Meet Bowden, Westman, and Eberstein on 2009 low-carb cruise
A couple of weeks ago I was excited to tell you about The 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise coming up January 19-24, 2009 leaving out of Galveston, Texas on the luxurious Carnival Ecstasy ship. A group of 35 of us had a fabulous time in February this year on this exact same cruise down to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico and it was simply amazing. We met so many people and built lasting friendships with people who are passionate about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. That's why we wanna go back again in 2009.
Just in case you are wondering, yes, you CAN eat low-carb on a cruise with a little guidance and we'll have three amazing low-carb experts on board to help provide that direction for you while you enjoy some fun in the sun on your low-carb vacation getaway. That's right, there will not one, not two, but THREE BIG LOW-CARB EXPERTS on board the ship providing seminars and one-on-one sessions with the people who attend. WOO HOO!
Dr. Jonny Bowden, Dr. Eric Westman, and Jackie Eberstein have all agreed to come on board this excursion with us to share their immense wealth of knowledge and experience about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. I've blogged so much about all three of these people that I feel like they don't need any introduction. But for those of you who haven't heard of them, allow me to introduce you to them now:
DR. JONNY BOWDEN, PhD, C.N.S.
He is the author of the must-have book for anyone going on a low-carb diet entitled Living The Low-Carb Life where each of the major low-carb plans are evaluated and compared so that you can choose the one that's right for YOU! Jonny's most recent books on Fair Winds Press have been very popular as well, including 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth, and his upcoming release in June 2008 The Healthiest Meals On Earth, a cookbook featuring the healthy foods he wrote about in his first two books. This man is an incredible speaker and motivator on the subject of diet, health and weight loss as you will find out very quickly and will be a welcomed voice on this low-carb cruise.
DR. ERIC WESTMAN, MD, M.H.S.
As one of the world's leading researchers on carbohydrate-restricted diets, Dr. Westman has taken the knowledge he has observed in his study participants and is now applying what he has learned to his own patients who come to see him at his Durham, NC-based Duke Lifestyle Medicine Clinic with such serious health issues as obesity, diabetes, and worse. He is in my estimation one of the kindest men I have ever met in my life and is so very accessible with his time treating his patients like human beings rather than a statistic hurrying them through his office like some number. You'll immediately notice exactly what I'm talking about from the time you meet Dr. Westman and I'm thrilled to have him joining us on this cruise down to Mexico.
JACQUELINE EBERSTEIN, RN
The late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins was fortunate to have a nurse like Jackie Eberstein by his side for three decades as he treated patients with his world-famous low-carb nutritional approach. She really knows all the ins and outs of this way of eating so well that I consider her the foremost authority on the Atkins diet today. She was the co-author of the book Atkins Diabetes Revolution (with Dr. Mary C. Vernon) and has frequently defended the healthy low-carb lifestyle in columns and articles in the medical media. Anytime I have a question from a reader that leaves me stumped, Jackie is always there to provide her unique perspective and it is such an honor to have her join us on this special get-together on the Carnival Ecstasy.
Isn't this AWESOME?! And who knows, there may be even more low-carb experts who will be hopping on board this cruise coming up in January 2009, so what are you waiting for (you never know)? GO SIGN UP right now so you won't miss out on all the fun and excitement we're gonna have. Christine and I will be there as will Amy from "Eating Low,"Christin from "The Journey On,"Amy Dungan (Sparky's Girl) from "Healthy Low-Carb Living," and so many more. I think the best part about this year's cruise was all the NEW people I'd never met before. And most of them will be coming back again in 2009.
The original deadline for having the first $50 deposit per person was May 6th, but we have been granted a slight extension for those who have not yet signed up. If you sign up by next Wednesday, May 21, 2008, then you will still only be required to put down a $50 deposit per person or $100 a room (after May 21st, the first and second deposit will be due of $200 per person or $400 a room). If you get your first deposit in on time, then your second deposit of $150 isn't due until September 8, 2008 and then the remaining balance is due on November 6th. The total cost of this cruise is a very affordable $400 each which includes all your port charges and taxes. And the man who organized our cruise for us this year gave us a room credit of $75 that we could spend on anything we wanted on the ship. That was COOL and very unexpected!
I've been getting many e-mails from people telling me they REALLY want to go on the cruise, but they didn't know how to sign up. Here's how: it should be booked through Vacations To Go through our cruise agent Amelie Richards and you can contact her directly with any questions about the 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise by calling her toll-free 800-514-9986 ext. 7583 anytime Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm CST. Or you can e-mail her Amelie at arichards@vacationstogo.com. If you have any questions for our cruise leader, her name is Becky Regandy and she can be reached at xregandyx@yahoo.com. I appreciate all the hard work she put into this year's cruise and she's doing a superb job again for the one in 2009.
Does Ketosis Cause An Internal Rise In Body Temperature?
Low-carb burns fat, but can it lead to extra body heat?
Ooh, ooh, ooh, I feel my temperature rising Help me, I'm flaming I must be a hundred and nine Burning, burning, burning And nothing can cool me I just might turn into smoke But I feel fine
--Elvis Presley singing "Burning Love"
Somebody's turned up the heat up in here and it's gotta be that low-carb diet I'm on, right? That's what everybody does with livin' la vida low-carb when something new happens to them after starting this way of eating--they blame it on low-carb! I mocked this notion in this blog post about an earache a couple of years ago, but what if there is merit to some rather strange side effects of following a controlled-carbohydrate nutritional approach? Hmmmmmm.
This 43-year old man starting cutting his carbohydrate intake beginning in January 2008 and has lost over 25 pounds so far. WOO HOO! He has really enjoyed this new low-carb lifestyle change, but was curious about an unexpected side effect that has been plaguing him with no apparent cause. Here's what he wrote:
Hey Jimmy,
After lots of searches, I'm having trouble finding out if anyone experiences a sensation of a rise in body temperature while in ketosis. There are some days I feel like I am literally burning up (but I don't have a fever or anything). Coincidentally, usually the next day after this happens, I am down another pound. It's like the hotter I feel, the faster I lose weight.
Is this a side effect of my body burning stored fat and an increase in my metabolism? I'm having a hard time finding an answer in any literature I've read. Thanks for your time!
What an awesome question! Before I started livin' la vida low-carb weighing in at over 400 pounds, I was ALWAYS hot. HOT HOT HOT with sweaty palms and underarms all the time. I felt like I was on fire all the time. But when I went on the Atkins diet on January 1, 2004, I noticed very quickly a cooling effect happening within the first few months. At first, it was kinda weird when I wouldn't sweat anymore. I REALLY liked that because it was so incessant for most of my life.
But then when I'd shake someone's hand, I could tell my hands were much colder than everyone else. It was as if someone turned the thermostat inside my body down to extreme cold when I started livin' la vida low-carb and it still happens to me to this day especially when I drink a lot of water. And the funny thing is the water doesn't even have to be cold for this to happen. Strange, I know, but that's my experience.
