The Most Compelling Reasons Why You Should Switch To Grass-Fed Beef

The health benefits of grass-fed beef cannot be ignored

I've traditionally been the kind of person who looked at food as a means for satisfying my hunger and giving me the energy to get through the day. Of course, I'm also a bargain-hunter and will tend to lean towards those foods that are on sale more often than not. Yes, I'm a part of the Wal-mart generation who looks for cheap food and I usually get what I pay for.

But ever since I started livin' la vida low-carb, I've found my frugality for food has evolved into a search for substance as it relates to nutrition. All food is not the same and the nutritional content of what I buy now compared to when I weighed 410 pounds four years ago is light years apart. Bye bye sugar! See ya starchy carbs! So long fast food and high-carb crap that used to dominate my pantry and refrigerator. Those things aren't in my cabinets anymore!

Today I make better choices about the foods I eat because I care more about my health now than I ever have. Living healthy is arguably the top priority for most of us who are livin' la vida low-carb. Sure, weight loss is a big reason, too, but I consider it merely a side effect of choosing to live healthier. And it doesn't really take willpower to decide to start living healthier right away as is often suggested by well-meaning people who haven't got a clue. You just gotta do it!

That said, there's even a subset of healthy food choices within the realm of low-carb living that you may not even know about. We all know most meats that have not been injected with sugars are acceptable on low-carb, but is it possible to get more nutritional bang for your proverbial buck when you are shopping for beef, chicken, and pork? Absolutely it is!

Up until recently, I've pretty much relied on the good old store-bought meats and the occasional cuts from the local meat market to stock up the Moore household refrigerator and freezer with healthy high-fat, low-carb meat selections. But what I didn't realize was how much extra nutrition I was missing from my diet because I failed to purchase what is known as "grass-fed" beef and other meats.

What the heck is "grass-fed" meat and what's the point, you ask? GOOD QUESTIONS!

Whether you realize it or not, most of the meat supply in the United States has been tainted with things like hormones, antibiotics, and even steroids to (pardon the pun!) "beef up" the cows so they'll weigh more and bring in more money for the cattlemen. It's BIG BUSINESS these days making meat and you and I suffer the consequences of that lack of quality with the end product. Plus, the mistreatment of animals on these factory farms is absolutely atrocious!

Why else are these cattle and other animals so unhealthy to eat? They are fed a diet heavy in processed grains which leads the meat to become LOADED with omega-6 fatty acids. This is the one the standard American diet has too much of and you want to offset it with omega-3s. The higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats you have, the more inflammation that is created in the body (as nutritionist Monica Reinagel recently shared in my podcast interview with her).

So what do you do? This is where grass-fed meat comes in. It can be extremely difficult to find, but well worth the effort. Why? Although it costs a little more money than standard meat, the nutritional difference is like upgrading from tin to gold! It's more like goldmine when you see all that you're getting from grass-fed meat which is what your low-carb lifestyle could use to kick it into high gear for both weight loss and health improvements.

The most compelling reasons why you should switch to grass-fed beef have everything to do with properly managing your health which everyone who is reading this right now I think takes a personal vested interest in. If you care about your health, then you cannot overlook these important arguments in favor of consuming grass-fed beef and other meats every chance you can get!

THEY ARE LOADED WITH OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

Yep, unlike their factory farm counterparts, grass-fed meats only eat grass from a pasture rather than the forced diet of grains, grains, and more grains. There's a reason the big farms feed their cattle grains--IT MAKES 'EM GET REALLY FAT! You avoid the nasty side effect of all those omega-6s and instead reward your body with omega-3s when you choose grass-fed instead.

BETTER TREATMENT FOR THE ANIMALS

Again, the big factory farms just don't care about how the animals are treated. It's a business about making meat as quickly as possible so they can make a buck. But organic, grass-fed animals are treated very humanely and not subjected to the poor treatment that is part and parcel of what happens on those other farms.

THERE ARE NO ANTIBIOTICS USED

Grass-fed animals don't need any antibiotics in them like their grain-eating counterparts do because they don't deal with the health complications that high-carb diet brings on.

YOU GET LOTS OF CONJULATED LINOLENIC ACID

Conjugated linolenic acid, or CLA, is a powerful fat that is created in the stomach of a grass-fed animal which is extremely healthy as an anti-cancer agent.

SAY BYE BYE TO E. COLI

When you select organic meats, the risk of consuming E. coli tainted meat is next to nil. E. coli generally exists inside of animals with a highly acidic environment which is typical of grain-fed cattle. The lack of acidity in grass-fed beef make it less likely that E. coli could even exist there.

NO NEED FOR STEROIDS OR GROWTH HORMONES

You want a cow to get bigger, you inject it with steroids or growth hormones. This has become so routine these days that nobody stops and thinks about the consequences of what happens when humans begin ingesting all that into their bodies. Again, it all comes down to trying to make a buck as quickly as possible instead of insuring the safety of the food supply.

