interviewing one of the most brilliant low-carb researchers in the world today in June 2006--Dr. Richard Feinman from the Brooklyn, NY-based SUNY Downstate. He told me in that interview that he believed the ADA was close to coming out in support of livin' la vida low-carb and 18 months later he was right!
As a strong advocate of the metabolic science behind low-carb living, we have seen Dr. Feinman challenge the status quo and now he's at it again on the popular diabetes and health web site called dLife.
In a guest column called "What if Saturated Fat is Not the Problem?" he shares about some of the latest research behind saturated fat to reveal it's not the public health menace we've all been led to believe. He notes this study from University of Connecticut researcher Dr. Jeff Volek that found a diet low in saturated fat actually increases saturated fat in the blood compared to a diet high in saturated fat. Counterintuitive? You betcha, but that's what the data shows.
Here's a taste of classic Feinman at his best:
"Carbohydrate, through its effect on insulin, is the key player. Insulin not only sweeps up glucose from the blood but it also plays air traffic controller, making the call as to whether that glucose is turned into fat or is used for energy. Most importantly, insulin determines what happens to dietary fat — whether it gets stored or oxidized for fuel. In fact, insulin has so much control over how dietary fat is metabolized that when levels of fat are measured in the blood, they are not strongly associated with a person's diet. In other words, one person who has a high intake of saturated fat may turn out to have a similar ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat in the blood as someone who consumes very little saturated fat."
There's plenty more nuggets of truth to chew on in Dr. Feinman's column, so read the entire thing, print it out, and give it to your doctor and anyone else whose health you care about. This is a subject that we've only just begun to scratch the surface on and will be at the center of debate in the months and years to come.
We often hear from all those so-called "experts" who tell us we need to create a calorie deficit in order to manage our weight. But those of us who consume a high-fat, low-carb diet with no regard for calories have always believed that theory was bogus--but we didn't really have any way to back it up other than our own personal experiences.
Allow me to introduce you to a Wisconsin man named Jeff. Over the course of 30 days during the entire month of December, he has conducted an experiment on his own body a la what Morgan Spurlock did in his Super Size Me movie. Jeff attempted to eat as many calories as he possibly could on his 169-pound frame to prove you can maintain your weight as long as you keep your carbohydrates reduced.
Check out his daily log of calories consumed and a list of the foods he ate to average a whopping 3822 calories for thirty days in a row! His high day was on Day 5 when he hit 4620 calories and his low day was on Day 30 when he only got to 2998--three-fourths of which was FAT! WOW! You go Jeff!!!
Conventional wisdom regarding calories would say that Jeff should have gained close to 14 pounds on this diet of his. But guess what? He didn't gain 14 pounds. He didn't even gain 10 pounds or even 5 pounds. The shocking result--HE MAINTAINED HIS WEIGHT!!! Incredible! I'd love to interview Jeff about his little experiment if someone who knows him will have him e-mail me. THANKS!
A friend of mine pointed me to a rather fascinating interview with Dr. Walter Willett, a nutrition expert from the Harvard School of Public Health. While I've both praised and been critical of Dr. Willett at my blog, I'm pleased to share this interview conducted by PBS and their "Frontline" program with you because it has some good information from this leading American health expert on a variety of subjects.
Yes, he still subscribes to the Ancel Keys theory regarding fat causing obesity among other things, there are moments during the interview that Dr. Willett comes to the defense of fat consumption and livin' la vida low-carb. Here are some of my favorite parts:
"The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity." ********** "The evidence that we accrued really suggested not only that the type of advice that people were getting was not useful, but it actually could be dangerous, because some people were eliminating the very healthy types of fat that actually reduce heart disease rates." ********** "The thinking in nutrition about carbohydrates really had broken them down into two classes: sugars and so-called complex carbohydrates, which are mostly starches. The idea has been pushed that all forms of so-called complex carbohydrates are really the poster child of nutrients, and we should be eating them in large amounts. That's what the pyramid tells us to do. But in fact, these kinds of starches -- white bread, white rice, potatoes -- are starches that are very rapidly converted to glucose, really pure sugar, and almost instantly absorbed into the bloodstream. And these are the kinds of carbohydrates that we really should be minimizing in our diets." ********** "Actually, careful studies have shown, demonstrated that you get a bigger rise in blood sugar after eating potatoes, a baked potato, say, than you do from eating pure table sugar. Really." ********** "First of all, when the blood sugar goes skyrocketing up, the body wants to bring it back down. So our pancreas pumps out a big blast of insulin, and as a result, the blood sugar comes crashing down rapidly. In fact, in many people, after three and four hours, it overshoots and actually become a little hypoglycemic, and that rapid crashing down of blood glucose and insulin stimulates hunger. That would be no problem, except that it's often all too easy to go in the refrigerator or find a snack, and if we do that frequently throughout the day, that can add up to too many calories over weeks and months and years, and contribute to obesity.
Second, these high rises in blood glucose and insulin have a bad metabolic effect on the blood cholesterol fractions. Specifically the HDL, the good cholesterol, is driven down, and triglycerides, another type of fat in the blood that leads to heart attacks, goes up.
Third, after many years of demand for high amounts of insulin, the pancreas tends to give out. And at that point in time, we've got type 2 diabetes." ********** "Interestingly, in traditional Asian societies, people were very lean, very active, and therefore had low insulin resistance. They could eat large amounts of rice, even white rice, in the diet and have low heart attack rates and have low rates of type 2 diabetes. But if you take that same person, and they [now] may be living in Beijing and driving a car and watching a television, and they put on a few pounds, they're going to have much more insulin resistance. So if you take that same diet, high in carbohydrate and white rice, they will have a much worse metabolic response and much higher rates of type 2 diabetes." ********** "If you're overweight and living in the United States, and you go to a hospital and see a dietician, almost for sure, you're going to be put on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet." ********** "Dr. Atkins was saying as much as 30 years ago, that if we reduce our carbohydrate intake to quite low levels, that will make it easier to control our caloric intake and thus promote weight loss. As it turns out, there is a strong element of truth in that. A number of studies in the last year have looked in a very careful way, comparing low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets with reduced-carbohydrate diets, and in general people have done better on the reduced-carbohydrate diets in terms of their weight."