So when I read this e-mail asking about getting HOTTER because of the fat-burning effects of ketosis on a low-carb diet, I didn't know what he was talking about since that wasn't anything close to what I dealt with. I had my suspicions about what may be causing it and shared those with my reader:
GREAT QUESTION! I suspect the ketosis is causing the rise in your body temperature because of the fat-burning that ensues in this state.
But rather than guessing and assuming at what the reason for this is, I decided to throw this question to a handful of my low-carb expert friends to see if they had any insights or practical experiences to share with us about this phenomenon. We'll hear from Jackie Eberstein, Dr. Jonny Bowden, and Dr. Richard Feinman with their responses.
I'm at a loss. I've never heard of nor have I experienced this one. As far as I know, there is no mention in research either that I recall. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
That's okay, Jackie! Although having worked with Dr. Robert C. Atkins for three decades treating all kinds of patients with a low-carb dietary regimen, I'm surprised something like this hasn't come up at least a few times. Interesting. Let's see what Jonny Bowden has to say.
I have never actually heard of that happening, but it absolutely passes the "smell test" to me. In fact, when you stop and think about it, this makes total sense on both an intuitive and a biological level.
I suspect what's happening is that thermogenesis is raised in the body, meaning the furnace temperature is up, fat-burning is accelerated, and that is why your reader is experiencing a temporary rise in body temperature. My guess is you are absolutely right about why this is happening.
It certainly makes sense despite my own personal experience. If you are burning fat, then that could cause an increase in heat which leads to an elevated temperature. Finally, let's talk to a biochemist who really knows his stuff--Dr. Richard Feinman from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and the co-editor of the Nutrition & Metabolism journal.
There are reports in the literature of this kind of observation by subjects in trials of high-fat diets. Little is known, however, of what controls perception of heat and the relation to food consumption.
The phenomenon of diet-induced thermogenesis or thermic effect of feeding (the old name for this was "specific dynamic action"), however, is well known and it is generally agreed that, at least under experimental conditions, consumption of 20% of protein calories, 5% of carbohydrate calories, and 3% of fat calories is "wasted" in increased heat production.
Karst H, Steiniger J, Noack R, Steglich HD: Diet-induced thermogenesis in man: thermic effects of single proteins, carbohydrates and fats depending on their energy amount. Ann Nutr Metab 1984, 28(4):245-252.
Abstract: The diet-induced thermogenesis of 12 healthy males of normal body weight was measured by means of indirect calorimetry over 6 h after test meals of 1, 2 or 4 MJ protein (white egg, gelatin, casein), carbohydrate (starch, hydrolyzed starch) or fat (sunflower oil, butter). The effect of 1 MJ protein was at least three times as large as that of an isocaloric carbohydrate supply.
In mixed meals there is little agreement because of the small number of studies and the fact that it is so complicated with other factors. For example, drinking cold water will increase heat expenditure. We certainly have the idea, supported by both experimental studies and anecdotal observations, that low-carb diets are less efficient at fat storage and that the missing energy may appear as heat. There is also the idea that the underlying mechanism can be related to ketone bodies but it would be impossible to say whether or not this is the cause in the case described by your reader.
So, the jury is still out on the question of whether ketosis brought on by a low-carb diet leads to an increase in body temperature. Has anyone else experienced this on your low-carb lifestyle? Or were you like me and started freezing when you decided to go low-carb? Share your comments about what you've experienced. Are you hot or are you not? :)
Join low-carbers on the Carnival Ecstasy in January 2008
Remember the low-carb cruise I blogged about a couple of months back? About 35 of us low-carbers spent five glorious days together making Mexican memories we'll never forget. It was a fabulous time and now YOU have the chance to go back with us in January 2009.
Scheduled to leave out of Galveston, Texas port on Monday, January 19, 2009, the 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise will set sail at 4:00pm headed to Progreso and then Cozumel before heading back to Galveston five days later. We are expecting well over 100 low-carbers to join together on the 2009 cruise and you'll be happy to know it is surprisingly affordable!
An inside cabin per person cost is only $400.19, which includes the port charges and taxes. And if you'd like an oceanview cabin, the per person price is only $460.19. When you factor in this includes a five-star dinner every night, food at your beckoning call 24 hours a day, housing with cable television and movie channels, beautiful scenery on two Mexican resort destinations, and so much more, this is quite a bargain.
But, as all the infomercials always say, "wait, there's more!"
Yep, there's an added bonus to the 2009 cruise that we didn't have for this year's event: a special guest! Sure, we all had each other to meet and greet while surfing down the Gulf of Mexico back in February, but for next year's cruise I've been able to secure a giant in the world of low-carb living to join us--DR. JONNY BOWDEN.
Low-carb author and motivational speaker Dr. Jonny Bowden
I met Jonny in person a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix, Arizona and he's super-excited about meeting all of you on this Carnival cruise next January! Check out my podcast interview with Jonny from earlier this year for a taste of the awe-inspiring message of hope and inspiration in your low-carb weight loss efforts. Jonny is dynamic and will have you stand up and cheering when you hear him speak.
If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, then the first deposit of $50 is due by May 6, 2008. Since we are all getting at least $600 a piece from the government-sponsored rebate checks that started mailing out this week, you've got this little bit of money coming your way. Then, your next deposit of $150 isn't due until another five months from now on September 8, 2008. The remaining balance is due on November 6th.
This cruise should be booked through Vacations To Go out of Houston, Texas. The cruise agent's name is Amelie Richards and you can contact her with any questions about the cruise by calling toll-free 800-514-9986 ext. 7583 anytime Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm CST. Or you can e-mail her anytime at arichards@vacationstogo.com. Or if you have any questions for the cruise leader, e-mail Becky Regandy at xregandyx@yahoo.com.
Are you gonna come cruisin' with us in 2009? Leave a comment below and let us know! I can't wait to spend some time with you next January. :)
Still On Cloud Nine After ASBP/Nutrition & Metabolism Low-Carb Conference
The 2008 ASBP scientific meeting in Phoenix, AZ was amazing!
Sitting in a room full of bariatric physicians with lecturers who sometimes sound like they're speaking a foreign language with all the science and medical jargon they spout off isn't exactly the most ideal way to spend a few days away from home. But when all of the top low-carb researchers and practitioners from North America gather in one place to share their latest findings in the world of livin' la vida low-carb, you can't help but get super-excited about what is to come in the future of diet and health as the evidence in favor of low-carb diets continues to mount. What a weekend it was!
My only regret is that I didn't have a chance to interview more people at the conference than I did. However, I did get in a few outstanding ones in my limited time--Dr. Richard Feinman, director of The Nutrition & Metabolism Society and co-Editor-In-Chief of the Open Access online journal Nutrition & Metabolism, Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades from Protein Power (see Dr. Mike's blog post about the conference by clicking here), the producer of the hit CBC-Newsworld documentary film My Big Fat Diet (which we were able to watch on Sunday morning) about a group of First Nations people who returned to their native high-fat, low-carb diet named Mary Bissell, and a 45-minute chat with the author of Good Calories, Bad Calories Gary Taubes. These and MANY more interviews for my podcast show will be coming in the next few months from various people who attended the conference, so get ready.