NO ADDITIONAL ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS FED TO THEM

An organic meat farmer does not risk contaminating his cattle with animal by-products which can subject the meat to things like Mad Cow Disease. Just the grass, man, just the grass.

(Special thanks to Dr. Jonny Bowden for sharing that great list of reasons for choosing grass-fed beef over store-bought beef!)

I gotta tell you about an great company I recently heard about that sells very high-quality, grass-fed meats. They are U.S. Wellness Meats and I encourage you to check them out if you want to take your low-carb lifestyle to the next level. There is a health benefits page on their web site you should check out for even more compelling reasons to choose grass-fed meats over the ones in your local grocery store. (NOTE: U.S. Wellness Meats is not a sponsor of my blog--I was just very impressed by what they have to offer consumers).

Do you have any comments to add about grass-fed beef, chicken, and pork? Have you seen the health benefits in your own life from switching to this kind of meat over conventional cuts? Share your comments below so we can hear how it has changed your life. Hopefully now everyone understands that all meat is not created equal. Make those better choices for your health starting TODAY!

The Atkins Diet Is So Much More Than Meat!

You know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words. Well, I came across a couple of pictures that speak volumes about what livin' la vida low-carb is all about. The common argument people, including educated ones, use against low-carb plans like the Atkins diet is that it relies too much on meat consumption.

In fact, you'll recall noted health expert Dr. Andrew Weil appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" last week to talk about the new Gary Taubes book Good Calories, Bad Calories and his primary criticism of the low-carb lifestyle was the description of it as a diet that is "mostly meat and no carbohydrate." Dr. Weil, you should know better than that! You know good and well that neither the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins or any of the other low-carb diet authors ever call for what you have described.

So, to dispel the myth that the Atkins low-carb diet is just meat, meat, and more meat, here are those pictures I promised.

This first one is a rather creative photograph that Dr. Atkins had made with his smiling face posing with all the wonderfully delicious foods you can eat on the Atkins diet. Hmmmm, what do you see more of in that picture than anything else? Is it meat? Nope! It's veggies, baby, and that's just the way Dr. Atkins liked it:



The second image I have to share with you is a food pyramid for people who are livin' la vida low-carb. No, this is not the USDA-indoctrinated Food Pyramid that tells you to eat carbs, carbs, and more carbs with very little fat. Instead, you'll notice the foods on the lower end of the pyramid are non-starchy, green leafy vegetables and delicious selections of fish, beef, and poultry. Above that is low-glycemic fruits and cheese followed in very small quantities by beans and whole grains as well as teeny tiny amounts of sugar at the very top. It's quite illustrative of this way of eating:



Finally, I'd like to show you a picture of the food my wife Christine and I chose to eat on a recent trip to one of our favorite restaurants--Denny's. You'll notice my plate on the left has delicious portions of meat with their outstanding mixed vegetables side dish. I also had a side salad not shown in the photo. But look what my lovely darling, who recently hit her goal weight of 122 on the Atkins diet, decided to have for her meal. A fried chicken sandwich with seasoned fries! Say it ain't so! Here's the proof:



Christine was right in the middle of saying "Oh no you didn't" as I was taking her picture stuffing her face with this high-carb food bonanza! LOL! Yes, she can get away with eat more carbohydrates than I can and she likes to rub it in my face sometimes. She probably lost another pound after eating that meal, too. Makes you sick, doesn't it?

So the next time somebody tells you that livin' la vida low-carb means you eat a no carb diet, remind them that the Atkins diet is so much more than meat. And now you have the visual proof to show them, too. :)

PCRM Overkill: Blames Low-Carb Meat Eaters For Global Warming

Now this is a new one--people consuming meat responsible for global warming?!

I've seen some pretty extreme stuff from vegetarian activist groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and their front group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) since I've been blogging about livin' la vida low-carb these past couple of years.

For those of you unfamiliar with PCRM and their unscrupulous attempts to discredit the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins and his healthy low-carb diet, they are the ones who bankrolled and fully supported that sue-happy opportunist Jody Gorran who claimed the Atkins diet nearly killed him. He pushed this ridiculous lawsuit against Atkins Nutritionals hard and got lots of positive press in the media for several years because of it spouting such things as the Atkins diet "could kill you" and other such hyperbole and conjecture.

What you may not realize is that lawsuit was declared frivolous by a judge and thrown out in December 2006. Where's Jody Gorran today? Who knows and who cares, but what about an apology for running the Atkins name through the mud for years on radio, television, and print media? Not a chance in you know where of that ever happening.

That's how these people operate. They pull the wildest stuff out of their hat they can find and then hope the message sticks. It's criminal the character assassination they perpetrate simply to ramrod their anti-meat venom down our throats.

And who can forget this publicity stunt by members of PETA describing people who eat meat as "cannibals," hmm? Also, you will recall those two vegetarian chicks who wrote that Skinny Bitch book calling anyone who goes on the Atkins diet a "total moron?"

