Should A Christian Low-Carb Dieter Refuse High-Carb Communion?

Christian custom of communion includes bread and wine

When you first start livin' la vida low-carb, it's almost impossible to think about all the ways your life will change overnight. Sure, you know you're not allowed to eat bread, pasta, sugar, candy, juice, rice, and just about anything sweet and starchy. You do it willingly because you realize that changing your lifestyle is about making healthier choices for your body so you can honor the temple that God has entrusted you with.

As a Christian low-carb dieter, it never occurred to me when I began this new way of eating in 2004 that it would make me choose between honoring God with one of the most important sacraments that Christians participate in or honoring my commitment to low-carb living. I'm referring to the act of communion where you consume a small cracker or unleavened bread wafer representing the body of Jesus and a small cup of grape juice or wine symbolizing Christ's blood sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

So what does a low-carb dieter who is a believer in Jesus Christ do when it comes to celebrating and participating in this holy act of remembrance? That's what one of my Christian readers wanted to know in an e-mail to me:

Hi Jimmy,

This might seem like a silly question but I'm guessing that since you are a Christian and are active in church that this issue has come up for you.

Do you take communion? Bread and grape juice do not fare well for my low-carb lifestyle but when I pass, I feel very odd because I want to participate for the spiritual meaning.

Let me know how you deal with this.

You know, it was funny the first time I was in church on a day when communion was taking place and I felt so awkward. Do I take part in it and glorify the memory of the greatest act of love and sacrifice the world has ever seen or do I refuse since I can't have that many carbohydrates as part of my new commitment to livin' la vida low-carb? It wasn't such an easy decision for me and I had a tough time at first.

But then I thought about it more and came to the conclusion that the amount of carbs in that little piece of bread and tiny glass of grape juice probably doesn't amount to more than 8-10g carbs maximum. It's not like this is an entire high-carb meal or anything. In the end, I believe God will honor your dietary commitment because you partook in communion.

So I proudly take communion at church the four or so times a year we celebrate it now and have no qualms whatsoever with it. It's a personal decision that each individual must make for themselves. Do what you feel the Lord would have you do. :)

Jimmy Moore's Uh-Oh Oopsie Low-Carb French Toast

When I messed up the Oopsie, I made something even better!

I love experimenting in the kitchen with new ways to spruce up my low-carb lifestyle. It's one of the things that I enjoy about livin' la vida low-carb the most--making it interesting by coming up with new recipes and food combinations that suit my sugar-free, low-carb life. When you put a little creativity behind it, there is no limit to what you can come up with.

Just look at the Oopsie phenomenon, for example. Created by Cleochatra from "The Lighter Side Of Low-Carb" blog, this neat little recipe for making a low-carb "bread" replacement using some rather simple low-carb ingredients is a prime example of ingenuity at work. The possibilities for recipes are truly endless with these Oopsies.

So, being the gung ho cook that I am, I finally decided to gather all the ingredients to make the Oopsie for myself to see what all the fuss is about. I headed down to my local grocery store on Monday afternoon and immediately went searching for the cream of tartar in the spice aisle. This little itty bitty container of it cost $3.50 and I was thinking, "This had better be good if I'm gonna pay that much money on something I only need a 'pinch' of!" :D

Next, I headed for the refrigerated section to get the cream cheese and you can't buy the off brand--you gotta get the good stuff, so that means Philadelphia cream cheese. I already had the Splenda, eggs, and salt at home, so I went to the checkout and went on my merry way to go make some Oopsies. With all the stress of the past couple of weeks, it was time to relax and unwind the cares of this world in an Oopsie kind of way. I was rip-roaring ready to go.

Following the basic recipe for making an Oopsie and doubling it, I did as instructed and separated the six egg whites from the egg yolks. In the bowl with the egg yolks, I added a block of cream cheese, 2 packets of Splenda, and two dashes of salt. Meanwhile in the other bowl with the egg whites, I added the obligatory two pinches of cream of tartar. So far, so good, right?

Welllllll...then I made my uh-oh. Rather than whipping the eggs white mixture until "stiff," I whipped it to oblivion and it was a big bowl full of foam. EEEEEK! What a dopey thing to do, Jimmy! Hoo boy. I didn't realize my mistake until I read in the instructions about carefully folding in the egg yolk mixture so you won't "break down the whites." OOOPS! Too late. Now what?

I went ahead and used my mixer to blend the egg yolk mixture and carefully tried adding it to my egg white foam. The bowl was getting too full, so I got an even bigger bowl and just poured both the egg white and egg yolk mixtures together and stirred 'em all up. What was supposed to be this nice thick batter for making the Oopsie rolls was more like a very, very thin pancake batter. HOO BOY! What can I do with this?

My oven was already preheated to 300 degrees, so I decided to go ahead and try to cook this concoction in the oven for the required 30 minutes to see what would happen. Obviously I wasn't gonna be making Oopsie rolls, but I decided to pour it in a pan to see if some sort of cake would develop. At the last minute, I decided to add some cinnamon and erythritol to the mixture to give it some flavor in case it turned out well. Worst case scenario, I would have some really tasty cinnamon-flavored goo! :P

But, like my accidental low-carb "magic shell" recipe last year, this recipe actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Little did I know just how amazing this uh-oh was gonna turn out to be. When I pulled it out of the oven, the pan appeared to be filled with a cinnamon cake of sorts. I pressed my finger against it and the top was spongy, so that was a good sign.

After a few minutes of allowing it to cool, I decided to take a bite for myself. OH...MY...GOSH!!! This tastes unbelievably good! I ran and got my wife Christine to take a bite and she couldn't believe it either. Could lightning strike again on one of my kitchen disasters and turn it into something extraordinary? Yep, it sure can and it did! This is always a unique moment for cooks when they stumble upon something new.