This was one incredible interview and I hope you take the time to read it all for yourself! While Dr. Willett is certainly no low-carb champion, he at least understands the mechanism behind why it works for those of us who choose it to manage our weight and health. This is something more health experts should get in the habit of doing.
Got some low-carb news you wanna share with me? I'm always happy to hear from my readers, so don't hesitate to e-mail me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.
The great low-carb news certainly didn't stop in 2007
The end of another year is upon us and there's so much that happened in 2007 for people who support the healthy and effective low-carb lifestyle. I'm privileged to be on the front row witnessing a rebirth in the popularity of livin' la vida low-carb and it is my belief that things will only get brighter and better in 2008.
When I blogged just one year ago that 2007 would be the "comeback year" for low-carb, little did I realize just how prophetic that statement of the revival of the controlled-carbohydrate nutritional approach would be. Despite the continued ignorance by much of the mainstream media and the so-called health "experts" who claim to know it all regarding diet, health, and nutrition, people are discovering there's more to this low-carb thing than they ever realized before. This awakening to the truth will continue to take place as people take control and responsibility for their own health perhaps for the first time ever.
You can't really talk about the year that was 2007 without mentioning a few other notable events that took place to help shape and restore the positive image of low-carb living in our culture, including these 25 top headlines:
While 2007 was indeed a fabulous year, I am confident the best days for low-carb advocates are still ahead of us in 2008 and beyond. Our job is to just keep enjoying our way of eating, sharing with our doctors about our health improvements, telling friends and family how you've been able to lose weight through this proven nutritional approach, and being the shining examples of how low-carb has changed your life forever!
As long as we remain confident that what we have discovered for ourselves is healthy and effective, then there's no reason why the resurgence and rebirth of livin' la vida low-carb will end in 2007. This party's only just begun, baby! I'm looking forward to yet another great year in 2008 and sharing it with you here on a daily basis as we keep educating, encouraging and inspiring others to start making lifestyle changes that will work for them. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
If you ever need to contact me for any reason, then I'm always happy to hear from you and respond appropriately. E-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Let's keep working together to change lives, make 'em better than they've ever been before, and then spread the word to everyone we come into contact with. The world can't help but hear us roar if we do that!
Everybody seems to love my new raspberry dark chocolate bars!
When I set out to create my own low-carb chocolate bar earlier this year, my purpose was to try to make a very high-quality product that people will love and enjoy as much as they would sugary chocolate except without all the blood sugar-spiking high fructose corn syrup and sugar that usually accompanies it. I'm very pleased with the final product that is now called "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Bar" and available for purchase at the online low-carb retail store CarbSmart.com where they quickly vaulted to the top of the bestseller list!
You can also pick up decoratively-packaged 12-packs of my new raspberry dark chocolate bars at Amazon.com and even leave some feedback about what you think about them there. I'd be grateful for your reviews to share with others how fantastic you think my chocolate is. At least that seems to be the consensus among so many of you who have written to me so far. Check out these actual comments from people:
I got the candy bars - and hot damn, it is actually a low-carb product I'd actually eat now and then! It is way good Jimmy! I do hope it sells well! ********** I'm also a big fan of dark chocolate with raspberry. I think the coconut oil is a nice touch, too, and I'm sure it'll make the bar very creamy. I'd love to share some of these bars with my mom and 13-year-old sister too, as I just got them started on livin' la vida low-carb (woo hoo!)! ********** Congratulations on having your own low-carb candy bar! I think it's going to be a winner. Chocoperfection bars are great on their own, and even better when used as the base for other candies. ********** I really like ChocoPerfection dark chocolate bars and I LOVE chocolate and raspberries. YUMM! I order the dark chocolate bars, then hide them from my low carbing husband. Thanks again for informing the low-carb community of another good and good for you product. ********** Way to go on the new product. It is always nice to know that there are choices for people livin' la vida low-carb. ********** I am a chocolate lover and I have not had any chocolate since August. I have been on Atkins since July and I have not cheated at all. I have lost over 80 pounds so far and I will keep going thanks to your chocolate bars. ********** Wonderful! I love dark chocolate and raspberry--together they are heavenly. I appreciate all your information on your blog as well as the videos. ********** Raspberry and chocolate are one of my favorites, I even love coconut oil, but never thought of putting all three together. Sounds like a fabulously delicious idea, and I bet they must be for you to be putting the Livin' La Vida Low-Carb name on it. I wish you well, and hope you sell millions. ********** I'm really not missing much of anything on this way of eating but I do love some GOOD chocolate now and then. I have not tried any low carb chocolate bars because of the sugar alcohols in them. I'm happy to give yours a try! ********** I love chocolate and am thrilled with the idea that I won’t have to give it up. Good for you for getting your own favorite bar made to your specifications. I, too, have bad body reactions to some of the stuff using malitol, etc. so it will be a pleasure to give yours a try.
WOW, thanks for all the GREAT feedback everyone! I'm so glad you enjoy this new bar and it's a thrill to finally have it available for you to enjoy.
A few of my fellow bloggers have gotten into the act sharing their impressions of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Bar" already:
"The Jimmy Moore Livin' La Vida Low-Carb bar is a chocoholic’s dream come true. The same wonderful, deep dark chocolate on the outside as the dark ChocoPerfection™ bars, but with a surprise on the inside—a soft, moist, raspberry-flavored, truffle center."
"I'm so happy to announce that Jimmy Moore's new Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bar, by ChocoPerfection, is an absolute hit! His idea, spurred on by his love for the combination of these two flavors, and his lack of love for sugar alcohols, turned out to be what I believe will most assuredly be one of ChocoPerfection's most popular items...One of the first things you notice when you open the wrapper is the smell of raspberry. When you take a bite you enjoy a delightfully rich and smooth dark chocolate with that touch of raspberry that makes this bar stand out from so many others."