These vegetarian radicals certainly show their true colors from time to time and the desperate attempts at spreading their anti-meat propaganda know no bounds. Even still, have you heard about the latest attempt by these people to keep people from eating meat? Eating "green" is eco-friendly and prevents global warming!

I'M NOT JOKING!!!

This op-ed article by PCRM member Dr. Patrice Green appeared in the Baltimore Sun recently and was titled "Save the Planet with a Vegetarian Diet." When I read that headline, I knew this was gonna be a doozy! Boy was I right!

Check out the opening paragraph to see where this is headed:

"Temperatures are rising around the world, ice caps are melting, and storms are becoming more severe. Even the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding island communities are at risk. Death tolls from the increasing heat are also rising, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health's department of environmental health."

Attempting to use a hot political topic as the springboard for her promotion of the vegetarian, anti-meat lifestyle, Dr. Green exclaimed that "global warming can be slowed...by getting 'greener.'" But she's not talking about ditching your SUV for an electric car or purchasing those expensive new light bulbs. Nope! She means your diet!

"Most people are neglecting one of the most important steps toward stopping global warming: adopting a vegetarian diet."

You have GOT to be kidding me! You heard it here for yourself, folks! The vegetarians over at PCRM are now BLAMING low-carb meat eaters for global warming! Just when you think you've heard it all, too.

Dr. Green yaps on and on about how what we eat impacts the environment which then has a domino effect on global temperatures and weather patterns. Regardless of your opinion about global warming and whether it is even real or not, this is just plain overkill by a group of people desperate to get their message out there in the public debate.

I think I just about lost it when I read where Dr. Green claims "the global increase in meat consumption has caused rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other diet-related illnesses to soar." Um, where's your data for this, Dr. Green? It's one thing to make such an accusation, but you better be backing it up with cold hard facts!

These people have been so blinded by their own biased opinions about meat consumption that they actually believe their own hype after a while. It's high time somebody calls their bluff and I'm not afraid to challenge them on their asinine assertions. Vegans don't like me much anyway, so why not? :)

Of course, the lack of meat in their diet has been found scientifically in this study to diminish their intellectual capacity, so it stands to reason why they would come to such outlandish conclusions about just how healthy meat is as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Green disagrees.

"Studies have shown that people who follow a plant-based diet are slimmer and have less risk of chronic, diet-related diseases than people on high-fat, meat-based diets. In fact, America could begin to reverse its diabetes and obesity epidemics by turning to a high-fiber, low-fat vegetarian diet consisting primarily of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and beans, lentils and peas."

No, livin' la vida low-carb has been the one shown in study after study which I have highlighted here at my blog to reverse diabetes, lower body weight best, and greatly improve your HDL "good" cholesterol and triglycerides among other health markers even better than that highly-touted low-fat vegetarian diet of yours. The evidence speaks for itself.

Concluding that changing to a "green" diet "might be able to save ourselves—and the planet," Dr. Green is simply playing on the emotions of those who subscribe to validity of global warming. It may work on some people, but it ain't gonna work on me!

You can tell these PCRM people are getting wackier and wackier just to get noticed. They realize the truth is NOT on their side and tactics like these prove their desperation. How much longer do you think they can keep up the facade of objectivity and legitimacy with craziness like this? Me thinks not very long. :)

9-10-07 UPDATE: Now PETA is taking this "meat-eating is leading to global warming" premise directly to the most famous eco-environmental figure in the entire world: Al Gore! Check out this London Telegraph story about it today and the poster they've made of the former vice-president for dismissing a vegetarian diet:



These PETA fanatics sure know how to get ugly...FAST!

Jimmy Had A Little Lamb And Gives You A Chance To Win Some Too

Have you ever tasted fresh American-made lamb before?

I have to admit, before today I had never in my entire life tasted lamb before. I don't know why other than the fact it's just not as prevalent in our culture as chicken, pork, beef, and fish. But I gotta tell ya, I'm HOOKED now! :)

Thanks to an organization called The American Lamb Board, I was able to see, prepare, cook and eat lamb when I otherwise would have never even given it a second look. The fine folks there sent me this very nice lamb goodie kit shipped overnight with cold packs:


The American Lamb Board Summer Lamb Grill Kit is quite a catch!

This incredible kit includes:

- 6-8 lb. prime cut boneless leg of American lamb
- Recipe cards with exclusive lamb recipes
- Fresh pre-packaged herbs needed for the recipes above
- American Lamb Board meat thermometer
- Set of (4) 12" stainless-steel skewers from Outset Inc.

Why am I telling you about this kit? Well, TWO of my LUCKY READERS will win this EXACT SAME KIT that I received today in the mail one week from today on July 18, 2007. That's right, you have the chance to win that attractive kit just because you are a reader of the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog.