I commented to Christine that it sorta tasted like French toast with the cinnamon, so I cut a slice on a plate, put some butter on top, poured a little sugar-free pancake syrup on top of that, and then scooped a dollop of whipped cream for the finishing touch. It was so rich and yummy, you'd never know it was basically cream cheese and eggs for the "bread." INCREDIBLE! My wife said, "If you have a sweet tooth, then this sure will take care of it." Indeed.

After experiencing this uh-oh in the kitchen while making the Oopsie roll, there was really no thinking about what to call this recipe:

JIMMY MOORE'S UH-OH OOPSIE LOW-CARB FRENCH TOAST

6 large eggs
2 packets of Splenda
2 dashes of salt
2 pinches of cream of tartar
1 8-ounce box of cream cheese
Cinnamon to taste
Sweetener to taste
Butter
Sugar-free pancake syrup
Whipped topping

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the eggs, Splenda, salt, cream cheese, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and the sweetener of your choice (I used erythritol, but any sweetener--besides SUGAR!--will do) together with a mixer until blended and creamy.

Spray a baking pan (I used a 10 X 7) with non-stick spray and pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 30 minutes until it resembles a cake. Let cool for a few minutes and then cut into squares. Put desired amounts of butter, sugar-free pancake syrup, and whipped topping on top and ENJOY!

Serves 6-8 and the net carb counts per serving are around 4-6 grams.

The moral of this story is when life gives you a foamy mess, you can turn around and make French toast out of it. Okay, so it's not as snazzy as making lemonade out of lemons, but you get the idea. THANKS again Cleochatra for sharing your amazing low-carb discovery with us. I'll be back in the kitchen again soon trying to make the REAL Oopsie recipe. In the meantime, I've got me some Uh-Oh Oopsie Low-Carb French Toast to chow down on. Yummy! ;)

Cleochatra's Amazing Low-Carb 'Oopsie Rolls' Recipe Is To Die For

Nope, this ain't no Egg McMuffin. It's an Oopsie--seriously!

Some of the best food creations to come out of my kitchen have happened almost by accident. Just when you think you've totally messed up the perfect recipe and you're kicking yourself for not following it by the letter, along comes a pleasant surprise to totally blow you away. Of course, you really MEANT to do that, right? *wink wink*

Remember this low-carb "magic shell" recipe that sorta fell in my lap last Fall. I couldn't believe it when I saw it because all I was trying to do was come up with a nice chocolate syrup sauce for my low-carb ice cream. But lo and behold, looky what happened when I poured it on top of my ice cream--a sweet, delicious hardened topping just like that magic shell stuff. OH MY GOSH!!! What an amazing find that was--despite it being an "oops."

Well, today I have another "oops" recipe for you from a wonderful low-carb blogger I told you about on Monday (see #12 under this post) named Cleochatra who runs the fantabulous blog called "The Lighter Side Of Low-Carb." If you haven't already bookmarked this blog, then DO IT NOW! She is one incredibly funny and entertaining writer and a pretty awesome low-carb cook, too, if you like recipes (and who doesn't?!).

But even the best sometimes experience the trials and tribulations that hit our inner Paula Deen where we're a whole lot close to Paula Abdul instead! Ah, but never fear because fate always has a way of turning that lemon into lemonade and the birth of a new and exciting recipe awaits. Or, something like that.

In the case of Cleochatra, that lemon would be the appropriately named "Oopsie Rolls." It's obvious why she named them this because they were supposed to be one thing and ended up another. But the flexibility of these oh-so-yummy low-carb bread roll thingys is quite evident in a series of recipes I'll share in just a moment. First, let me show you this neat little recipe compliments of Cleochatra.

CLEOCHATRA'S BEST EVER REVOL-OOPSIE ROLLS

3 large eggs
1 packet of Splenda
A dash of salt
A pinch of cream of tartar
3 ounces cream cheese (not Tbsp!) Do not soften!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Separate the eggs and add Splenda, salt, and cream cheese to the yolks. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff (if you're using the same mixer, mix the whites first and then the yolk mixture).

Using a spatula, gradually fold the egg yolk mixture into the white mixture, being careful not to break down the whites. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and spoon the mixture onto the sheet, making 6 mounds. Flatten each mound slightly.

Bake for about 30 minutes (You want them slightly softer, not crumbly). Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes, and then remove to a rack and allow them to cool.

Storage and freezing:

I store them in a Ziplock bag with the bag open partially (this way they breathe and don't get too moist) and keep them in the fridge after the first day. Then, when you want to use them, take them out and set them on the counter for 15-30 minutes or until they are room temperature. This makes them more "dry" and less sticky.

As for freezing, I tried freezing and they do freeze. This time you want to close the Ziplock when storing (I only store two per bag). To thaw, let them rest on the counter until room temperature in the bag with the bag open. When they're close to room temperature, set them outside of the bag so that they can "dry" out slightly for use.

Makes 6 "Oopsie Rolls"
Calories 85 each
Carbs Less than 1g each (WOWee!!!)

So there you have it--the world-famous "Oopsie Rolls" (not to be confused with the high-carb copycat candy known as Tootsie Rolls). Oopsie mania is sweeping the nation now, so do you wanna see some fabulous recipes using the "Oopsie Roll" as the centerpiece? SURE YOU DO! Check these out:

Oopsie French Toast

Oopsie Waffles

Oopsie BLT and Pizzas

Oopsie Gourmet Valentine Pizza

Oopsie Panini

Oopsie Pita with Lamb Gyro with Tzatziki

Chocolate Almond Oopsies

Oopsie Almost Tiramisu

Oopsie Birthday Cake

Oopsie Boston Cream Napoleon

Oopsie Chocolate Eclaire Cake

Oopsie Cream Puffs

Oopsie Pizzelles and Canoli

Think you can come up with an "Oopsie" recipe to add to Cleochatra's collection? Post it in the comments section below and Cleo might just share your recipe with her readers at her blog in the very near future. "Oopsie" mania is running wild! AAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!