Speaking of Gary Taubes, it was such a pleasure meeting him in person. He's taller than I thought (he said the same thing about me) and could literally talk for hours about this unique role of carbohydrate in the obesity epidemic. You could really sense all the years he has invested in this subject has shaped his thinking about this so acutely that he is now a man on a mission. And he said it on several occasions throughout the weekend that he plans on pursuing this for as long as he has the energy and desire to do it. We need people like Gary Taubes who are unwilling to back down just because the message goes against conventional wisdom. He is certainly on the forefront of a revolution that could very well see a breaking point very soon.
I was happy to see many of my fellow low-carb friends and champions of this cause at the 2008 ASBP/Nutrition & Metabolism conference in Phoenix:
JACKIE EBERSTEIN, who worked with Dr. Atkins for three decades and is one of the most knowledgeable Atkins diet experts in the world today.
DR. JONNY BOWDEN, author of Living The Low-Carb Life and various other books on nutritional health. It was a genuine surprise to see him there and he didn't even recognize me at first when I was speaking with Dr. Jeff Volek. Jonny greeted Jeff and started to walk away when I said, "Hey Jonny, it's Jimmy Moore!" The look back on his face was priceless! :) THANKS Jonny!
CASSANDRA FORSYTHE, who described herself as "Jeff Volek's slave" (she works with him at the University of Connecticut) was there as well and we got a few minutes to chat about the future of low-carb (read her blog post about the weekend by clicking here). She is certainly one of the rising stars in low-carb research and a name you will be hearing a lot more from in the coming years long after the old-timers have since passed on. She was a lot shorter than I expected, but I'm sure she could still kick my butt! :P
It was a real pleasure meeting Melanie Vogan from Atlanta Teleproductions, Inc. who was filming various interviews with people behind the scenes in the world of low-carb and I was honored to be a part of that. Melanie and her husband snagged a whole bunch of footage from everyone to piece together a documentary about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. I'm excited about this chance to share low-carb living in such a positive manner and Melanie is just the person to do it. She's fully committed to using her talents in the video broadcasting realm to make it happen. We'll be hearing more from her in the future and I'll let you know when the documentary will be available.
The days went kinda like this: wake up, go to breakfast (they weren't the best in the world considering this was an OBESITY conference), listen to a few lectures, take a break, listen to a few lectures, a time for questions and answers, go to lunch (which weren't any better than the breakfast!), listen to a few lectures, take a break, listen to a few more lectures, ask more questions from the speakers, and then go on your own for supper where most of us hung out at the Lantana restaurant each night just to chit-chat about whatever (the supper menus were the best--check out what I ate during this trip at my menus blog). Sounds riveting, doesn't it? Actually, YES IT WAS!!! When you get to come face-to-face with all these people you blog about, this is a VERY big deal. I liken it to being at the Super Bowl (which ironically was in Phoenix this year!) for fans of livin' la vida low-carb.
It was kinda cool sitting across from Dr. Eric Westman and Dr. Mary Vernon while sitting next to Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades for supper (in fact, Dr. Mary Dan couldn't finish her steak, so I happily obliged!). Rubbing elbows and listening in to the conversations that went on was absolutely priceless. I can't wait to share some of the findings that were presented at this conference as well as my interviews because it was a fabulous time for Christine and I to get away despite the hacker who brought down my forum just before I left.
Although I didn't get to hang out with her as much, I was happy to see my friend and fellow blogger Laura Dolson from the About.com Low-Carb Diets site (you can read her comments about the Phoenix event by clicking here). We had a chance to talk briefly on Saturday night, but I would have loved to been able to talk some more. There just wasn't enough time in the weekend to fit it all in!
The weather was certainly a shock to my system going from a cool, humid climate here in South Carolina to the hot, dry climate in Arizona. On day two when I was planning on several interviews with people, I totally lost my voice. My nasal passages were like the Sahara desert and my groggy voice was only soothed after several hot lemon tea sips and constant water helped lubricate the voice box again. Whew, I hated that feeling and would never make it living in Phoenix, Arizona. But it was a fun place to visit and meet several of my readers who live there.
Dave and Kelly Damron (author of the book Tiny Toes and the blog Twin Peas) were very kind to pick us up from the airport and take us back on Sunday. I've had my nightmare experiences with cabs in New York City, so Kelly helped prevent that from happening in Phoenix. We enjoyed meeting up with them for dinner on Saturday night and talking about our failed IVF cycle experience in December. This is what Kelly dedicates herself to like I do low-carb, so it was kinda cool having someone who has been through it and survived despite great odds. Dave and Kelly both commented how well Christine and I have handled our situation and I told them it has only made us stronger as a couple. THANK YOU Kelly for all you are doing and I wish you and Dave all the best raising those little twin female munchkins. :) Hope to see you again someday.
One of my longtime blog readers Jeri Sessler met with us on Friday and we had a blast just chatting it up over lunch. Jeri is such a sweetheart and I'm glad we got to meet her and spend a few minutes enjoying each other's company. What a delightful lady! We also met a relatively new fan of the livin' la vida low-carb concept who makes her own YouTube video series called the Monkaboo Project. Monyka is a real trip! I appreciate her engaging personality and it really shines through in person just like it does in her videos. We agreed to do a little segment for her latest video that I think you'll enjoy. That was a lot of fun! ;)
All in all, it was a superb few days in Phoenix and I'd like to personally thank The American Society of Bariatric Physicians for extending an invitation to me and Christine to attend. We appreciate the privilege of coming to events like this despite having no background in medicine or nutrition. Anyone who is interested in the subject of weight loss, diet, and health needs to know about the fabulous work of ASBP as well as the Nutrition & Metabolism Society. Dr. Vernon was commenting about how the Nutrition & Metabolism portion of the week tripled from what it was in Nashville last year. This is real progress and I expect the numbers will continue to rise each year as the evidence keeps building and building in favor of low-carb dieting for weight and health management (and diabetes was a HUGE focus of many of the researchers as they see this as the primary front for legitimizing low-carb once again to the general public).
Here's my take-home message from this conference--get involved, take the passion you have for what you believe in, and make a real difference in the world. I'll be blogging more about some specific things you can do to put some grassroots feet to spread the word. Let's just say it's time to turn up the heat on Congressmen in Washington, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and anyone else who needs to listen to the low-carb message in a clear, unbiased manner. I have been inspired to begin working on a major project to help facilitate this. Stay tuned for many amazing things to come on this front!
Now it's time to get caught up on e-mails, bringing my forum back online again, and, oh yeah, SLEEP! :)
YouTube is being taken over by enthusiastic low-carbers--NIIIIIICCE!!!
When I first started blogging about the healthy low-carb lifestyle back in 2005, there weren't very many "low-carb" blogs out there at the time. But today, you'd have to be blind to miss any of the literally HUNDREDS of new ones that have popped up in just the past couple of years. Check 'em all out at my low-carb links blog.