"It smells super sweet and suffused with raspberry, not unlike Boehm's chocolate shop used to smell when I was little. Smells like chocolate candy...Oh my, this is really sweet, but with the inclusion of the raspberry it works so very well...As a raspberry chocolate candy-lovin' fiend's treat, this just rocks my happy world. Ohhh, I am having serious joy. There's enough chocolate power accompanying the berry flavor that I feel like doing a little dance. I've missed raspberry chocolate so! I actually think this is every bit as much fun as Godiva's dark raspberry--and this is healthy...for a low-carbing chocolate lover seeking a sweet treat? I give it an A!"
Golly ya'll, I'm blushing now! THANKS for those enthusiastic reviews and I welcome anyone else who wants to write one to send it to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Bar" will soon be available from the ChocoPerfection web site and at the online health food retailer Netrition in early 2008.
If you'd like to carry this bar in your store, then please contact Mary Jo Kringas via e-mail at customerservice@lowcarbspecialties.com or by calling her toll-free at 1-800-332-1773. She'd be happy to stock you up with this delicious and nutritious new low-carb raspberry dark chocolate bar!
Has the American Diabetes Association endorsed the Atkins diet?
We've heard a growing undercurrent of rumblings over the past month or so that the all-powerful American Diabetes Association (ADA) is FINALLY beginning to consider giving credence to low-carb diets as a means for diabetics to control their health. Much anticipation has been steadily building among supporters of livin' la vida low-carb that perhaps maybe, just maybe, a major breakthrough could be happening within one of the most influential health institutions in the United States upon the release of their new dietary recommendations scheduled for Friday, December 28, 2007.
First to the good news. After years of failing to even acknowledge that low-carb diets like Atkins were an option for people with diabetes to consider, the ADA released their 2008 Clinical Practice Recommendations used by diabetes health providers in helping their patients adequately treat their disease and stated that low-carb diets are now indeed a strategic method for producing weight loss. This comes after years of pushing a monopolistic high-carb, low-fat diet as the ONLY nutritional approach for diabetics to follow in order to control their weight and health despite the fact that carbohydrates have been known to raise blood sugar levels and spike insulin production--two things you try to avoid when treating diabetes.
Now, as I suggested earlier this year, low-carb diets will be promoted alongside low-fat ones to give people a choice about which one will work best for them. The one-size-fits-all mode of thinking within the ADA is now history and now diabetics who have not yet been exposed to the joy of the low-carb lifestyle could very well find this way of eating suits them perfectly.
This is pretty huge news not just for diabetics, but for anyone who needed to know that low-carb is not the dangerous "fad" diet that it has been made out to be! While the preponderance of the evidence from the research community has continued to pour in over the past few years in support of controlled-carbohydrate diets (we'll examine some of it in just a moment), it's a major announcement that a group like the ADA would step outside the conventional wisdom of the day and make these kinds of changes within the language of their recommendations--much to the chagrin of the other self-appointed dietary gods telling us how to eat for our health.
Don't you know the powers that be over at the American Medical Association (AMA), American Heart Association (AHA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have got to be beside themselves today because the ADA has basically chopped off the legs on their crumbling low-fat diet scheme that has lasted untouched for the past three decades? If a health organization like the ADA gives ANY credence to livin' la vida low-carb, then it forces the hand of those other groups to follow suit in like manner.
If the AMA, AHA, FDA, and USDA do not fall into line with these same recommendations themselves, then the American people will begin to question exactly who is lying to them. As long as they were all on the same page touting the same old low-fat mantra, then everything was hunky dory and the bamboozle could continue. But obesity has gotten worse, Type 2 diabetes is way out of control, and preventable disease is all around us despite the heavy promotion of the great and mighty low-fat diet.
I want to publicly applaud the ADA for being the first to break ranks with the establishment and realizing that the health of diabetics is much more important than preserving a failing dietary philosophy that has been a decisive abomination for the vast majority of people who have tried it. The time is ripe as we enter a new year for another alternative to be given an opportunity and low-carb fits the bill perfectly.
But...
As much as I'd like to be overjoyed by the ADA's decision to add low-carb diets to their recommendations for diabetics, I cannot. Why? Because rather than looking at all the studies that have come out, especially in the past year or so, showing the vast improvements in insulin control, A1c levels, blood sugar stabilization, lipid profile, and other key health indicators with a low-carb diet, the ADA has made this change based solely on weight loss over the short term.
They have taken the very small handful of studies showing low-carb is as effective as low-fat for shedding pounds over a one-year span like this one published in JAMA out of Stanford University in March 2007. And because some people can stick with a low-carb diet better than they can a low-fat one (AMEN!), the ADA says diabetics should pick the one that suits them best to bring about the same weight loss result. Sounds logical, right? Not exactly because they still don't acknowledge an important part of livin' la vida low-carb--the health improvements that happen exclusive of weight loss.
Wanna see some of these studies for yourself? Check them out:
This doesn't even count all the research that shows how unhealthy eating the traditional high-carb, low-fat diet can be for your health. Here are just a few examples of this:
There's plenty more research I could present in favor of low-carb diets for improving health as well as how high-carb, low-fat diets can be detrimental to your health. But it's out there for anyone willing to open their eyes and see it. Livin' la vida low-carb is about so much more than just weight loss. It is indeed the healthiest way to eat which is my primary reason for supporting it today.
Yes, I lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet and it has done a wonderful job of helping me maintain that triple-digit weight loss for the past four years. But more than that, my health did a complete turnaround and I shudder to think what it would look like today had I not started on the low-carb lifestyle. Heart attack, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, or even death was probably in the cards for me and low-carb REVERSED that trend completely. I'm healthy and that's all that matters!