Freshly Made Low-Carb Bread Now Available From Francis Simun Bakery

Francis Simun Bakery serves outstanding low-carb bread

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from my readers is this: "Where can I buy some good low-carb bread?" It seems the attempts to make a low-carb version of something that is traditionally shunned on the low-carb lifestyle have fallen way short of the mark. I've searched and searched to find a bakery who can not only make bread that is low-carb, but also moist, tasty, and enjoyable.

Well, you can look no further than the Dallas, TX-based bread company called Francis Simun Bakery to fulfill your low-carb bread needs from now on. Their marketing slogan is "Be Happy...Eat Healthy" and that's exactly what you'll be doing when you add this to your low-carb plan.

Had I not tasted their incredible breads for myself, I never would have believed this stuff was low-carb. But it is, it REALLY is! I took a bite, and then another, and then another before I finally let it sink in that low-carb bread CAN actually taste incredible! Francis Simun Bakery has convinced me of that.

Take a look for yourself at all the variety of breads Francis Simun Bakery has to offer people who are livin' la vida low-carb:


Click on the image above to see this low-carb bread up close

In addition to the Original Low-Carb Sliced Bread that's great for sandwiches, there are crunchy Low-Carb Bagel Chips for the perfect afternoon snack, Low-Carb Seasoned Croutons that'll go great on any low-carb salad or on top of green bean casserole, Low-Carb Breads Crumbs for homemade stuffing or as a coating mix, Low-Carb Bagels which taste incredible toasted with some full-fat cream cheese spread on them, Low-Carb Tortillas which are so versatile, Low-Carb Hot Dog Buns and Low-Carb Hamburger Buns when grilling out, and Low-Carb Pizza Crust for a quick and easy oven-baked low-carb pizza!


All the low-carb breads at Francis Simun Bakery Are Handmade

One of the things you'll immediately notice about these handmade breads are how fresh they are. That's because they don't bake the bread until you place an order for it. That way you can be confident that your low-carb bread is the highest quality of freshness it can possibly be when it is delivered to your home. Keep 'em in your freezer for a while so you can enjoy delicious and nutritious low-carb bread anytime.

Another distinctive characteristic of the Francis Simun Bakery low-carb breads is the rich signature aroma that will fill your kitchen when you warm them up! Whether it is French toast for breakfast or a grilled cheese for lunch, that unmistakable smell that fills the air from these remarkable breads will remind you that you have chosen the best possible low-carb breads for you and your family to enjoy.

The superiority of the ingredients in the Francis Simun Bakery low-carb breads is part of the secret to what makes them as wonderful as they are. These are what constitutes the basic recipe for these incredible breads:

Organic wheat gluten, yeast, filtered water, garbanzo flour, black bean flour, canola oil, golden flax seed, wheat germ, molasses, onion, and sea salt.

You'll notice the bread is high-fiber to make the net carb counts very low--less than 2.5g net carbs per slice of the Original Low-Carb Bread! That's a substantially lower number of carbohydrates from what you find in traditional white flour-based breads. And the taste comparison is unmatchable!

So how can you get your hands on this low-carb bread? If you live in the Dallas, TX area, then simply drive down to the Francis Simun Bakery located at 3106 Commerce Street in the 75226 zip code and pick up some during regular business hours.

But for the rest of us scattered all across the United States and Canada, they'll gladly take your order over the phone at 214-741-4242 or 214-742-5210, via fax at 214-744-7656, or by using their convenient online customer order form. Their friendly and efficient customer service team will quickly assist you with processing your order and getting it delivered to you promptly.

The hours of operation for the Francis Simun Bakery are Monday–Thursday from 9:00am-5:30pm, Friday from 9:00am-5:00pm, Saturday from 9:00am-2:00pm, and closed on Sunday. Contact them TODAY and let them know you want to try some of that fantastic bread Jimmy Moore from "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" was raving about! Believe me when I say it is low-carb bread FINALLY worth writing home about!

Visit the Francis Simun Bakery web site to learn more about this bread company catering to people on the low-carb lifestyle! My wife Christine and I both came up with original recipes using this new low-carb bread which I will be sharing with you this week. You're gonna LOVE 'em!

Snack On The Crunchy Low-Carb 'Texas Toasters'

Each 6-piece serving of "Texas Toasters" has just 1g net carb

Traditional bread made with white flour is taboo when you are livin' la vida low-carb. But when you are eating a salad and want something crunchy to eat with it or if you get the inkling for some tuna salad or other hors d'voures on your low-carb lifestyle, it would be nice to have an all-natural and delicious low-carb alternative you can turn to.

Now you've got it!

It's called Carb Counters "Texas Toasters" Twice Ovenbaked Bread Crisps from our friends at the Houston, TX-based Dixie Diner. I couldn't believe these were low-carb the first time I ate them because they are really quite delicious and give you that need for a salty side item with a crispy crunch.

Here are the ingredients:

Soy concentrate, cheese, corn starch, wheat-free cereal fiber, egg whites, canola oil, baking powder (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), vegetable fiber, spices, dried onions, parsley, sea salt, low glycemic monosaccharide, low glycemic fruit concentrate.

My favorite part about these all-natural tasty bread crisps with absolutely ZERO artificial ingredients or preservatives in them is the fact that they only have 1g net carbs for about 6 of them. WOW! That's hardly anything on your carb counts (even during Induction!) and yet you'll get to enjoy the benefits of eating these with confidence knowing they won't throw your low-carb diet into a tizzy!