Well, a similar trend is beginning to happen over at YouTube. My wife Christine and I started making videos in August 2007 after getting a new computer with a video camera on it and thus was born our show "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube." We've LOVED doing these videos over the past seven months, but it was kinda lonely out there sharing about low-carb living as the seemingly lone voice. In fact, that's why we decided to start this series to begin with--there was an obvious void in quality, positive content about the healthy low-carb lifestyle.
NOT ANYMORE!!!
Less than a year later, there are some absolutely incredible low-carb YouTube video bloggers out there providing their own take on this journey I call livin' la vida low-carb. Here are 21 of the very best and brightest low-carb YouTubers out there making a real impact today:
You can't mention low-carb YouTube videos and neglect to talk about Kent Altena (aka bowulf). He's the granddaddy of all the low-carb YouTubers because he was out there way back in 2006 sharing his How To Do Atkins videos that I thought were fabulous. Unfortunately, we got spoiled by all of the quality videos Kent was producing and he slacked off on them a bit last year. But in early 2008, Kent started back again and you can see his enthusiasm and passion for educating people about the Atkins diet is as strong as it ever has been. THANK YOU Kent for inspiring me and tens of thousands of others at YouTube with your phenomenal videos!
Dr. David Hite is the Health Doc and he presents information about the importance of the glycemic index as it relates to diabetes care. He recorded this brief video segment on low-carb diets and communicates in an engaging manner about health and wellness.
You have GOT to meet Cameo. She's the very cute and ever-so-quirky "Spiky Haired Girl" and is a voracious researcher about health and nutrition. Cameo TOTALLY gets it and now she's making YouTube videos about the low-carb lifestyle. WOO HOO! Her quick-witted sense of humor alone makes these videos worth watching, but the knowledge she provides on low-carb living (check out her latest one on coconut oil is more than worth the price of admission (which is FREE, by the way!). Although she's just getting started, I'm sure the "Spiky Haired Girl" will be around for quite a long time. Welcome to the fray, Cameo!
If you've been around the diet and health community for even a short time, then you have undoubtedly come across the work of a man named Dr. Joseph Mercola. The man is practically a living legend among health advocates because he shares solid, scientifically-proven research in a way that just makes good sense. And, lo and behold, he's even got his own YouTube series, too! Check out this recent video where he "Exposes The Cholesterol Myth." This is CAN'T MISS information that your body will appreciate you for!
Last year I introduced you to a brand new low-carb podcaster named Marc Sage who is now the only other active low-carb podcast on iTunes along with "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore." He has recently started adding videos to YouTube as well focusing on diet and low-carb. They are basically segments he has seen on television in the news that he is uploading so that the good news about livin' la vida low-carb can be spread. Great to have you contributing Marc!
What does a legal-based television show have to do with low-carb? Since they recently featured a segment on the Kimkins diet scam with attorney John Tiedt, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this with you. It's an amazing dissection of the ongoing Kimkins controversy and how an obese housewife from Corona, California named Heidi Diaz has gotten away with bilking millions of dollars out of unsuspecting dieters. It's quite a fascinating video to watch if you haven't seen it already!
What more could I possibly say about Dr. Jonny Bowden than I already have? This man is a walking encyclopedia of diet and health knowledge and a living example of what taking care of your body can do for you. He's such a dynamic speaker whose voice draws you in and you become mesmerized by the words he speaks both because he's entertaining to listen to and his comments are well-thought out based on the research. But there's no question this man holds true to his principles that a low-carb diet can improve health for many people. In fact, here he is talking about "the perfect diet." You gotta love that Jonny Bowden!
Speaking of Amy, there's another one I want to introduce you to if you don't already know about her. She's Amy Von from "Eating Low" and her regular low-carb YouTube video series is a big hit with people who love to try new recipes. If that's you, then Amy's your gal! With over 50 episodes in her "Eating Low with Amy" series, you'll have enough recipes to last you for the next year. ENJOY!
Follow the progress of Monyka whose nickname is "Monkaboo" as she follows the Atkins low-carb diet. She's already been on it for 12 weeks since January 2008 and is doing absolutely FANTASTIC!!! These are the kind of videos that make low-carb living compelling because it's real people applying the principles that make low-carb work with amazing results. KEEP IT UP, Monyka!
Dananananananananananananananana...FAT GRRLLLLLLLLL! That's how these ever-so-funny videos begin with the adventures of a fat girl making herself thin. Personality is certainly not lacking in this YouTube video blogger and I can't help but think she's gonna be a GREAT success by the time all is said and done. Wish her well in this journey to better health!
If you like the low-carb recipes, then you're gonna LOVE Niki (aka Oh2BFit) and her daughter Serena as the share some tasty ones that will keep you on the straight and narrow in your low-carb lifestyle. There are many precious moments between mom and daughter that are captured for all the world to see and hear on these videos. Keep pumping them out, Niki! Your 100+ pound weight loss is so incredibly inspiring, too! WAY TO GO!!!
Finally, no joke, we have a YouTube blogger named Hooty Ha Ha. Yep, that's what he calls himself and he thinks he's pretty hilarious. Just take a look at this YouTube video about the Atkins diet and seafood. Ummmmm, okay. And your point is?
If you or someone you know decides to start video blogging about livin' la vida low-carb on YouTube, then let me know about it. I'd love to check 'em out and give a quick shout out to them here at my blog. E-mail me their YouTube URL to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Making YouTube videos is very easy nowadays with inexpensive and easy-to-use video cameras like the FLIP as well as the built-in cameras on most computers. Go ahead, give it a try! We NEED more voices sharing about low-carb in an encouraging and uplifting way to continue impacting our culture for the good.
Special THANKS to all the courageous low-carb video bloggers doing their part. I appreciate you more than I could ever express and I'm proud to be a part of the growing community there on YouTube.
You all know how much of a fan I am of Dr. Jonny Bowden. At the age of 61, this man has more energy and enthusiasm for life than just about anyone else I know. He's a tireless champion of healthy living and is a proponent of reducing carbohydrate and especially sugar intake to get you there. It's one of the reasons he wrote his fabulous book Living The Low-Carb Life and why I chose him to be among my Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers of 2007.
As much as I rave about him, I've never actually met Jonny in person. His charismatic voice and charm are evident on the phone lines, but I've always wondered what it would be like to sit down and chat with him over lunch. Well, guess what? If you've never seen Dr. Jonny Bowden in person, then here's a great interview that was conducted by Kevin Gianni from Renegade Health featuring the man himself talking about health in the middle of Los Angeles traffic:
Can you see why I love this guy? He's awesome and we'll be hearing plenty more from him for many years to come. KEEP GOING STRONG, JONNY!!!
Dr. Jonny Bowden talks about the best natural health cures
Continuing my fascinating conversation with low-carb nutrition expert Dr. Jonny Bowden in Episode 114 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore", we delve deeper into his brand new book on Fair Winds Press called The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth to discuss the various conditions that are improved by using a low-carb diet. While much of the medical establishment chooses to shun livin' la vida low-carb publicly, the fact of the matter is there is no better treatment for acne, PCOS, diabetes, insulin resistance, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, cholesterol, and, of course, weight loss. Listen in as Jonny addresses each of these and explains how and why low-carb works to treat them.
Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear today's podcast:
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 114 [27:46m]: LISTEN NOW | Download
Grab your copy of this book for some healthy natural cures
Dr. Jonny Bowden has done a great service with this new book to help people who are seeking to get healthier without the use of risky prescription medications. He has done the research and examined the evidence to see what can be naturally done to help treat and even prevent many of the most common health ailments from happening. One common theme that you'll always hear from Jonny is how inflammation is at the very heart of most diseases and excess insulin in the body is the primary culprit.
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So what do you think about The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth now that you've heard Dr. Jonny Bowden talk about it? Do you think he's on to something spectacular or do you think this is just another one of those same old, same old "natural cures" books that blow a lot of smoke with no real answers? Let's hear what you think in the show notes section of Episode 114 and give YOUR feedback to what you heard today. Especially if you have read this book, share what your favorite parts of it were.
As you may or may not know, I will be on vacation and on a follow-up business trip starting tomorrow and all of next week. But that doesn't mean there won't be any new podcast shows next week. Have I got a special surprise in store for you and I'll just tell you that you WON'T want to miss a 4-part interview that I conducted earlier this week with someone in the world of diet and health you will all immediately recognize when you hear it.
Part 1 will be available on Monday, February 25, 2008 and then Part 2 on Thursday, February 28, 2008 at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com. We'll share Parts 3 and 4 the following week when I return from vacation and it's a goodie! Spread the word and don't miss this podcast interview--I promise you're gonna LOVE it!
Dr. Jonny Bowden talks about the best natural health cures
I have had the distinct privilege to interview some of the best and brightest minds in the world of diet and health ever since I started blogging and podcasting about livin' la vida low-carb over the past couple of years. It's a great way hear all the latest information about nutrition, fitness, and living better than you ever thought possible! Today is no exception!
As you will hear in today's segment, Jonny is no fan of the Kevin Trudeau philosophy of a conspiratorial "us versus them" mentality that tends to dominate this category of books. Tune in to see how natural cures without any pretenses or ulterior motives can indeed help heal your mind, body, and soul without the use of surgery or drugs.
Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear today's podcast:
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 113 [35:16m]: LISTEN NOW | Download
To say that Dr. Jonny Bowden is enthusiastic and passionate about what he does is an understatement. The man lives and breathes everything related to diet and health and is unabashed in his opinions which are always based on the facts from the science as well as in the experiences of real people who have been positively impacted by these remedies he mentions in his book. We just barely scratch the surface in Part 1 and will get into the nitty gritty of how livin' la vida low-carb is so helpful in a number of health ailments in Part 2 on Thursday.
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What's your reaction to what you heard from Dr. Jonny Bowden today? Do you agree with him that there are certain natural cures that can be used as a first line of defense against disease rather than a pharmaceutical or medicinal intervention? Talk about it in the show notes section of Episode 113 and share from your experiences regarding health issues in your own life that have been improved with a natural cure.
Many of you have been asking about the older archived podcasts and why they are not available on iTunes anymore. Well, we've figured out the problem and now you can access nearly 100 of the previous episodes of the #1 low-carb podcast on the Internet today. That means you can download these into your iPod and listen while you workout, cook, clean, or just relaxing. THANKS so much for supporting this podcast and allowing me to spend a few moments with you each week sharing about the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle! SEE YA!
One of the most highly respected and celebrated health experts of our day who is actually friendly towards livin' la vida low-carb is none other than Dr. Jonny Bowden. He is a board-certified nutritionist and a longtime beloved weight loss coach inspiring many with his one-of-a-kind writing and speaking style. Currently he serves as a contributing writer for America Online and is involved in a myriad of other opportunities to share the positive message of healthy living with the masses. I named him among my Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers Of 2007 and he is someone we can all look up to as a leader for low-carb living.
Jonny has written one of the most outstanding books about the low-carb lifestyle that's ever been penned entitled Living The Low-Carb Life and followed that masterpiece up with a fabulous book on Fair Winds Press last year called The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth that listed many delicious and nutritious low-carb foods amongst the list of the most healthy morsels of goodness you can possibly put in your mouth.
Well, Jonny's back again with a follow-up to that bestseller now called The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth: The Surprising Unbiased Truth About What Treatments Work And Why and I am in the midst of reading it as we speak. Fans of The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth will absolutely eat this one up because the format nearly identical as Jonny goes through some of the most gripping health ailments of our day and finds an all-natural cure for each of them. You'll be happy to hear that livin' la vida low-carb is prescribed for a whole lotta things, including polycystic ovarian syndrome, high cholesterol and weight loss, for example, so stay tuned for my review of that book as well as an interview with Dr. Jonny Bowden on my podcast show coming very soon. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, check out these two free chapters from The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth and see for yourself what this new book is all about. Then head on over to the Dr. Jonny Book Tour web site to learn about this event that is set to take place virtually on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 8:00pm EST. Jonny will be interviewed by veteran interviewer and marketing wizard Alex Mandossian about his new book! You WON'T want to miss this chance to hear about one of the best new health books of 2008 from this diet and health giant!
Interestingly, Jonny's publisher will waste no time with delivering another follow-up book on July 1, 2008 called The Healthiest Meals On Earth: Recipes That Fortify, Protect, And Nourish You featuring full-fledged recipes that incorporate the foods from the first two books in the series to create some of the most delectable meals on the face of the Earth! Jonny is a busy man and I personally don't know how he fits it all in. But he, like me, enjoys staying active and involved, so let's support him in his efforts to educate people to start living better than they ever thought possible!
Sometimes there's just so much "stuff" out there about livin' la vida low-carb that I want to tell you about, it's hard to get it all into individual blog posts. That's why on occasion I will compile all these little tidbits of information for you together in one big blog post because they're all worthy of being mentioned since I haven't had time to get to them yet. WELL NOW I'M MAKING TIME! :D
So, here goes on the low-carb stuff that's caught my eye lately:
GROCERY STUDY SHOWS HIGH-CARB FOOD SALES SHRINKING
One of my readers who works at a trade association that serves the supermarket industry shared a very interesting tidbit of information with me from a September 2007 Grocery SuperStudy from Willard Bishop. And it's quite interesting news for those of us who have dedicated ourselves to low-carb living: while "low-carb" (as a marketing label) is for all intents and purposes dead within the mainstream food industry right now (not surprising since most of the crap they put out a few years back as "low-carb" was anything but), there's another new victim that nobody is talking about--the "center store" foods.
You know what that is--high-carb, packaged, processed foods that appear in the center aisles. In other words, everywhere that people who are livin' la vida low-carb DON'T shop! HA! How about that?! According to this survey, this area of supermarkets is shrinking rapidly which makes the hottest new trend in grocery markets for 2008 the up-and-coming Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores which don't have hardly anything in their center store. Although they are based mainly in the Southwest, they have created the template for the next wave in grocery shopping for healthy living.