Aren't you just so special? ;)

With the summer grilling season underway, the American Lamb Board wants to encourage low-carbers like you to make a change from the ordinary summer fare to give lamb a try. But not just any old lamb. This lamb is American-made and offers a high meat-to-bone ratio.

If you have never eaten lamb, it has a rich taste that offers great flexibility to pair up with your favorite seasonings and spices. American Lamb is also more buttery, tender, and flavorful than imported lamb based on a combination of factors including farming and feeding practices.

In a survey of 500 consumers conducted in January 2007 by the American Lamb Board, one out of three Americans have never cooked lamb at home. Count me as one of those before today. Additionally, those poll respondents said they would enjoy more lamb at home if they had easy-to-follow preparation ideas and knew what to look for at the grocery store.

That's where the American Lamb Board web site comes into play. It is very user-friendly and features award-winning recipes from renowned chefs, tips for preparing various cuts, nutrition facts, suggestions for wine pairings and more.

Before I tell you how you can win the American Lamb Board Summer Lamb Grill Kit giveaway, let me show you how my grilling experience with lamb went today.


Don't those lamb steaks and kabobs look absolutely scrumptious?

From the time I placed these cuts of lamb on the barbie, I knew this was gonna be different than chicken or beef. It started searing early in the cooking process and looked fantastic in just a matter of minutes. The aroma was heavenly as these were cooking on the grill.


I could not have been more pleased with how the lamb turned out

The hardest part of preparing the lamb was cutting it up for the grill. But the end result made it all worth it! They looked absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't wait to take my first bite. Here goes nothing:



OH MY GOODNESS! Where has this meat been my entire life? Divine, I say, absolutely positively heavenly. Who knew lamb tasted THIS good? This look says it all:



Can you tell I was one happy camper eating lamb that had the tender texture of chicken with the meaty taste of beef. I'm a BIG FAN of this meat now--the OTHER red meat! :D

How about you? Wanna win that American Lamb Board Summer Lamb Grill Kit, too? I have two of them to bestow upon a couple of readers and here's what you need to do:

1. Go to AmericanLambBoard.org
2. Answer the following trivia questions:
A) What is the marketing slogan for the American Lamb Board?
B) Who is the American Lamb spokesperson?
C) What government Cabinet office created the American Lamb Board?
D) What are the five most popular cuts of lamb?
3. Submit your answers to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net with the subject line "American Lamb Board Giveaway" by Monday, July 16, 2007 at 12:00pm. Winners will be announced later that day and prizes mailed on July 17th to arrive at your home on the morning of July 18th.
4. Please include your first and last name, mailing address (no P.O. Boxes please), and telephone number for shipping verification if you are one of the winners.
5. Open to continental U.S. residents only.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and happy lamb-eating! :D

Why Isn't Low-Carb Working? What's Wrong?

Your weight and/or health is in dire need of help, so you decide to start livin' la vida low-carb on the advice of a medical professional or even on your own. The first couple of weeks are going along well for you helping you lose weight and feel better than you have in a long time, but then WHAMMO BAMMO--SCREEEEECH!!!--the weight loss just suddenly stops on you.

At this point, you decide to throw your hands up in the air and say to yourself, "Why the heck should I keep doing this crappy diet if I can't even lose weight?" Frustrated and discouraged, you stop this diet and start stuffing your mouth with carbs, carbs, and more carbs which puts the weight you lost back on your body and then some.

Stupid diets!

If that story is funny because it reminds you of yourself, then welcome to the club. We've all been there allowing mind games to take over where rationality has been thrown completely out the window. We know livin' la vida low-carb is healthy for us and yet somehow we think the scale has to constantly show a loss or we think we've failed.

Rather than asking whether low-carb is working or if there is anything inherently "wrong" with us, the better question we should ask is, "What's the alternative?" Think about it...if you weren't eating a low-carb nutritional approach, then how would you be eating?

Low-fat? HA! Not on your life--I don't like being hungry and irritable.

Vegan? Riiiiiiight! NOT!

Slim-Fast? Couldn't stop pooping!

Lots of fruits and veggies? What makes THAT healthy? Don't they fatten up pigs by feeding them that most prevalent of all vegetables known as corn? EWWWWW!

One of my readers presented this exact dilemma regarding her low-carb experience in an e-mail this week. Here's what she wrote:

Jimmy,

Okay, here is my deal--I have put on 50 pounds in less than a year!!! This weight gain is crazy so I had my chiropractor who is also a good friend run blood tests on me. Well, he found out that my thyroid is not very good and suggested that I try the Atkins diet because I don't process sugars very well.

I said okay this sucks because I am not a big meat eater. Am I right that a low-carb diet mostly consists of MEAT?!?! So I went through the Induction phase of Atkins and lost 10 pounds. Now, well over 2 months into it I haven't lost any more weight. HOW DO I LOSE MY 50 POUNDS?!?!