Plus, you get 7g protein and 3g carbs in each serving of these wheat-free Carb Counters "Texas Toasters" as well. For those of you looking for ways to boost your potassium intake, these also contain 165mg potassium to help with those painful leg cramps you may have on your low-carb plan.

You'll be amazed by how awesome these taste and they come in three scrumptuous flavor varieties: Good N Plain, Dill & Onion, and Pizza (my personal favorite)! You can top them with a little spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese for some mini-pizzas. Or scoop them in some French onion dip for a yummy snack. The possibilities for eating these are endless!

Go ahead and try them for yourself--the Carb Counters "Texas Toasters."

Subway Says See Ya To Their Low-Carb Wraps

You may "Eat Fresh" at Subway, but it won't be low-carb anymore

With all the positive press that has been coming out about livin' la vida low-carb lately, the sad reality is this good news has not translated into public acceptance and spread into the business sector, particularly the restaurant and food industry. While the year of the comeback for low-carb in 2007 is already underway from research labs all around the world, too many companies that provided low-carb options for carb-shunning dieters have slammed the door in our face rejecting our needs as health-conscious consumers.

I recently blogged about the low-carb company Eat Well Be Well closing its doors for good in January 2007 after moving away from being associated with the low-carb market. And we know all too well about where restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday stands on the subject of the low-carb diet after they removed their world-famous low-carb cheesecake from their menu in May 2006 and then declared two months later that would be "moving away from diet-related items (such as the Atkins diet), and appealing to a wider customer base." How nice for them, hmm? Just makes me feel so welcome when dining out there--NOT!

Well, it's happening again with two other businesses that previously showed a commitment to making products suitable for people following the low-carb lifestyle. I hate it when this happens because the low-carb opponents immediately start pointing to this as some sort of flim-flam "evidence" that low-carb has been rejected by the public and has thus failed as a dietary approach. It does no such thing and yet that is the prevailing thought process coming from the jaded minds of the naysayers.



The first one is Arnold Carb Counting MultiGrain bread. One of my devoted readers e-mailed me with her concern recently that this fantastic low-carb bread option that she has enjoyed while livin' la vida low-carb is no longer available in the South. She lives in South Florida and said she attempted to get this bread from just about every state in the Southeast section of the United States with no luck.

"It was the BEST low carb bread around and I am very distraught since I have gone through all my emergency loaves in the freezer," she wrote in her e-mail.

So I contacted Arnold directly and inquired about whether the low-carb bread had been discontinued and why. I received a response back via telephone from a very nice spokeswoman who explained the bread is still available, but only in the Northeast section of the country. When I asked her why it was removed from the stores in the South, she responded that the sales had fallen flat in that region of the country and they decided to refocus their efforts where sales were happening.

As someone who used to work within the corporate structure of two major companies in the past, I can certainly understand the business standpoint about these decisions. There's really nothing personal about it because every product is just a widget with sales numbers attached. If a particular widget is not performing at the level it needs to, then you remove it and replace it with another widget that will perform.

One of my jobs was as the music buyer for a chain of Christian retails stores about ten years ago. The Christian music industry contains so many different facets from radio play to visibility in the mainstream (crossover appeal) to price. Juggling al these factors is really all just secondary to the widget analogy. Does it sell or not? There's no in between on this...it either does or it doesn't.

This is sometimes an unfair business model to have when you are attempting to serve a niche market of consumers like Christian music buyers or even low-carbers, but in the end money talks. If it's a superior low-carb food product and people who are on low-carb diets buy it in high enough quantities, then the product stays on the shelf. If not, then companies like Arnold are forced to make a choice. And so they did.



I asked the Arnold representative what fans of their low-carb bread can do if they want to see it come back to their area. She informed me that consumers can share their feedback with them and they would take it under consideration regarding redistribution in the South. You can call their toll-free customer service hotline number at 1-800-984-0989 or use their Contact Us page to express your desire to see Arnold's bread return.

The second company to remove a popular low-carb option from their list of products is the company best known among all of the fast food restaurants to cater to people attempting to eat healthy. It's Subway restaurants, of course, and their biggest claim to fame is helping Jared Fogle lose lots of weight on a low-fat sandwich diet. That's nice for Jared, but I'll be sticking with my low-carb lifestyle thank you very much! :)

Nevertheless, back when the Atkins diet was the hip thing everybody was doing in 2003-2004, Subway jumped on the low-carb bandwagon by offering their famous "Atkins wraps" with that big red "A" logo on their menu. Low-carbers had a choice practically endorsed by Dr. Atkins himself when they ate at Subway which likely encouraged many of us to eat there more often than we would have. Even when they removed the Atkins logo about a year or so ago, I was still happy to see the low-carb wraps stayed as a menu option for active low-carbers.

But, times have changed and now they want to get rid of the low-carb wraps for good. Another one of my faithful readers wrote me an e-mail sharing this discovery about Subway replacing "our" wraps with--CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!--flour ones. EEEEK!

Here's what she wrote to me in her e-mail:

"I went to my local Subway restaurant yesterday to have one of their low-carb wraps--a legacy of the Atkins heyday that I for one was happy to see lasting at Subway. But I was informed that in mid-March my local franchise is discontinuing their Atkins wraps and replacing them with plain flour tortillas!! I was outraged and explained in detail why this is a very bad idea. Have you heard anything about this? First Ruby Tuesday and now Subway...I'm getting really aggravated at just how finnicky the restaurant industry has gotten."

Yeah, me too! Nevertheless, I like to get to the bottom of things myself, so I called the corporate headquarters for Subway restaurants and spoke with the Public Relations Coordinator named Wes Winograd. He was very cordial to answer all my questions about this apparent change in policy away from using low-carb wraps at Subway and replacing them with wraps made with white flour.