Here's an interesting quote from the Willard Bishop analysis:
"Center store generates 72% of total store sales and all of the true profit contribution (because the perimeter nets out at a loss). But, 29% of the center store categories lose money today (retailer activity-based costs are greater than gross profits collected including trade spending). And, 58% of the SKUs in the center store generate 95% of the sales.
This means that the final 5% of sales comes from 42% of the 60,000-plus SKUs. More than 40% of center store SKUs sell fewer than three units per store per week. Even though food retailers are challenged to earn a positive true profit contribution on the perimeter, it's an area of the store that they'll continue to focus on to differentiate and elevate their overall value proposition."
Did you get all that? The take-home message is that the vast majority of that stuff you see in the center aisles AIN'T SELLING more than 3 units a week. So if there are 48 packages of some favorite high-carb junk food sitting there the next time you go grocery shopping, keep in mind it may take FOUR MONTHS for that to sell through. Now you know why the food manufacturers load all that stuff up with preservatives. EWWW!
FEDERAL LAWMAKERS WANT TO BAN JUNK FOOD IN SCHOOLS
What we see in this New York Times column where members of the United States Senate are proposing a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and other junk foods in schools is nothing new. Last year I blogged about former President Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association suggesting schools voluntarily implement such bans and this study show that sugar-free schools can actually reduce obesity rates. But why am I opposed to such measures that would make school lunches "healthier?" Two things.
First, what is gonna be the definition of the word "healthy?" If by healthy they mean they're gonna cut out the excess sugar, starchy carbohydrates and other such junk foods and replace them with fresh low-glycemic fruits and green leafy vegetables instead, then I'm all for it. But likely these meals will be low in fat and sodium while still including lots of sugar (which is fat-free!) and other such carbs which for all intents and purposes will defeat the purpose of banning the junk food.
Second, what business is it of the federal government to dictate to local school districts what they should be serving children for lunches? While too often national lawmakers just like to throw our money at a problem and hope it goes away, the real solutions are never even considered. If the school lunches at a local school are horrendous, then the parents of the kids attending that school should complain to the school and/or school board to demand better choices. And the worst case scenario, parents should pack their children a healthy lunch if the school refuses to offer better choices.
This is not an area where the federal government has any busy sticking its nose into. However, I do see it as rather hypocritical of these lawmakers to still allow the sale of Girl Scout cookies in schools even if this ban were to go into effect. And we wonder why our kids keep getting fatter and fatter while getting confused about what is good for them? Sheeeez!
FRED THOMPSON: GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR NUTRITIONIST
Speaking of government, I couldn't help but notice this CNN.com article about something one of the presidential candidates said while he was here in my hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina recently. Although I still don't have ANY idea whatsoever about who I am going to vote for in next month's primary election, it was quite refreshing to hear that former Sen. Fred Thompson wants good nutrition and healthy living to happen within the family unit and not from the government.
Here's what he said:
"We shouldn’t be looking at the federal government in Washington first and working our way down, it ought to be just the other way around. With that, or whether you're talking about education, there's some things the federal government can't do."
Amen to that, brother! With our government telling us through the USDA and FDA over the past few decades that fat and cholesterol is gonna kill us while we should eat a diet consisting primarily of carbohydrates to be healthy, it's about time somebody on the national level is saying enough is enough. It is each the responsibility of each of us to take care of our own families and to get the government out of our refrigerators!
DR. JOHN BRIFFA CALLS OUT RESEARCHERS ON CHOLESTEROL
Three months ago, I had the privilege of interviewing a bona fide health expert from the UK named Dr. John Briffa. As an unapologetic supporter of solid nutritional science, Dr. Briffa has been disappointed by the obvious omission of data supporting livin' la vida low-carb over the past few years by researchers. And he let them know it in this blog post about the very latest studies showing the cholesterol hypothesis is a load of crap!
There's so much common sense in what Dr. Briffa wrote in this piece that I urge you to read it for yourself. He makes some excellent points about statin drugs, why cholesterol-lowering drug treatments work to possibly produce a lowered risk of a cardiac event, who the researchers are conducting these so-called studies, and what role the pharmaceutical industry plays in disease treatment. DON'T MISS THIS COLUMN!
EATING SATURATED FAT WILL GIVE YOU DIABETES?
One of the more preposterous statements I have seen in the nearly three years I have been blogging about diet and health has got to be what I read in this Diet Detective column by my fellow contributing writer Dr. Judith Wurtman, PhD, author of The Serotonin Power Diet (which I will be reviewing here soon). She claims that a study published in the October 2007 issue of Nature Medicine found that eating too much fat causes it to store in the liver which then creates a chemical that causes insulin resistance--a precursor to diabetes.
I looked for this study Dr. Wurtman cited and couldn't find it, so I wrote to her asking for the link. She responded back that she would locate it for me, but I never heard from her again. The whole concept that the consumption of saturated fat could even remotely lead to insulin resistance and then diabetes doesn't even make sense to me. Excessive carbohydrate consumption is documented to be most responsible for the development of insulin resistance, not saturated fat.
Since I had my doubts and wanted to see what some medical professionals had to say about this theory put forth by Dr. Wurtman, I sent a link of this column to several of my low-carb research friends for assistance. All of them were perplexed by what she had written and had never heard of any such research supporting this. But Dr. Mary C. Vernon summarized what she thought about this in her typical fashion:
This is actually a fairly widespread misunderstanding, that is, many people believe the data says that fat causes insulin resistance. Three thoughts come to mind:
1) This mis-interpretation occurs, I think, because the research is misleading in that carbohydrate is rarely analyzed or decreased enough.
2) Because the close relationship between available fuel sources (fats, carbohydrate and amino acids) makes it difficult to define a starting point. In modern-day vernacular--which came first, the chicken or the egg?
3) Clearly, each individual is born with a certain level of "insulin resistance." Some of this may actually be influenced by the intrauterine environment as well as by the gene set. I think one can actually see this, in a simplistic way, as the amount of insuln secretion generated by a carbohydrate load.
Add the long-term outcome of high insulin spikes to fat accumulation and "bulked up" fat cells, and insulin resistance increases. The dietary carbohydrate pushes the insulin levels up, but the fat cells' semipermeable membrane now has increased intracellular fat content and "leaks." (Dr. Sam Kline says fat cells don't like to be bigger than one micron).
Now the fat stores have entered the metabolic conversation and the blood sugar swings (pre and post prandially) get wider and wider. With high insulin levels chronically, fat transports into the mitochondria is damped down (via malonyl CoA's feedback on CPT) and fat burning decreases. All of this is interpreted clinically as "increasing insulin resistance."
IF YOU DON"T DROP THE INSULIN LEVELS LOW ENOUGH BY HOLDING DIETARY CARBOHYDRATE DOWN, THEN YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE PROCESS STOP. Even though this is a logarithmic relationship, it behaves in patients as if it were an off-on switch. Even as few as 5 grams of carbohydrate can change some individuals with vigorous insulin response from fat-burning to fat storing.