And for people who already have diabetes, livin' la vida low-carb gives them a chance to not only shed a few pounds but to find a diet that would allow them to control their blood sugars and insulin levels naturally with little to no use of diabetes drugs or insulin. Why would you want to continue taking drugs and insulin when you could quite possibly eliminate them from your life by eating a low-carb diet? Why indeed!
Albright supports low-carb for weight loss, not health
Dr. Ann Albright, president of Health Care & Education at the ADA and a Type 1 diabetic herself, said they now realize that people need "realistic ways to lose weight" and livin' la vida low-carb is certainly part of that equation.
"The evidence is clear that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie restricted diets result in similar weight loss at one year. We’re not endorsing either of these weight-loss plans over any other method of losing weight," she said in a statement. "What we want health care providers to know is that it’s important for patients to choose a plan that works for them, and that the health care team support their patients’ weight loss efforts and provide appropriate monitoring of patients’ health."
All I can say is WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME! This is precisely the message I've been sharing with people for nearly three years since I've been blogging and I'm glad the ADA understands that individualization of a diet program that works is what low-carb supporters want. We're not trying to eradicate the low-fat diet if that way of eating is helping someone bring their weight and health under control. On the contrary, we've been supportive of people finding what works for them and then doing it.
If that means a low-carb diet, then so be it. There shouldn't be any judgment placed on those of us who choose to eat this way. Irresponsible comments about low-carb describing it as a "dangerous" diet that can "kill you" needs to stop because that is simply hyperbolized conjecture in a civilized discussion of proper nutrition. This open dialog begun by the ADA today needs to trickle down not just to the health care providers, but also to government officials in charge of health policy, journalists who wield influence through the use of their public platform, and all the so-called health "experts" who have been railing against livin' la vida low-carb for years.
Of course, Dr. Albright continues the scaremongering hyperbole that has run rampant about low-carb living by warning any diabetics who use a low-carb diet about their cholesterol going up. Um, hello, I'd be willing to bet that people who follow an organized low-carb plan like the Atkins diet will see their triglycerides fall below 100 and their HDL "good" cholesterol rise to above 50. It's the tell-tale sign that someone is on a low-carb diet and studies have shown these are better markers for cardiovascular health than LDL and total cholesterol.
She also adds that since "high protein diets may also worsen kidney problems," anyone with kidney disease should talk to their doctor about watching their protein intake. Again, what's this all about? How many people actually have a kidney issue, Dr. Albright, hmmmm? Obviously anyone making ANY dietary changes should talk to their doctor first to make sure there are underlying problems they need to be aware of.
And that includes going on a low-fat diet. Are we worried about people who produce high levels of insulin going on a high-carb, low-fat diet in the same manner that we show concern over people with kidney issues going on a low-carb diet? Not hardly. And yet I would argue there's more concern over the former than there is the latter, so let's keep our priorities straight, shall we?
Additionally, a low-carb diet need not be high in protein as is often claimed by those who oppose this way of eating. In fact, my own diet is very heavy in fat, even saturated fat, with nearly 65-70 percent of my calorie consumption coming from this macronutrient. Protein has been around 20-25 percent up until the past few weeks when I began resistance training and upped it to around 30-35 percent. Carbs are kept to a minimum around single digits.
Like clockwork, Dr. Albright also cautions about weight loss being sustainable by stating that "what is most important for health is keeping the weight off long-term." ABSOLUTELY, Dr. Albright, I couldn't agree with you more which is why I have chosen to continue with my low-carb diet for the past four years and counting to improve my health. It's the best thing I could have ever done for my weight and health and I'll never regret it!
Stuck in the sound bytes that seem to pervade most health leaders these days, Dr. Albright makes sure we don't forsake the need for getting proper exercise while eating a low-calorie diet.
"We also want to continue to emphasize the importance of regular physical activity, both to aid weight loss from calorie-restricted diets, and also for the positive health gains associated with exercise that are independent of weight loss," she exclaimed.
True enough, exercise is important, but there should be more specific instructions provided for what this means. What kind of physical activity, how vigorous should the workouts be, how often should you do it, how long does it need to be in order to produce results, and what ratio of cardio/resistance training is necessary? None of these are addressed by the ADA or most other health organizations when they put out these recommendations. They just assume people inherently KNOW what to do.
It's like the silly notion that we always hear from the "experts" to just eat a healthy diet and exercise. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN?! People need to be educated with specifics about what constitutes a healthy diet and what kind of exercise is beneficial for various aspects of weight and health management. Obviously anything is better than nothing, but people need to be guided about what to do.
To see the ADA's 2008 Clinical Practice Recommendations for yourself, it will be published on the Diabetes.org web site in January 2008 (or you can pay to see them right now at Diabetes Care). You can also request a copy by e-mailing the ADA at AskADA@diabetes.org or by calling 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Regardless, let them hear from you about what you think of their new recommendations for diabetics. And feel free to share your reaction to their focus on weight loss rather than health with livin' la vida low-carb. Are they still missing the boat?
"Carbohydrate restriction and the resulting control of insulin secretion is much more than weight loss," she wrote. "It’s not the weight-it’s the metabolic state your body is in, that generates disease or well-being. I suppose we'll have to wait another 5-10 years before the ADA catches up with the rest of the science."
Maybe not, Dr. Vernon, if enough of us voice our sincere concerns and opinions to the ADA, our representatives at both the state and federal level, our doctors, and in letters to the editor at our local newspapers. We have a unified voice with a message backed up by the data, but the question remains whether we will choose to use it or not. Our silence has long been interpreted that we accept what we've been told is true. Is that the message you want to be making?
Dr. David Schlundt pinpoints another obesity-related problem
We all know the health dangers associated with obesity, including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and a whole host of other health calamities. But now researchers out of Vanderbilt University have stumbled upon another unexpected side effect of the overweight and obese population that is likely being overlooked by a lot of statisticians: automobile accident injuries and death.