Winograd immediately confirmed that the low-carb wraps had already been discontinued earlier this month and replaced with a new flour tortilla wrap in all of the Subway franchises throughout North America. He said there may be a few stores still carrying the low-carb wraps, but they would not be reordered once they sell through them in the next couple of weeks. I asked him why they ditched the low-carb wraps and again the issue went back to the bottom line.

"We did market research analysis on the new flour tortillas test marketing them in eight to ten cities across the United States and Canada based on taste, texture, appearance, and cost as compared with the low-carb wraps," Winograd explained. "We asked people to tell us whether they would buy these new wraps if they were available."

Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback they received during the test market, the flour-based wraps were well-received. But I asked why the low-carb wraps were being replaced to begin with and why can't they still carry a limited quantity of them for us low-carbers who refuse to eat a flour-based tortilla.

"They are quite expensive," Winograd added about the low-carb wraps. "Plus, in a recent survey the majority of franchisees voted on removing the low-carb wraps from the menu. We listen to what our franchise owners want."

So, again, screw the niche customer because it all comes down to economics. The business owners want to know how to maximize their profit margin enough to satisfy its core customer base and make the most money, but where does this leave the low-carb consumer as a choice when they visit Subway restaurants? Winograd offered a few suggestions.

"We still offer to make any sandwich into a salad," he exclaimed. "And customers can also order double meat."

Oh boy, we're back to breadless sandwiches again. UGH! Actually, he told me that's why they started carrying the low-carb wraps in the first place because the franchisees noticed many of their customers throwing away the bread with their meal. Gee, I wonder what's gonna happen now that the low-carb wraps are not an option. Will we see history repeat itself with tons of breading lining the garbage pails yet again?

You might be wondering--what recourse do low-carb fans have now regarding Subway saying see ya to their low-carb wraps? I asked Winograd if people should contact the corporate customer service department and he suggested my readers who like the low-carb wraps should visit their local Subway franchise restaurant and tell the owner they would like to see them come back.

"We do offer our franchisees something we call a 'local option' for frequently requested items," he noted, explaining how some Subway restaurants in California still offer sourdough bread and the BBQ sandwiches in the South although these items are no longer on the national menu. The same could be done for the low-carb wraps, Winograd explained.

It is remotely possible Subway could bring back the low-carb wraps across all the restaurants in the chain, Winograd said, citing the example of how there was such an outcry from consumers in the early 1990s when turkey was removed from the menu that they brought it back in very short order and it has stayed there ever since. Perhaps we can produce the same results with the low-carb wraps. But you and all your low-carb friends need to let your local Subway store know so they get the message we would like to have an option when we dine there.

Let's let them hear from us on this one and report back here in the comments section what kind of feedback you receive. Companies like Arnold, Subway, Ruby Tuesday, and all the rest need to know the low-carb consumer has money we would like to spend on their products if they will simply cater to us. Whether they like it or not, low-carb as a permanent and healthy lifestyle change for millions of people is here to stay so they might as well hop on for the ride and endear themselves to us now and we'll stay devoted to them for life.

If you hear about any other news or information regarding low-carb products going away that you'd like for me to investigate, then don't hesitate to send me an e-mail at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I'll do my best to get to the bottom of it for you and get the real scoop! :) Special THANKS to my two readers today for informing me about these.

3-14-07 UPDATE: One of my readers who used to be a fan of the Arnold low-carb bread before they removed it from their area found another alternative.

Hi Jimmy,

I wanted to share with you a low carb bread company called "Healthy Life Bread" that I happen to find last year with the Arnold's LC bread was pulled from our shelves here in Colorado. Lucky for me my niece lives in KY. I have her send the LC bread to me. It is REALLY GOOD!!!!

THANKS for the tip! I'll have to check 'em out!

3-14-07 UPDATE: Another one of my readers also endorses "Healthy Life Bread" and another suggestion, too.

Hey Jimmy,

I was just reading your post about the lc bread company going south. Someone mentioned Healthy Life. It is a good tasting bread and only 6 net carbs per slice. I buy it for John when he wants bread. The loaf I have right now is 100% whole wheat, whole grain with flaxseed and Omega-3. None of the ingredients concern me, other than the brown sugar, which is 5th on the list, so I doubt you are getting very much per slice. It has 0 trans fats, no High Fructose Corn Syrup, 3 grams of fiber and 40 calories. When I'm on maintenance, this will most likely be the bread I'll have on occasion.

Another good lc bread is Vegetable 35. I haven't found it here in Missouri yet, but I can drive into Illinois and find it at a few of the Wal-Mart Super Centers. It's approx. 6 carbs a slice as well.

Hope that info helps a bit.

It's good to know there are other options out there. THANKS again!!

3-15-07 UPDATE: More low-carb bread feedback from one of my readers has come in.

Trader Joe's has the best low-carb bread I've tried: Sprouted Wheat Bread with 4g net carb per slice (7 g total, 3 g fiber, 60 calories). This bread (it also comes in rye and multigrain varieties!) is one of several low-carb products at Trader Joe's, which the store interestingly does not label or market as low-carb. Perhaps the company feels they appeal to a wider customer base by not limiting products to a specific group of dieters.

Frankly, this bread is too good to call diet. I use it for French toast, bread pudding, stuffing, you name it. If you go looking for it, check the nutrition label carefully. Trader Joe's offers two lines of sprouted bread; the other is much higher in carbs.

Your Missouri reader might be interested to know I buy this bread in St. Louis.

The Low-Carb Lack Of Folate Hate Debate

Here we go yet again with the obvious media bias against low-carb!

Have you seen this FOXNews.com column as well as the merciless beating the low-carb diet is taking in the press right now after the release of a new Centers For Disease Control (CDC) study showing the important B complex vitamin folate levels in women has dropped somewhat in recent years causing health atrocities in younger women like birth defects? The coverage of this story is pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Here's what they're saying about the alleged low-carb connection:

"Low-carb diets may hit levels of folate."