As always, Dr. Vernon delivers wisdom that puts things back into the proper perspective. I'm sure Dr. Wurtman means well with her conclusions, but it seems there's a lot of assuming it is the saturated fat that is the culprit and not the carbohydrates. This is a DAILY battle within the realm of low-carb and science.
JONNY BOWDEN LETS THE BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION HAVE IT
Leave it to Dr. Jonny Bowden to cut right to the heart of the matter in a letter to the American Beverage Association who had responded to a column he wrote about sodas and obesity. You'll see a brilliant response on his blog to the claims made by the Senior Vice-President of Science Policy for that group named Maureen L. Storey, PhD. Dr. Storey states there is no link between soda consumption and heart disease and that sugar substitutes like aspartame are completely safe and acceptable for human consumption.
Dr. Bowden took great pleasure in answering each of the points made by Dr. Storey by exposing the error in her analysis of the points she made. There were four major points he made backed up by evidence to prove each one, but I absolutely loved the way Dr. Bowden ended his letter to Dr. Storey:
"I understand your need to put a favorable spin on this, just as the sugar industry puts a favorable spin on sugar. But might I remind you of the words of Upton Sinclair: 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, if his salary depends upon him not understanding it.'"
OUCH! That quote could certainly zing a lot of people involved in the diet and health industry, wouldn't it? :D
MICHIGAN MAN FOLLOWS ATKINS, DOESN'T COUNT CALORIES
I just about flipped when I saw this Grand Rapids Press story about a man named Steve Cormier. It seems 52-year old man was able to lose weight and get healthy by livin' la vida low-carb. And he's STILL doing it to this day by paying attention to his carbohydrate intake and being ever mindful of what he's putting in his mouth. My favorite quote was this:
"I don't care about calories at all."
Now THAT is the sign of someone who is on the Atkins diet by the book. If you are working the plan as the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins outlined in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, then you don't have to count calories. I'm coming up on four years of eating this way and I have yet to count the first calorie I put in my mouth. Instead, I keep my carbs reduced to the level I need to keep my weight in check and the calories manage themselves. WAY TO GO, Steve! Keep it up, my friend!
A QUICK & EASY LOW-CARB CHEESECAKE RECIPE
You know how much I enjoy recipes, so I couldn't resist sharing this one from Quad-Cities Online with you. Submitted by Laura Carson from Moline, Illinois, this is a rather simple-to-make low-carb cheesecake that could be an awesome addition to your holiday festivities. Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe:
CLICK HERE for the instructions about how to make this cheesecake--livin' la vida low-carb styled, baby!
YOUTUBE VIEWER THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS
I've really enjoyed expanding the horizons of the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" brand to other places on the Internet, not the least of which is YouTube. The "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" segments I do with my wife Christine are a load of fun and it is something we look forward to doing each and every week. One neat thing is it has attracted a new audience of people looking for answers to their dieting questions.
Here's an example of one I recently received:
I know you probably get thousands of messages daily. I always said that I was going to write you asking you some questions that I'm curious about.
The first question is, knowing that fat is equivalent to 9 calories per gram, many of the low carb foods are loaded with calories. That said, I am 6'3" 340lbs (Was 385), and with approximately 30 minutes of working out on a cardio machine, I lose 462 calories. How much of that is 'fat' being burned?
I know that with certain heart rate percentages, you burn fat/carbs, but I'm assuming I'm burning 100% fat, since I probably have very little to no carbs at all.
So if I'm losing 462 calories and 1 gram of fat is 9 calories and 1 pound of fat is 453 grams it would take (9*453 calories) to burn 1 pound of fat. This seems impossible to do. Assuming my BMR is around 4500 calories a day...I probably eat less than that...but still...it just doesn't seem right...Can I get some input?
Hopefully you understand this.
Is your head spinning too? Mine sure did after I read this e-mail about ten times in a row. Finally, I just stepped back, took several deep breaths, and realized EXACTLY what this person needed to hear. This was my response:
Hey there and thanks so much for writing. I'd be delighted to answer your questions:
Just so you know, I don't count calories. Never have since I started livin' la vida low-carb. You don't have to worry about fat having more calories than carbs and protein because it's not about the calories. Your body functions differently when you reduce the carbohydrate in your diet because you are using dietary fat as well as stored fat as fuel for your body.
So, when you workout for 30 minutes and burn 462 calories, it depends on whether you are burning carbs (a low-fat diet) or fat (a low-carb diet) for fuel. It takes about 20 minutes of exercise to burn off all the excess carb stores when you are eating a high-carb, low-fat diet, but you start shedding STORED FAT right away on a high-fat, low-carb diet. WOO HOO! Isn't that cool?
There are obvious benefits to the amount of intensity of your workouts, so having small spurts of all-out, give-it-everything-you-got effort to burn even more calories and, thus, stored fat.
Don't obsess over the calories you put IN your mouth when you are eating low-carb. When I started at 410 pounds, I was eating about 3,000-4,000 calories a day while keeping my carbs down to around 20-30g carbs during my ongoing weight loss. Today, I STILL eat about 2,500-3,000 calories and maintain my weight just fine.
It's unproductive to think about this too much...just eat your fat for fuel, keep carbs to a minimum, ENJOY the foods you get to eat, and simply live your life confident you will shed the pounds and get healthier than you ever have before. It's NOT impossible because I did it. And so can you!
Sometimes we can think so much about all of this that it can frustrate you into overeating carbs to reduce the stress! UGH! I don't waste any brain cells on needless over-analyzing my diet like that. NEVERMORE!
Have you seen something about low-carb in the news that you feel is worthy of my attention? Feel free to e-mail me a link to the story anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I do a lot of research, but that doesn't mean I see everything. THANKS for your support for the work I do here and keep on livin' la vida low-carb!
Today, I am pleased to share with you a very informative post from Judy that appeared on her companion web site about the various sweeteners available on the market today. Most people who are livin' la vida low-carb already know to avoid sugar, but what about other so-called "healthy" sweeteners like maple syrup, stevia, and Splenda. Which ones should a low-carber be using and which should be avoided? Judy Barnes Bakers cuts to the chase and shares her knowledge with you to help you make smarter choices for your healthy low-carb lifestyle.
Special thanks to Judy for continuing what I started in this recent blog post about fructose with a more in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to providing good alternatives to sugar. ENJOY!
I have received questions as to why I did not include some of the all-natural alternatives, like brown rice syrup, agave nectar, and date sugar in the discussion about the different kinds of sweeteners in my book. I did not include most of them because, in my opinion, they offer little advantage over common table sugar. However since the subject continues to come up, I will address it here.
Let me point out at the start that “natural” is not synonymous with “safe.” Nature abounds with natural poisons: arsenic, mercury, lead, death cap mushrooms, puffer fish, anthrax, and snake venom to name a few. Also, keep in mind that many foods that we consider healthful, like parsley, cabbage, beans, celery, tomatoes, and basil contain poisons and antinutrients that can be dangerous in large amounts.