Lead researcher Dr. David G. Schlundt, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the Nashville, TN-based Vanderbilt University, hypothesized that the use of seat belts among the obese was likely less than their non-obese counterparts because of a variety of concerns, not the least of which is the comfort of use. He wanted to test this theory against hard data regarding BMI rates to calculate the rate of seat belt use among the increasing degrees of obesity.
Using existing data from the Center For Disease Control's 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, Dr. Schlundt and his team of researchers implemented a multivariable logistic regression to determine the seat belt use among the following groups split up according to their BMI:
These statistics were compared with the non-overweight/non-obese (BMI below 24.9) and the numbers were adjusted for age, race, gender, education, and the individual state seat belt laws. According to what Dr. Schlundt found, here was the breakdown of seat belt use among the various categories of people according to their weight:
The researchers found that women especially were discouraged from seat belt use the higher their BMI was, but they noted an increase in seat belt use the older they got, the more education they received, and in states that have a secondary seat belt law in place legally requiring it. The conclusion of Dr. Schlundt and his team was that obesity now can lead to reckless behavior when the obese get behind the wheel of an automobile.
"Lack of seat belt can be added to the list of risk factors associated with obesity," the researchers contended. "Effective preventive interventions are needed to promote seatbelt use among overweight and obese persons."
When I was researching this study, I couldn't help but think about that scene in the Eddie Murphy movie called Norbit where one of his characters named Rasputia, an ornery 300+ pound monster of a woman, was trying to get inside of her car and her stomach was so big she was pushing up against the car horn. This wouldn't be so funny if it didn't have at least an ounce of truth to it:
Yes, that makes for a good laugh scene in Hollywood, but for some people this is no laughing matter. I can remember vividly weighing over 400 pounds with the seat as far back as it could go and my stomach would STILL touch the steering wheel. I always joked with my wife Christine that I could drive with no hands and it was quite embarrassing. And let's not even talk about how I got in and out of the car (bad memories, bad memories!).
When I was morbidly obese at 400+ pounds (my BMI was around 52 at my highest weight), I absolutely HATED with a passion having to wear a seat belt. It really got to the point that I refused to wear one because it rubbed up against me in ways I couldn't tolerate and the stupid thing never seemed to fit right no matter what I did. Well duh, it's not made for a gargantuan man with a 62-inch waist wearing 5XL shirts and with a stomach looking like I was carrying quintuplets!
Then, an event happened in August 2003 that was likely the thing that set the wheels in motion for me to start livin' la vida low-carb--although that was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. This really shook me into reality about my increasing weight problem in the Fall 2003 and in hindsight I'm thankful it happened.
My wife's grandfather had died suddenly and we traveled to Virginia to be with the family for the burial. It was about an hour until the funeral when Christine remembered she left a picture she drew to place inside the casket with her grandpa at her parent's house about a mile away from her grandmother's home. The limousine was scheduled to pick us up within a few minutes, so I told Christine I'd hop in the car and go get the picture for her.
So I drove to my in-law's house, grabbed the picture, and started heading back when suddenly it happened--SCCCCCRRREEEEEECH...CRASH!!! A man driving an SUV with his wife and kids ran a stop sign and I swerved off the road to avoid hitting them. My Ford Escort then made a beeline for a tree hitting it head-on at about 35 mph. I'll never forget three memories from that day when the car came to a stop.
1. I couldn't breathe at all and was in severe pain across my chest. 2. The horn was stuck and blared loudly throughout the neighborhood. 3. I knew I would miss saying goodbye to Christine's grandpa.
As the white dust from the air bag filled the car, I immediately opened the door so I could try to get some air. I recall taking the seat belt loose (thankfully, I was wearing one that day!), putting my feet outside the door, and standing up dizzily looking for help. The man who ran the stop sign called for an ambulance and he asked me if I wanted to borrow his cell phone to call someone. I was so disoriented from the crash that I couldn't remember grandma's phone number. I leaned up against my car and finally the number came to me. I reached Christine's dad.
A neighbor who heard all the commotion came over to turn off my very annoying horn which was making my headache ten thousand times worse and my father-in-law was there in mere moments. He's a police officer, so he is familiar with coming on scenes like this quite often in his line of duty. I can remember him asking me if I needed him to stay with me, but I knew going to his father-in-law's funeral was important to him. I wasn't bleeding anywhere, but a couple of my fingers were twisted and my entire chest and stomach was one big contusion. When the ambulance arrived to pick me up, I rode to the hospital alone and told him to get to the funeral. I'm glad he did.
Within a couple of hours, I was in and out of the emergency room with some minor injuries considering the accident. But even with the seat belt on, I sustained a lasting impression on the front of my body that took several months to heal. Looking down at my big blob of blubber with my man boobs and oversized keg of a stomach every morning that literally turned every shade of black, blue, purple and green was enough to make me wanna get rid of that ugly sight forever. It would only be a matter of months before I decided to go on the Atkins diet that would change my life forever.
With around 3 million injuries and a total of 42,000 deaths that happen annually as a result of car crashes in the U.S., this new research shines a bright light on an issue that should capture the attention of anyone who is obese--currently estimated at close to 60 million Americans. Seat belts have been shown to reduce the rate of injury and/or death by as much as 50 percent, so this is a rather alarming trend that should be a major motivating factor for anyone carrying around extra pounds around their waistline to do something about it. If you can't wear the seat belt in your car, then something bad is wrong that needs addressing! And it's not your seat belt!
Many car companies make seat belt extenders that are very low-cost for their customers to use, so take advantage of that while you can. By all mean, don't let your pride get in the way of your personal safety in your automobible. More than anything, though, you really need to find a weight loss plan that will work for you and then DO IT! Whether it is low-fat, low-carb, vegan, or whatever, just choose one and GO FOR IT! Pick a plan, follow it precisely, and never give up on it. That's what will melt the pounds away and get you on the right path for your weight and health.