"Blood levels of folate in young women are dropping, a disturbing development that could lead to increased birth defects and may be due to low-carb diets."

"Experts suspect diets are to blame for the drop. And breads fortified with folic acid have fallen from favor in low-carb diets."

"Low-carb diets have increased in popularity since 2000. Women who avoided flour and bread products for their carbohydrates may have also taken in less folic acid."

What's with all the emphasis on livin' la vida low-carb and lower folate levels? Well, it seems one of the primary sources of folic acid is in fortified whole grain breads which are generally avoided by people watching their carbohydrate intake, right? True enough, but health officials at the CDC call this a "disturbing" trend that MUST be the result of low-carb diets.

Um, here's a question for you. If the source of folic acid that women should be consuming is some bread products that have had folic acid ADDED to them, then why can't women simply take a supplement that gives them adequate amounts of folic acid to begin with rather than eating the bread to begin with? I mean DUH!

Most people who are livin' la vida low-carb are already supplementing their diet with things like calcium, potassium, fiber, and more. Why don't these women just add a folic acid vitamin pill to the mix? Gee, now there's a thought!

But the lamentation over declining folate levels has got the CDC in such a tizzy because all these little babies are being born with distorted spines and brains which is truly awful. Let me be crystal clear--I AM NOT MAKING LIGHT OF BIRTH DEFECTS! With that said, though, can we really put the onus for this issue all on the low-carb lifestyle? Not hardly!

While this story pushes hard the notion that women should be getting folic acid from eating such high-carb foods as cereals and breads that have been fortified with folic acid, an artificial form of folate, there's another FOXNews.com story by Dr. Manny Alvarez published today hailing such natural forms of folate found in low-carb vegetables like broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. How ya like them apples all you low-carb haters?!

In other words, if a young woman who is of childbearing age is following a low-carb diet and eating these nutritious and delicious non-starchy, low-glycemic veggies like she should be, then she is definitely getting all the folate her body needs to prevent birth defects in any future children she may give birth to. Just because there has been an 8 to 16 percent decline in folate levels in young American women in recent years doesn't mean the CDC or anyone else should ASSUME it's because of low-carb diets.

This is the first time since the government started promoting folic acid to women over the past decade that they have seen a decline in folate levels, which hit Caucasian women hard but African-American women experienced the least amount of folate in their blood of all races and ethnic groups.

The study of 4,500 U.S. women ages 15 to 44 took place from 1999 through 2004 and included personal interviews, physical exams, and blood tests. The full report can be read in the January 5, 2007 issue of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Researchers theorize obesity had something to do with the reduction in folate as well because obese people metabolize folate differently than their skinnier counterparts and actually need MORE folic acid to prevent birth defects.

But Dr. Joseph Mulinare, the lead researcher on the study who is an epidemiologist, swears it has to be the popularity of low-carb diets that is to blame for this since the bread-shunning weight loss method became all the rage in 2000 and hit its peak in 2004. He claims too many women must have stopped eating the folic acid-enriched flour products that would have kept their folate levels high enough to prevent the birth defects from happening.

Excuse me, Dr. Mulinare, but that's just one big copout and a lame one at that! If women were getting their folic acid from bread products before they started livin' la vida low-carb and they knew that was the source for it, then wouldn't it stand to reason that they would seek out other alternative sources for folic acid when they began their new way of eating? Additionally, as I have already stated, folate is found naturally in such low-carb staple foods as broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower. If they're doing the low-carb plan right, then a folate deficiency would NOT be an issue.

I know bashing low-carb every chance possible is a popular thing in the media these days. It's amazing how many times the obituary for this healthy nutritional approach has been written and yet they keep trying to beat a supposedly dead horse over and over and over again. Do they even realize how much credence they are paying to low-carb every time they mention it?

Wanna know what's so gut-busting funny about the coverage of this study? At the end of the FOXNews.com article, it states that "vitamins and supplements are the best way to get the recommended daily dose of 400 micrograms of folic acid."

Did you hear that? Folic acid-enriched breads and cereals aren't even the primary or "best" source for creating folate in the body. It's SUPPLEMENTATION my dear! You know what? That's something women can do who are following a low-carb plan. Oh my, the common sense logic of all this should be an embarassment to all those poor ignorant reporters who were quick to jump on the anti-low-carb bandwagon on this one.

Sorry people, but you got it wrong--YET AGAIN!

Perhaps all these negative naysayers should consider educating themselves a little bit better about what the low-carb lifestyle is REALLY all about rather than going around making themselves look like a bunch of fools when they follow this template to decimate livin' la vida low-carb. Playing the role of court jester might be fun for these people, but nobody really respects them. As for me, I'll lead my low-carb crusade as a mighty warrior knight with the sword of truth on my side.

If any of you jokers in the media try to maliciously malign low-carb again, then you WILL face the wrath of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man" yet again. And it won't be a pretty sight I can promise you that! You have been fairly warned.

1-6-07 UPDATE: You might want to visit Calianna's Low Carb Cottage for a listing of even more low-carb foods that contain LOTS of folate in them. She makes some interesting observations about the amount of folate you get from the foods on this list compared with the artificially-infused folic acid put in the so-called healthy whole grains. Very enlightening, Calianna!

Jimmy's Stuffed Low-Carb Chocolate French Toast

Sugar-free ChocoPerfection bars make this recipe magnificent!

My wife Christine loves spending Saturday afternoons watching PBS and the endless of array of cooking shows back to back to back. Some of them are quite entertaining, yet there's not a single "low-carb" cooking show among them. Too bad they can't run Low-Carb Cookworx cooking show with Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades at that time because they're like the only one left nowadays. I wonder if they'd consider a "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Cooking Show"--IN MY DREAMS!