Also I get very emotional and cranky on the Atkins diet. Is there a way of fixing that?!?! Let me know if you can help me!

THANKS so much for writing and sharing openly and honestly about your struggles. Let me assure you that livin' la vida low-carb can and will change your life forever if you stay focused on the big picture--50 pounds will soon be gone forever! Conceive it, believe it, then achieve it! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

If you're not a big fan of meat, that's okay. There are lots of vegetarian low-carbers out there. Just find the non-starchy veggies you can enjoy: cauliflower, broccoli, spinach leaves, green leafy veggies, green beans, and so much more. A full list of the approved veggies on your low-carb plan can be found in any major low-carb book, including Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.

As for your Induction experience, CONGRATULATIONS on losing 10 pounds. But the fact that you STOPPED losing after Induction leads me to believe you increased your carb intake too much. How about sticking with Atkins induction for a little longer to see if the weight loss continues? This is arguably the most important time in your weight loss journey.

Finally, those feelings you claim are caused by your low-carb diet are only temporary during the first week or so (sometimes referred to as Induction flu). But the longer you stay on low-carb, the better you feel and look. The anger and rage you are experiencing is likely withdrawal symptoms from the sugar addiction. It will quickly pass and you'll never deal with it again.

I hope this helps! I'm proud of you for giving this another go. Start today on day one of your low-carb plan and MAKE IT HAPPEN! I'm always here to help anytime! THANKS again for writing!

Grilling Out Is In For Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest days for grilling out

If you are livin' la vida low-carb, then you probably are among the tens of millions of Americans who proudly own a grill and is firing it up this Sunday just in time for the big game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. Are you ready for some football and food?! Yeah, baby!

Although fans down in Miami at Dolphin Stadium won't be allowed to use a grill for tailgating this year since it's been outlawed (go figure on that one!), that won't stop some 62 percent of grill owners from putting some snacks and appetizers on the barbie, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association's (HPBA) State of the Barbecue Industry Report released this week.

"With millions of Americans cooking on the grill, this popular Sunday is the perfect occasion to cook up delicious grilled food," HPBA Communications Director Leslie Wheeler said. "We are seeing year-round grilling as a major trend among Americans. In 2006 alone, grill shipments reached an industry record high, supporting the fact that more than 60 percent of grillers are grilling year-round."

With a record-breaking 17 million grills sold in 2006 alone, representing a greater than 15 percent increase over 2005, it seems people are rediscovering the joy that comes from cooking sizzling steaks, vivacious veggies, and just about any other food to throw on the barbecue! I suppose you can partially credit the sustained popularity of the low-carb lifestyle for showing people meat is very healthy for you to eat and a grill makes that meat taste so much better than a skillet ever will.


The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association knows grilling

The Arlington, VA-based HPBA is an organization of 2,700 members who are tirelessly dedicated to providing information, education, and advocacy for anything and everything dealing with grilling and barbecue. They have certainly taken note that Super Bowl Sunday is hands down the most popular day for grilling during the winter months and one of the Top 10 days for grilling all year!

Another reason grilling on Super Bowl Sunday has become more popular in recent years is convenience, the HPBA has found. It's a fast way to get a delicious and nutritious meal for your entire family or for a house full of hungry football fans. Now, grilling is one of the most preferred methods for making dinner in the United States all year long.

"When you factor in the 70 percent of Americans who cite easy clean-up as a huge perk, grilling for the big game at home is a convenient, no-mess way to pull together a feast big enough for a football team or a pack of die-hard fans," Wheeler added.

The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association has these six tips and suggestions for making your grilling experience on Sunday afternoon a pleasurable one:

1. PRE-GAME PREPARATION

Plan ahead to ensure that you'll be watching the game instead of still preparing the food. Prepare the food ahead of time by marinating meats on Saturday. On game day simply remove from the refrigerator and throw on the grill.

2. EQUIPMENT CHECK

Eliminate a last minute run to the local store for charcoal or propane by checking levels on Saturday.

3. TRY SOMETHING NEW TO GRILL

Burgers, steaks, and chicken are the most popular foods for the grill, but try some other appetizing ideas to feed your friends like grilled pizza, grilled veggies and even grilled fruit (can you say honeydew and cantaloupe?!). Click here and here to find some amazing tailgate and grilling recipes from the HPBA.

4. GRILLING RECI-TIPS

- Using skewers? Soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent veggies from sticking.

- Before grilling, trim the excess fat from meat to avoid flare-ups.

- Place vegetables and fruits at the outer edge of the grill to prevent burning.

- When grilling, use tongs or spatulas to move or turn meats instead of a fork to minimize the loss of juices.

5. FIRE UP THAT GRILL WISELY

Before lighting up the grill, apply non-stick spray on the grates. The protective spray cuts down the clean-up time afterwards.