Even Dr. Schlundt admits there is no direct correlation found between having a higher body weight and seat belt use, but from a practical standpoint as a former 400-pounder who has been there--it's undeniable! And even WITH a seat belt, you can still get injured pretty badly just like I did. I took gobs of pain pills (and I NEVER like taking medicine of ANY kind) and couldn't get up out of a chair by myself for about two months...and that was WHILE WEARING A SEAT BELT! Losing weight wasn't just an option for me after this accident, but rather a real necessity. I wonder if I would have been as gung ho about livin' la vida low-carb had it not been for this accident. Who knows? But I'm glad it happened--er, sorta. :)
Hey everyone, I'm back from Christmas vacation now! It was a fun time to get away for a few days, spend some time with family I don't get to see but once a decade (at least that's what they think!), and enjoy the reason for the season together with my beautiful bride. We're doing okay since the news we received about our IVF and it's been an amazing experience feeling the prayers and thoughts of so many of you this past week. THANK YOU!!!
Since it is late as I am typing this with my eyes drooping hard and Thursday is my birthday (36 and counting!), I'd like to share a quick column from my friend Nicki Anderson at Reality Fitness who wrote an outstanding piece in her "Happy Monday" column this week you WON'T want to miss if you are even the least bit down and discouraged about your health and fitness. Just as I have blogged about Nicki here and here recently, you're in for a healthy dose of inspiration and the truth in love. ENJOY!
Exercise Your Healthy Living Options! By Nicki Anderson
No matter how out of shape you believe you are, there is someone that feels more out of shape.
No matter how “fat” you feel, there is always someone that feels “fatter.”
No matter how slow you need to start to get back to good health, it’s a starting point, and you can only go up from there.
No matter how frustrated you may feel with your level of fitness, you have the choice to do something about it, some do not.
Exercise is a privilege.
No matter how many times you have stopped and started an exercise program, it will eventually stick!
No matter how much you reminisce about the 6-pack you had at one time, that was then, this is now!
No matter how much you wish you had run that 5K under 30 minutes, there is someone just wishing they could have the choice to run. You have the choice to do something about it, some do not.
Exercise is a privilege.
No matter how much you wish you could have longer legs, tighter abs, hoisted rear, your genetic hand has been dealt. Why not focus on what you can do, versus what you cannot do?
No matter how many diets you’ve been on, you are not exempt from success, you just need to discover the perfect approach that works for you.
No matter how many times you have been told you “can’t,” there’s that voice inside saying, “You can”--turn the volume up on that one.
No matter what size you are now, focus on taking steps toward better health. You have the choice to start, some do not.
Exercise is a privilege.
No matter how scary it may be to step in to the gym all alone, there are 100 other people feeling the same way. Everyone has to start somewhere.
No matter how many times you wish you could go back to the weight you “once” were, you are where you are, acknowledge it and move ahead.
No matter how out of breath you are when you start to exercise, you’re doing it, lucky you! You have the choice, some do not.
Exercise is a privilege.
No matter what you may have read in magazines or seen on a commercial, there is no such thing as “fast and easy” when it comes to reclaiming your health and fitness. So, think about the fact that exercise is a choice, why not make it yours. Just remember that exercise is a privilege, not punishment for an imperfect body so make 2008 YOUR year for feeling great!!!
I'll be back blogging again real soon with some extra special surprises in store for January 2008. Stay tuned!
Nina Planck says it's time to get back to real, whole foods again
1. What a real treat we have at the “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” blog as the author of the book Real Food: What To Eat And Why is here with us today. She’s food enthusiast Nina Planck and she has quite a perspective as it relates to advocating people start eating more “real food” in their diet while shunning the processed garbage that unfortunately has become all-too-common in the modern diet.
Welcome Nina and I appreciate you spending a few moments with me and my readers. You grew up around fresh produce and quickly fell in love with farmer’s markets. How did that experience shape you into the enthusiastic lover of “real food” today? And what is “real food” as opposed to “fake food?”
My mother read Adelle Davis and she taught me that real food is whole food. We ate meat, fish, poultry, dairy, eggs, and lots of produce. The only thing that was restricted in our house was junk food, and that boiled down to white flour and sugar of all kinds. So dark chocolate was a popular dessert. So was proper ice cream, not too sweet, and homemade fruit pies, and real pancakes, made with whole grains we ground ourselves.
My definition of real food is food we’ve been eating a long time and food which is more or less farmed and prepared the way it used to be. So that means wild salmon and grass-fed beef; ecological fruit and vegetables; traditional fats and oils (animal and vegetable); raw milk cheese (not processed fake cheese or low-cholesterol cheese); and whole eggs (not egg-whites, pasteurized eggs, and powdered eggs). If you eat around the edges of the supermarket, you’ll be eating real food. Avoid the highly processed, high-profit-margin, low-nutrition foods in the center. Except, as my mother would say, the brown rice and olive oil.
2. You believe (as do I) that most people would actually enjoy eating a more traditional diet of fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meats and dairy products, and other real food if they simply tried them again and greatly reduced or eliminated their reliance on the overabundance of what I like to call “carbage” from their diet. But we are a nation full of people who wants what we want (junk food, fast food, meals in a box) and we don’t want to pay a lot of money for it.
How do you convince someone who says they can’t afford to eat a “healthy” diet with all those foods and is that a good enough excuse for not eating “real food?” Should the government or some other third party step in and help make fresh healthy foods more readily available to the lower-income consumer?
Carbage is expensive and because it contains so little nutrition, it’s worse than expensive: it’s wasteful. Why put all those empty calories in your body? The nutrients are in the foods we’ve eaten since the Stone Age: meat, fish, poultry, produce, nuts, and fats. I’m also a fan, nutritionally and personally, of real dairy foods (especially raw milk and good butter) but they’re not for everyone.
3. Many people have come to the conclusion that the best way for them to start eating better and living a healthier lifestyle is to start cutting the fat out of their diet. After all, we’ve always been told--at least over the past three decades--that dietary fat is the reason why we have become such a nation full of overweight and obese people. But you devoted an entire chapter of your book on the reasons why fat should be consumed, including saturated fat.