Hey, I do like to cook, so when I see a "regular" recipe I can adapt, then I give it a whirl. When I was watching one of the cooking shows with Christine, there was a simple recipe for making chocolate "Monte Cristo"-like sandwiches in the skillet using bread and chocolate. Hmm, I've got low-carb versions of both of those foods, so why couldn't I make it myself? And so I did.

Christine was so impressed these turned out so well that she couldn't even finish one of them. They are quite rich and will satisfy your sweet tooth quite well. They look beautiful and taste out of this world. Thanks to the Irene's Low-Carb White Bread and the ChocoPerfection chocolate bars, this recipe is a low-carb chocolate lover's delight! ENJOY!

JIMMY'S STUFFED LOW-CARB CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST

1/2 stick butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons of Caramel DaVinci Syrup (or your favorite flavor)
4 slices of Irene's Low-Carb White Bread
2 chilled ChocoPerfection chocolate bars (dark or milk)
1 Tablespoon SweetPerfection

1. Place a large nonstick skillet on medium heat and allow the butter to melt.

2. In a medium bowl, scramble the eggs with the heavy cream and DaVinci syrup until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

3. Put two slices of bread on a plate, break off 3-4 ChocoPerfection bar squares that have been refrigerated, and arrange them in the center of one of the slices of bread. Repeat for the second slice of bread.

4. Take the other two slices of bread and put them on top of the chocolate to make a sandwich. Carefully grab one of the chocolate sandwiches being very careful to not let the chocolate drop out and dip it in the egg mixture on one side. Then gingerly flip it over and submerge the chocolate sandwich in the egg mixture on the other side until well coated. Place in the skillet with the melted butter and repeat with the second sandwich.

5. Cook for about 2 minutes watching to make sure the chocolate is not seeping out. Don't allow the chocolate to burn or it won't taste very good.

6. When the bread becomes a beautiful golden brown, use a large spatula to delicately turn it over to cook on the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes.

7. Remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel to cool for about 1-2 minutes. Cut the sandwiches in half down the middle and place on a serving plate. Dust with SweetPerfection and serve hot! They'll be begging for more! :)

Serves 2-4
Carbohydrates 5g per half sandwich

Want Some Low-Carb Egg Nog French Toast?

Combining a classic taste of the holidays with low-carb bread

Tis' the season to be egg-noggin', fa la la la la, la la la la...

Hey low-carb officianados, you caught me in the mood for singing carols today because I've got a peculiar recipe to share with you that takes a popular flavor of the Christmas season and infuses it into a breakfast favorite.

Egg nog is one of those uniquely Christmastime pleasures that make waiting for the holidays to come worthwhile. So how about treating your family and guests in your home this year to an Egg Nog French Toast? Oh yeah, and it's low-carb, too! You better believe it, baby!

The secret is the amazing DaVinci Sugar Free Egg Nog Flavored Syrup along with Irene's Low Carb White Bread. At just 4g carbs per slice, you can't beat this delightful holiday treat. Special thanks to our friends at Low-Carb Connoisseur for sharing this recipe just in time for Thanksgiving morning!

LOW-CARB EGG NOG FRENCH TOAST

Irene's Low Carb White Bread
1/2 cup heavy cream mixed with 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup DaVinci Sugar Free Egg Nog Flavored Syrup
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
Powdered cinnamon
Splenda
Fresh strawberries

1. Mix cream mixture, eggs, Da Vinci Sugar Free Egg Nog Syrup and salt in a shallow bowl. Dip bread slices into mixture until saturated.

2. Heat butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet. Cook slices in batches 5-6 minutes per side until golden brown. Do not crowd skillet. Add more butter and oil to skillet as needed. Transfer cooked slices to baking sheet to keep warm while cooking remaining slices.

3. Sprinkles slices with cinnamon and Splenda. Finally, garnish with fresh strawberries.

Study: High-Carb Foods Lead To Kidney Cancer

Man shall not live by bread alone, but he could get cancer from it!

If people thought the popularity of the low-carb diet was bad for the bread, pasta, dairy, and rice industries, then they ain't seen nothing yet!

A brand new Italian study released on Friday provided the shocking revelation that a diet rich is bread consumption is directly linked to the most common type of kidney cancer there is called renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This research may be the most damning evidence yet against eating a high-carb diet for health ever again and is proof yet again why livin' la vida low-carb truly is a healthier way to eat for the rest of your life.

Lead researcher Dr. Francesca Bravi, from the Milan, Italy-based Institute of Pharmacological Research "Mario Negri," and her fellow researchers conducted a large controlled study of 2301 Italians adults to determine if diet and nutrition played any significant role in the development of RCC. Dr. Bravi said this is an extremely controversial subject among dietary researchers and she wanted to see if a link existed.

"To our knowledge, no other study investigated the role of cereals on RCC," Dr. Bravi remarked about the reason for her research.

One-third (767 study participants, including 494 men and 273 women) were already diagnosed with RCC when the study began and the other two-thirds (1534 study participants, including 988 men and 546 women) were used as the control subjects in the study because they had not previously been diagnosed with the disease. In fact, there were two control subjects matched up by gender, age, and location with each RCC-diagnosed case.

For everyone who participated in the study, Dr. Bravi and her team looked at their lifestyle, where they lived, who they interacted with, what kind of medical history each of them had, and other appropriate measurements at the beginning of the study.

The participants were also required to take a food frequency questionairre consisting of 78 questions about food and beverage intake was adminstered to determine what the average weekly diet was like for them over the previous two years to see if any of the foods they consumed played a role in the RCC. Alcohol consumption was also assessed in a separate set of questions.