6. CLEAN-UP IS A SNAP

For charcoal grills, line the bowl with aluminum foil. After grilling, and once the grill and coals are cool (as a rule of thumb, always allow coals to burn out completely and let ashes cool at least 48 hours before disposing), simply discard the foil with the coals and ash, then wash and reline with foil for the next time.

FIRE HAZARD NOTE: If you must dispose of coals and ashes before they are completely cooled, then place them in heavy duty aluminum foil and soak with water completely before disposing in a non-combustible container.

Get even more tips, recipes, and other advice for grilling out on Super Bowl Sunday and every other day you decide to cook out on the barbecue for your family and friends by visiting HPBA.org.

I Knew It! Low-Carb Inuit Diet Protects Against Heart Disease, Cancer, Study Finds

Dr. Eric Dewailly says a high-protein, high-fat Inuit diet is "healthiest"

This Vancouver Sun column about an ongoing study presented last month at a Canadian research forum is going to turn conventional wisdom on its head yet again about what kind of diet is truly protective against heart disease and cancer. And guess what? It ain't the failed low-fat diet either!

Lead researcher Dr. Eric Dewailly, professor of Social and Preventive Medicine at Laval University, and his colleagues observed the health of nearly 1,000 Inuit living in the northern section of Quebec where the diet consists primarily of wild game and very little carbohydrates. What the researchers found was truly remarkable in terms of comparing this decidedly low-carb way of eating to what most people consider a "healthy" diet.

Despite the fact that the Inuit people ate a rather high-protein, high-fat diet, Dr. Dewailly said this kind of nutritional approach actually PROTECTS against both heart disease and cancer. Did you hear that? Here is a scientific researcher extolling the virtues of consuming meat as a hunter-gatherer by stating the fact that it has been found to be an extremely healthy way to eat.

Not only have recent studies concluded there are no long-term heart health complications from eating a low-carb diet, but now this research confirms what most low-carbers already knew--there are plenty of BENEFITS to heart health when you are livin' la vida low-carb!

"The traditional Inuit diet is fats and proteins, no sugar at all," Dr. Dewailly explained. "It is probably one of the healthiest diets you can have. The human body is built for that."

WHOA, did he just say that the low-carb lifestyle that consists of fat and protein with "no sugar at all" is the "healthiest" diet?! Yep, he sure did and that's not just his opinion either. He's backing it up with scientific proof that deserves to be front-page health news around the world. It coincides with studies like this one that clearly show a high-fat, low-carb diet is one of the best diets you could ever go on to protect against heart disease.

But there's been scant mention of Dr. Dewailly's study anywhere which is not surprising since most of the media and the so-called health "experts" don't EVER want to acknowledge an increase in fat and protein combined with a low-carb diet is actually good for you. If they let that cat out of the bag, then their little agenda to suppress the truth about what constitutes living healthy would have to stop. They'll keep putting off the inevitable for as long as they can get away with it.

But the evidence is piling up and this research doesn't lie.

"The study shows that [high-protein, high-fat, low-carb diets] still have huge benefit and protection," Dewailly added.

He explained that the Inuit people get selenium from eating whale skin which makes prostate cancer virtually nonexistant as well as most other cancers. But you can't discount the fact that a sugar-free diet protects against pancreatic cancer while a low-carb diet has been found to prevent esophageal cancer. Again, where is the news coverage of these scientific studies?

Additionally, Dr. Dewailly argues that it's the consumption of healthy portions of high-protein, high-fat meat that keeps the hearts of the Inuit people as healthy as a horse. This sorta makes events like the PETA-sponsored Meatout irrelevant, doesn't it? I wonder what the radical vegans think about this, hmmm?

This research was presented at the annual scientific meeting of ArcticNet in mid-December 2006.

The Inuit diet has long been the evidence that proves livin' la vida low-carb is indeed a sustainable way of eating over the long term since it promotes the consumption of wild game and fish while openly shunning such modern nutritional garbage as high-carb, sugary junk foods and snacks. Unfortunately, though, these new modern foods to the Inuit people are tempting younger generations of Inuits to consume them which is wreaking havoc on their health.

Here are some facts about the average Inuit teenager:

- Consumes 1 liter of sugary soda daily
- Eats three times as many trans fats as European teens

This has led to some rather disturbing health statistics:

- A 50 percent increase in obesity since 1992
- Over one-fourth of Inuit population is obese, primarily men
- Hypertension afflicts 14.5 percent, more than doubling since 1992

But these changes in health haven't just taken a toll physically, but also on the mental health of the Inuit people. Over one-fifth of study participants admitted they attempted to commit suicide, including 6.7 percent in the previous 12 months before the study. Add to that the disturbing news that one-fourth of Inuit youth have used cocaine sometime in the previous year. The culture shock of modern life is what many experts blame on these startling findings.

There is hope for the Inuit population in Canada--return to native diet and normality will come back quickly. Eating the kind of low-carb, high-fat diet that they have traditionally consumed has actually been found to improve mental health as well as maintain normal weight and health indicators. The Inuit people should reject the cultural influences on their way of life from the South and forge their tried and true high-protein, high-fat diet back among their population.