For my readers who may still be skeptical about why fat will not “clog” their arteries and give them a heart attack, explain why real foods like butter, coconut oil, beef, and other high-saturated fat sources are indeed safe for consumption. If fat is not the culprit in heart disease, then what are we eating that is contributing to this health problem?
The main villains of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are industrial foods: corn oil, corn syrup, white flour, and trans fats. Don’t eat them. The good guys are omega-3 fats in foods like wild cold-water fish; whole eggs; and natural fats, including saturated fats, like coconut oil, and unsaturated ones, like olive oil. If you eat traditional fats rather than industrial ones, you’ll be fine.
Many traditional cultures eat traditional fats, including saturated fats, and don’t get heart disease. That’s because natural saturated fats don’t raise cholesterol in unhealthy ways AND because they don’t eat industrial foods. Coconut oil in particular BALANCES HDL and LDL. Deficiency of B vitamins raises homocysteine, which damages arteries.
How did we get deficient in B vitamins? By eating carbage. Don’t eat white flour and sugars, which deplete the body of B vitamins. You’ll get plenty of B vitamins from meat, fish, poultry, and whole grains.
4. As Michael Pollan outlined in his amazing book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, one of the real problems we face with our food supply nowadays is the prevalence of a corn derivative in virtually every food out there. And the worst culprit of them all is sugar’s evil twin--high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which sneaks its way into just about everything the average American eats.
Why do you think people are so unconcerned about eating all these foods that are nutrient-deficient and absolutely loaded with excessive amounts of sugar and carbohydrates? Is there any practical way to get through to them and hammer home the message that they are destroying their body and their health by forgoing a “real food” diet?
There is only one way: you must eliminate all forms of industrial corn from your diet, including corn oil, corn syrup, and even corn-fed beef. Of the three, corn-fed beef is by far the healthiest food. But what a New Year’s Resolution!
For the average American, a personal ban on industrial corn would be a radical move, and, I think, not a difficult one, if your eyes are open to all the foods that ARE good for you. There are so many real foods. I’m getting hungry just thinking of one category: nuts. Brazil nuts in my pantry, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts – I love them all. On you can go, with another category of real food: cheeses, say, or fruits.
5. I'm with you on the nuts and cheeses! Your passion for “real food” is so evident as I read through the pages of your book and I’m sure it makes you wonder why more people aren’t as enthusiastic about adding fresh, whole foods to their diet as has become such a normal part of your life.
Let’s see if we can help people who sincerely want to change their diet from a typical, meal-in-a-box one into a farmer’s market-styled plan. What would you suggest they do to begin making that transition starting right now?
After the corn suggestion above, I suggested eating fresh fruits and vegetables at every single meal. People are astonished at how much produce I eat everyday and I’m too often astonished at how little they eat. It’s more important to eat fresh fruits and vegetables every single day wherever they come from than to eat local and seasonal foods. The grocery store is your friend in this respect. Even the sorriest grocery story has a produce section. Use it.
6. A major problem that people who are unfamiliar with eating “real food” may not even be aware of is the big factory-styled farms. Before I lost 180 pounds eating a healthy low-carb diet in 2004, I didn’t care how a tomato got to my supermarket’s produce section. I just wanted to be able to buy one to slice up for my cheeseburger when I wanted it.
But not all fruits and vegetables and even beef are the same, are they? Explain the difference between a mass-produced food product and one that you can purchase at a farmer’s market.
Local food tastes better. There’s no doubt about it. And there is junk-–pesticides, fungicides, waxes--on a lot of industrial produce. But there is a greater difference, for your health, between processed foods and junk foods and whole, real foods. If your only choice is supermarket broccoli and grain-fed ground beef, eat it. Don’t eat the other garbage that comes in TV dinners and canned soups. Eat simple, whole foods.
If you can afford it, spend more money on foods high up the food chain. So, in our house, we spend more on grass-fed and pastured meat and dairy and eggs, and on wild seafood. Ideally, these foods should also be free of hormones and antibiotics. We buy local fruit and vegetables because we love them and are lucky to get them near us in New York City, but in the winters, my mother raised us on the produce department at the local discount chain, Magruder's. You must eat fruit and vegetables every day.
7. We hear a lot of nutritional buzz words these days that don’t mean very much to the uninformed. They’ve become such marketing slogans for food manufacturers that they are almost rendered useless in the modern vernacular since nobody really knows what they mean. Perhaps you can help clearly define what “organic,” “healthy whole grains,” and “grass-fed” means for my readers. Are there any other popular labels that you feel have become too convoluted, too?
Organic is defined by US law and it means the food was produced without chemicals, nitrogen fertilizer, irradiation, and genetic modification. Organic food is certainly a better choice, a cleaner choice, than industrial food.
Grass-fed is not defined, but it means, generally, that the beef or dairy cattle, goat, or sheep was raised on its God-given diet of grass, not grain. Many grass farmers feed some grain, so you’ll need to ask if you want 100% grass-fed.
Whole grains should mean the whole grain is there: bran, fiber, germ, and starch. Don’t be fooled by "wheat flour." It must say 100% whole wheat or whole rye to be whole grain.
8. I blog about these issues all the time, but we seem to have an ever-increasing problem with people becoming overweight and obese, getting diabetes, and putting their health at risk with such calamities as heart disease, stroke, and cancer, among others. All of this seems to coincide eerily with the nationalized promotion of a high-carb, low-fat diet ever since I was a child.
If there is such a rise in weight problems and disease despite the fact that our government and health organizations like the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and others have been pushing this kind of a diet, then why haven’t other nutritional alternatives such as a low-carbohydrate diet become more embraced as an alternative for those who don’t do well on the recommended low-fat regimen?