Potatoes can contain lethal amounts of solanine; those big green bananas called plaintains cause heart disease; lima beans, flax seed, and almonds contain high levels of cyanide. (Fifteen bitter almonds, the kind used in the Italian cookies called amaretti, can cause serious illness or death.) In fact, most vegetables, even after thousands of years of selective cultivation, still contain some potentially harmful substances. (Jeffery Steingarten included a chapter titled: “Salad the Silent Killer,” in his very entertaining book, The Man Who Ate Everything.)
Let’s look at some of those “healthy, all-natural, minimally-processed” sweeteners:
-Agave nectar is touted as a healthful, natural alternative to sucrose because it has a very low glycemic index, so it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar or raise insulin levels. However, the dangers of fructose are well known and agave nectar is almost 100% pure fructose. High fructose corn syrup contains only 45% fructose; agave syrup has twice as much of this most dangerous of all the sugars. The reason fructose doesn’t provoke an insulin response is that it does not enter the blood stream but is metabolized in the liver where it is converted directly into triglycerides (fats). It promotes fat storage, especially around the midsection and the organs.
It has been implicated as a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. Fructose also increases the formation of advanced glycation end-products, known by the acronym AGEs, because they promote the cross-linking of proteins which speeds up the aging process. According to Dr. Michael Eades, fructose “… is a driving force behind the development of insulin resistance and all attendant problems. When researchers want to give lab animals insulin resistance, they feed the animals high doses of fructose.” Here is a link to an article on fructose by Dr. Eades: "Unclear on the Fructose Concept"
-Date sugar is simply ground up dates. It is more than 96% sucrose; sucrose is about half glucose and half fructose. Date sugar contains some fiber and some trace minerals and vitamins, but it is essentially the same as common table sugar and causes a similar rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. It does not dissolve and is not a useful substitute for sugar for baking or cooking.
-I did include information about stevia in the book. Many people like it, but many find it to be bitter. Some of the more refined brands are said to be less so. Stevia can only be sold as a supplement in this country because it has never been tested orapproved for sale as a sweetener. The FDA has been petitioned three time to grant GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status for stevia so that it will not have to go through safety testing, but it has been rejected so far. If you feel more comfortable with stevia than Splenda, one packet of most sweeteners is equal to 2 teaspoons of sugar so they can be used interchangeably in some recipes for sweetening. Stevia powder does not dissolve, ferment, or caramelize. It is heat stable up to 392 degrees F.
-Maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees, which is 2 to 3 percent sucrose. It is collected in buckets and boiled down to make a concentrated syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Most of the sugar is sucrose (like common table sugar), but some, especially in the lesser grades, is glucose and fructose. Maple syrup contains traces of vitamins, especially the B vitamins, and minerals.
-Succanat is cane sugar with the water removed. It retains trace amounts of vitamins and minerals that may be lost in the refining process for regular table sugar, but it is still concentrated sucrose.
- Brown rice syrup is made by fermenting brown rice with enzymes to break down some of the starch into sugar and then cooking it until it is thickened. It is only half as sweet as table sugar. It contains 45% maltose (the kind of sugar in beer), and 3% glucose. The rest is starch. Maltose has a glycemic index of 110, higher than pure glucose (glucose or blood sugar has a GI of 100) and will provoke a very high insulin reaction. It contains 34 net grams of carbohydrate and 132 calories in a serving of 2 tablespoons. I’ll pass on this one.
Note: Brown rice syrup is one of several malt sugars made from grain that include barley malt, barley/corn malt, and rice syrups. Malt sugars are used in making beer, which is why beer is sometimes called “liquid bread.”
Why I prefer Splenda®: Sucrolose, the sweetener in Splenda, is made from sugar by replacing a few atoms of hydrogen and oxygen on the sugar molecule with three atoms of chlorine, making it 600 times as sweet as sugar.
Splenda has been used in Canada since 1991 and in Australia since 1992. It has been approved in 60 countries worldwide. In 1998, after reviewing 110 studies, the FDA approved it for use in the U.S. It is not required to carry any warning label and is considered safe for pregnant women and nursing mothers. After much anticipation, we finally had a safe alternative to sugar that tasted good and held up to cooking temperatures.
So why suddenly is there so much hysteria about Splenda?
Dr. Eades brings up some very important points about Splenda in this article. He contends that Splenda is not really artificial since chlorine is a natural substance, but that it is instead an altered sugar molecule. Half of common table salt is chlorine (NaCl), and chlorine is a normal part of the makeup of our blood serum. Chlorine is a necessary chemical that our bodies need for metabolism and the amount is carefully maintained by the kidneys at the proper level. At any given time you have about 1 teaspoon of chlorine circulating in your blood which is about 20,000 times as much as you would get in a serving of Splenda, if it were digestible, which most of it is not.
The study most often cited as proof of the toxicity of sucralose is one conducted by the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme of Australia that showed that feeding large amounts to rats caused shrinkage of the thymus gland, which is important to the immune system. The dosage used in the study was the equivalent of 240 grams of sucralose per day for a 176-pound human for 28 days. That works out to 20,000 packets of Splenda every day for 28 days. To put it in perspective: If you drank 560,000 cups of coffee with one packet of Splenda in each one over a 28 day period, you would reach the level of sucralose fed to the rats. But you would have no symptoms because you would be dead within 15 minutes from the caffeine contained in the first 75 cups of coffee.
Dr. Jonny Bowden, fitness expert and author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, gave the following response to Jimmy Moore (in this blog post) when asked about Splenda: “…I've looked like mad and can't find any really good, responsible argument against it that can be substantiated. That does NOT mean I won't be proven wrong in a year and I reserve the right to change my mind if there's more compelling stuff coming out. But right now I see it as the least bad of the choices."
This is very much like what I said about Splenda in my book. When you write a cookbook you must use ingredients that are readily available and reasonably priced. Splenda is safe, it tastes good, it is in all the stores, and it is not terribly expensive. There are some other sugar substitutes already available that have the bulk and physical characteristics of common sugar and actually offer some health benefits, but for now they are only available by mail order and are very expensive.
Oligofructose, for example, is made from chicory root. It has been popular in Japan for many years. It consists of long chains of fructose molecules that are not broken down by our digestive enzymes. It is prebiotic, meaning that it selectively feeds the beneficial microbes that live in the lower intestines and so enhances the immune system. (It can be ordered from Low-Carb Specialities. The company also sells fantastic chocolate bars sweetened with oligofructose.)
The decision to eliminate sugar is more important than just avoiding a few extra carbs. Sugar is the prime contributor to the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and the cluster of diseases called the metabolic syndrome that have devastated this country for the last 40 years. In Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes explains how sugar and simple carbs may also promote cancer and speed up the aging process.
Most people already know that they need to cut down on sugar, but the goodies and snacks that constantly surround us are hard to resist. If we can have food that satisfies our cravings without harming us, we are less likely to give in to temptation. If you have an iron will and are always in complete control of your impulses, eliminate sweets altogether and more power to you! But if you are subject to human frailties like me, then try the next best thing.
THANK YOU again for sharing your wisdom with us today, Judy! Be sure to pick up YOUR copy of CARB WARS and pay a visit to see Judy Barnes Baker at CarbWarsCookbook.com.
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