We can only hope that the Inuit people will be able to start positively influencing our culture with the low-carb message soon to show Americans what we need to do to reduce obesity and disease rates. If not, then our nation's rising healthcare costs and obesity-related expenses could very well bring us crumbling to the ground in just a matter of years. The saddest part is that this is all preventable if we just start heeding the lessons learned in other cultures, like the Inuit people.

You can e-mail Dr. Eric Dewailly about his study on the Inuit population in Canada at eric.dewailly@inspq.qc.ca.

Study: Vegans Brainless, But Vegetarians And Almost Vegetarians Are The Smart Ones?

A rather startling column appearing in the British newspaper The Evening Standard cites the results of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) claiming vegetarians tend to be smarter, female, and have higher positions of authority in society than their meat-eating counterparts. Oh really! Let's just see about that one.

Dr. Catharane R. Gale, Senior Research Fellow at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Center in Southampton, Great Britain, and her fellow researchers observed 8170 adults over the age of 30 who had participated as youngsters 20 years ago in the BCS70 to see what relation, if any, there was to being a vegetarian as a 30-year old adult with the IQ level of the participants when they were tested at 10 years old.

Of course, the researchers had to rely on self-reporting from the participants about whether they adhere to a vegetarian diet now and 366 of them, or 4.5 percent, allegedly were vegetarian. Nine of the ones in the vegetarian group were actually vegans and another one-third of these self-described "vegetarians" admitted that they also eating fish and chicken (technically making them NON-vegetarians).

So the actual number of true blue vegetarians should have been 234, or 2.9 percent of the total group of study participants. But the researchers included these meat eaters in the group anyway for some odd reason. Shall we call them "almost vegetarians?"

Okay, what exactly did Dr. Gale and her researchers find so fascinating about those in the vegetarian group? Here are the results of the characteristics of the "vegetarians" in the study:

1. About 3/4 of them are female
2. Over 2/3 had parents who were professional or semiskilled workers
3. Over 3/4 became professional or skilled workers as adults
4. 45 percent have a college degree or vocational diploma
5. The higher their IQ was at 10, the more likely they became vegetarian
6. Even the "almost vegetarians" who ate fish or chicken had a high IQ at 10
7. Vegans scored much lower on their IQ test than their fellow vegetarians

For those of you playing along at home, here are the actual average IQ scores assigned to each group in the study:

- Meat eaters not in vegetarian group - 95.5% of the study - 100
- Vegetarian group without vegans - 4.3% of the study - 105
- Vegan subgroup from vegetarians - 0.1% of the study - 95

But there's just one problem with the results of this study. Actually there are TWO MAJOR problems that I have with the results of this study. Let's look at why this study doesn't make a lick of sense at all.

- There was NO DIFFERENCE in the IQ level of those who were true "vegetarians" and the "almost vegetarians" who ate chicken or fish. If it was the vegetarianism that made them smarter, then wouldn't the meat eaters in that group score lower on the IQ test than their genuine vegetarian peers?

But there's an even BIGGER question to ask.

- What's with the substantial drop in IQ of the vegan group--the most extreme kind of vegetarian there is? Actually, a vegan is nothing more than a vegetarian who chooses not to eat any food that comes from an animal, so why was there such a wide disparity in intelligence dipping below even the meat eaters? Isn't that the REAL story of this study beyond everything else?

Can anyone explain how a meat-eating "almost vegetarian" can have the same IQ as someone who is a real "vegetarian," but then a vegan is more brainless (don't come after me again, vegans, I'm only quoting this study!) than the people who eat meat?

Is your head spinning yet?! 8-O

As crazy as this study is, Dr. Gale has her theory about the end results.

"One explanation for the link between higher IQ and vegetarianism may be that brighter children grow up to think more about what they eat, which in some cases has led them to become vegetarians," Dr. Gale theorized.

Translation: If you're smart you eat vegetables and care about animal welfare, if you're stupid you eat meat and act like a savage beast slaughtering innocent life. But wait a minute! What about those brainless vegans (shall we call them the REAL "total moron" now?), Dr. Gale? Aren't they the prime example of people who tend to "think more about what they eat" and yet their IQ results were anything but stellar? Can somebody explain this monkey wrench in the equation?

Interestingly, Dr. Gale and all but one of her fellow researchers who participated in this study are vegetarians. The lone carnivore in the group was Professor Ian Deary from the University of Edinburgh who said "the link [between IQ and being vegetarian] we have found might not be causal." Ya think?

How, Mr. Deary, have you been able to survive all these years being in an intellectually comatose state of mind and then find yourself working around a bunch of high and mighty vegetarians with an IQ five points higher than yours? How have you been able to hold your ground in the presence of such mental agility all around you? How indeed!

This study appeared in the December 15, 2006 issue of the British Medical Journal.