They just haven’t moved with the science. It’s clear from the Nurse’s Health Study-–heck, it’s clear from observing the population even superficially--that the high-carbohydrate, low-fat advice has led to a nation ever more fat, diabetic, and heart-diseased. The folks in the nutritional establishment will come around when the last people who believe the failing theory have died. That’s how scientific and nutritional opinion changes shape--slowly. Too slowly!
9. One of the world’s most perfect foods in my opinion is eggs. They are chock full of some of the healthiest ingredients in the world--including protein, antioxidants, omega-3s and other essential nutrients. And yet we’ve been sternly warned against consuming them because of their high cholesterol content no thanks to the erroneous hypothesis forwarded by Ancel Keys regarding cholesterol.
Like the “fat will clog your arteries” concerns that many people have, how do you overcome the perception that a high-cholesterol diet is unhealthy? Why shouldn’t people worry about their LDL and total cholesterol so much that they’ll take a statin drug like Lipitor or Crestor to artificially lower it?
Eggs are a perfect food. They contain excellent protein, digestible fats, and many nutrients for eye and brain and heart. We have known for some time (1999, I think) that people who eat MORE eggs have LESS heart disease. We have known for some time that DIETARY cholesterol has little effect on BLOOD cholesterol. So there is no reason not to eat eggs.
There is a very good reason not to eat junk eggs: powdered, spray-dried eggs contain oxidized cholesterol which does clog arteries. Not natural fresh eggs. Don’t eat phony foods; eat real foods. One thing we notice about cholesterol-rich foods is that cholesterol likes to hang out with other nutrients. Thus some of the most nutritious foods are rich in cholesterol: eggs, shellfish, dairy, organ meats.
All these foods were (and are) prized by traditional cultures. That tells you something. There are many skeptics on statins and statins do have serious side effects. Read more at www.thincs.org.
10. What an honor it was to have you with us here today, Nina Planck. Your book Real Food: What To Eat And Why is absolutely amazing and I cannot recommend it highly enough to my readers interested in learning to eat better by putting more “real food” in their mouths.
It seems like an impossible task to get people to stop spending their money on “fake food” and to begin investing in “real food” for the sake of their weight and health. Do you believe a major paradigm shift could happen to make people become more conscious of their choices and to begin caring about the food they put inside of their bodies? And what final recommendations would you make for people wanting to adopt your "real food" philosophy?
Remember this: the information is there for anyone to read--nutrition counselors, government advice-givers, individuals. And the carbage and other junk food is also there for everyone to eat. You can’t change that. You can only change yourself. Start with your fridge.
If you’re doing all this already, you’re probably at your natural weight, so relax. Here are a few final tips I've learned along the way:
• Eat breakfast every day • Get a lot more sleep • Exercise (take the stairs & walk everywhere) • Take smaller portions • Eat real meat, poultry or fish every day (think deck of cards) • Eat whole dairy foods as often as you like • Eat real eggs as often as you like • Eat a lot of vegetables at every meal (more than you think) • Eat as many whole grains as you need (the size of your fist) • Eat nuts, chocolate & coconut (if you like them) • Eat a lot of omega-3 fats from wild fish (daily flaxseed oil for vegetarians) • Don’t eat industrial vegetable oils • Reduce or eliminate white flour, white rice & sugar • Don’t eat junk food, diet food, or foods engineered to be low-fat
Learn more about Nina Planck and her Real Food concepts by visiting NinaPlanck.com. And be sure to sign up for her newsletter to stay current on all the latest news and information about living healthy with "real food."
Dana Carpender still reigns supreme in the low-carb community
When you stop and think about who the most influential voices in the low-carb community are in the mainstream of public health, only a handful of people come to mind. I mean people who have been out there in the trenches working to help change people's lives for the better with the positive and healthy message of low-carb living in the midst of a world that still believe the low-fat diet hung the moon.
Who pops in your mind on a short list of low-carb champions like this?
Immediately, I think of people like Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades from Protein Power who are some of the strongest and most consistent voices for livin' la vida low-carb on the planet. And Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of Living The Low-Carb Life and The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, who is dedicated to getting people to eating less sugar and refined carbohydrates for the sake of their weight and health.
Then, earlier this year there was a fabulous study released by researchers from Stanford University and published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that found the Atkins diet was best for weight loss and health improvements among a list of popular diets, including the Zone diet, a high-carb, low-fat diet called LEARN, and the ultra-low-fat Ornish diet. The results of this study precipitated a unique discussion presented by Revolution Health which I shared on my podcast show in two parts here and here. Wanna hear classic Dana Carpender? Just take a listen to that audio and you'll see exactly what I mean!
For the sake of those who have never heard of her, Christine and I share about all of Dana's bestselling book in Episode 19 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube." Seriously, anyone who is living the low-carb lifestyle should be aware of who Dana Carpender is and they'll be a lot more familiar with her contributions to the low-carb community after watching our latest video. And pay a visit to her web site LowCarbohydrate.net sometime for more from Dana!
Allow me to introduce you to the one, the only Dana Carpender:
There were a bunch of books listed on that video, so here's a link to each:
Coming up in January, I'm going to give you a chance to win your very own Dana Carpender library with all of the books I featured in Episode 19. Additionally, I'll be featuring my review of each of these books, although I've already written a review for Every Calorie Counts. That's all coming up really soon, so keep reading for more information about this!
The winner of the THREE DOZEN EGGLAND'S BEST EGGS from the contest on Episode 17 was announced, so be sure to tune in to see if that winner was YOU! :) And leave your comments for Episode 19 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" to share what you think about Dana Carpender and her dazzling set of books to help you on your low-carb lifestyle change.
We're building up quite a listing of YouTube videos now, so be sure to go back and watch any of them you might have missed. We work hard to make these as entertaining and informative as possible on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to diet, health, nutrition, and practical low-carb living. Subscribe to our videos e-mail us your feedback at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. It's our pleasure to serve you and we look forward to continuing our videos for you in 2008. By the way, you'll be pleased to know "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" podcast will be returning in January. WOO HOO!