What they found was a "significant direct trend in risk" of developing RCC when foods like bread, pasta, rice, milk, and yogurt were consumed. Here is what the study found regarding the probability of INCREASED risk of the onset of RCC for eating any of the following foods:

Bread -- 94 percent increased risk
Pasta -- 29 percent increased risk
Rice -- 29 percent increased risk
Milk -- 27 percent increased risk
Yogurt -- 27 percent increased risk

The researchers suggest that the greater risk of RCC from these high-carb foods "may be due to the high glycemic index of these foods and their possible involvement in insulin-like growth factors." This is much more serious than the excessive acne caused by high-carb diets which was recently studied.

At the same time, Dr. Bravi found that many of the following low-glycemic, low-carb foods were actually protective against RCC because they DECREASED the risk of developing it:

Poultry -- 26 percent decreased risk
Processed meats -- 36 percent decreased risk
Vegetables -- 35 percent decreased risk

Dr. Bravi said each of these foods were "inversely associated with RCC risk." In fact, she went on to say that there was "no relation" to RCC found in coffee, tea, soup, eggs, red meat, fish, cheese, fruits, potatoes, sugars and desserts.

"Decreasing risk was associated with increasing intake of poultry, processed meat, and all vegetables, both raw and cooked," Dr. Bravi noted in her study.

Vegetable consumption, which is a staple among most healthy dieters including those on low-carb diets, has long been found in studies to contain many vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids and phytosterols--all of which are good for your body and help keep you healthy.

"The results of this study provide further indications on dietary correlates of RCC, and in particular indicate that a diet rich in refined cereals and poor in vegetables may have an unfavorable role on RCC," the researchers concluded.

The study entitled "Food Groups and Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case-Control Study from Italy" was published in the October 20, 2006 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

While the dieting world has been exposed to a lot of crazy diets over the years, this new study just confirms how truly ridiculous these cereal diets you see on television all the time as well as books such as "The Pocket Diet," "The Bread For Life Diet," "The Diet Code" really are when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

And let's not forget about the government-recommended USDA Food Pyramid. Are they going to back away from these suggestions for grain intake in light of this new study? Don't count on it. It's another reason why YOU must take control of your own health and never allow the government to tell you what is good for you. This study is proof positive they are simply not looking out for the best interests of you and me.

As for me, I'll keep on livin' la vida low-carb proudly because I can be confident my weight will be controlled and my risk of developing renal cell carcinoma is MUCH lower than it would be on the typical high-carb Standard American Diet (SAD). It is SAD indeed.

Low-Carb Still Making Bread Companies Bite The Dust

This Meriden, Connecticut-based Record-Journal article about how the sustained popularity of low-carb is forcing bread companies out of business proves the low-carb lifestyle is still alive and well.

Although we have been bombarded by the media of the alleged demise of Atkins and other low-carb diets, this story proves that is nothing more than wishful thinking from low-fat advocates and that low-carb isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

It seems a once-heralded bread manufacturer called Interstate Bakeries, Inc., who produces such carb-loaded items as Wonder Bread, Home Pride, and Hostess Twinkies, has been forced to close some of its outlet stores due to the lack of sales. The company already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy ten months ago.

While I feel bad for the 3,000 people who lost their jobs this week because of the store closings, it is hard to deny that low-carb did not have some kind of cause and effect impact on this happening. As more and more people begin choosing healthier eating options for themselves and their families, bread companies will need to adapt to the changing consumer needs and offer products that fit that need.

My wife and I used to love going to our local bread outlet store and loading up on loaves of bread, sweets and rolls. We'd spend about $20-30 and get a month's worth of bread products. It was inexpensive food, but it was also chock full of carbohydrates that we did not need. When I started livin' la vida low-carb last year, we had to stop going to that store and haven't been back since. There's nothing there we can buy anymore!

Interstate Bakeries spokesman Jason Booth is the first person I have heard from one of these bread companies hit by the popularity of low-carb to acknowledge it publicly, although he defended his company by saying sales of cupcakes and sugary sweets have remained strong sellers for them.

"In the past, the shift to reduce carbohydrates has had some impact," Booth said. "This company has had a lot of cost overhead to reduce, a lot of duplicate production and distribution and benefits."

Right, it's all in the past, isn't it? NOT! The fact is low-carb is still still having a big impact on the bread business and we'll continue to read stories like this as more and more people realize the negative health impact the consumption of these excessive carbs is having on them. As for the sweet products still selling well for them, that'll change when people realize it is the sugar they are eating that is contributing to their obesity problem. Once they start cutting sugar out of their diets, we will see a quick nosedive in businesses that provide these products to the public. It may take a few years, but it is coming.

Interstate Bakeries lost $24.1 million in June, the largest one-month loss since filing for bankruptcy in September 2004.

With the trend leaning towards low-carb, high-fiber breads, companies like Interstate Bakeries will need to have a gut check and examine why they missed the boat on this obvious shift in their business clientele. The businesses that remain strong historically have always found their niche and strategized to predict what consumers will want in the future. Obviously, the executives at Interstate Bakeries chose to ignore the low-carb consumer because they bought into the lie that it was "just a fad." Big mistake!

There are so many healthy low-carb bread options for people out there now that it would be foolish to buy regular bread from companies like Interstate Bakeries ever again.

If you want to try some delicious low-carb breads, then you will have to order some from here today. You've never eaten such a variety of delicious low-carb breads that taste this good and with ZERO net carbs! These are the kind of products Interstate Bakeries needs to come up with to regain the business lost to those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb!

Tell Interstate Bakeries what they need to do to win back our business. Maybe they'll listen, maybe not. But at least they'll have no excuse that they didn't know what we wanted! Let me know if you receive a response from them.

5-16-06 UPDATE: This excellent analysis of the bankruptcy by Interstate Bakeries credits low-carb for contributing to the company's problems. Bdum, dum, dum...another one bites the dust!