Dr. Gale wasn't finished with her extrapolation of information that she derived from this extremely suspicious study.

"Although our results suggest that children who are more intelligent may be more likely to become vegetarian as adolescents or young adults, it does not rule out the possibility that such a diet might have some beneficial effect on subsequent cognitive performance," she retorted. "Might the nature of the vegetarians' diet have enhanced their apparently superior brain power? Was this the mechanism that helped them achieve the disproportionate nature of degrees?"

Can you be any more smug and giddy in your rhetorical questions, Dr. Gale? I think it's a bit presumptuous to describe a vegetarian as having "superior brain power" just because a portion of them became educated and successful. It's not universally true across the board as I've eaten meat my entire life (and PROUDLY so!) and consider myself to have above average intelligence. I graduated high school near the top of my class just a few months after my 17th birthday, finished my Bachelor's degree with a double major in just three years at the age of 20, and completed my Master's degree work while still in my 20s.

How can all of this be from a man eating beef, pork, chicken, turkey and fish?

Plus, keep in mind that I not only advanced my education while stuffing my mouth with meat, meat, meat, but I also became morbidly obese in the process weighing in at over 400 pounds just three years ago. Of course, getting fat wasn't from eating the meat, but the excessive amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates.

Now that meat is helping me keep my weight off forever as I am livin' la vida low-carb. I eat some vegetables as part of my healthy diet, but I'm not ashamed to tell anyone that meat is a big part of my dietary habits and is keeping me heart healthy better than a vegetarian or vegan diet ever would have. The low-carb lifestyle saved my life, so I suppose you could say it was a pretty intelligent decision on my part to go on that plan starting January 1, 2004.

I especially enjoyed reading the response to this study from Dr. Rameet S. Uberoi at the University Hospital Lewisham. His letter to the editor of the BMJ entitled "Intelligent Vegetarians" was too juicy not to share with you.

Here are some snippets of what he wrote:

...Brushing aside the fact that there was no difference found in IQ’s between those who were vegetarian and those who ate meat/fish, I am surprised that such claim [that vegetarians are smarter] is possible! Surely consuming meat is not all that bad? It is already know that incidence of dementia is the same in both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, but who are we to argue with the diets of famous meat eaters such as Buddha, Jesus, Aristotle and even the mighty brain of Bill Gates...As a meat eater it gives me great pleasure in avoiding problems such as a lack of essential amino acids, anemia and subacute combined degeneration of the cord. Even the highest rates of food poisoning are attributed to greens based salads. I eagerly join Denmark and New York in turning to animal fats as industrially produced trans-fats have become the new source of all our problems. Eating meat is not all that bad after all.

You gotta love it! Dr. Uberoi, you speak for many of us with your poignant comments about Dr. Gale's study. Truth can be ignored for a while, but one day it will need to be acknowledged by those who oppose it. While this study was a good try at attempting to create evidence of the benefits of eating a vegetarian diet, Dr. Gale, the unfortunate fact of the matter is it was too full of illogical scientific contradictions to be taken seriously.

Would you like my educated advice to you (that is if you feel my meat-eating IQ qualifies to give you a suggestion)? Go back to the drawing board in your research using that high IQ of yours on something useful for a change. How about a head-to-head study comparing the impact of a vegetarian diet with a low-carb diet, hmmm? Are you brave enough to take on that challenge or are you smart enough to know the results will NOT be in your favor? We'll see who the intelligent one is now!

You can encourage Dr. Catharane Gale to conduct that study I suggested and tell her what you think about this one claiming vegetarians have higher IQ's by e-mailing her at crg@mrc.soton.ac.uk.

How Can Bacon Stall Low-Carb Weight Loss?

Are you consuming a lot of bacon and not losing weight?

Courtesy of our friends over at The Weight Loss Daily Blog, I learned something new about the food that most people erroneously stereotype as the staple of livin' la vida low-carb: BACON!

Although the idea that those of us who are on a low-carb diet sit around all day snacking on bacon, eggs and cheese is completely untrue, the popular perception by most uneducated people about this way of eating is that you should eat that way. That's why the people who go on their own version of "the Atkins diet" are robbing themselves of the right way to do low-carb.

Because it seems the nitrates and nitrites that are added to bacon as a way to help preserve their color and protect against the growth of bacteria is actually the culprit in the added risk of cancer and those dreaded weight loss stalls.

When nitrates and nitrites come under intense heat in the curing process, they are transformed into what is called nitrosamines. This problem extends to some other meats as well like sausage, ham and smoked fish, although it is most common in bacon.

The reason for the stall in your low-carb weight loss appears to happen when the fat intake is higher than what is needed to satisfy your hunger according to the column. While the columnist alleges cured meats are high in LDL cholesterol which "is responsible for clogged arteries" (no, it's not!), the fact is that you NEED fat because it serves as your fuel on the low-carb lifestyle.

While I personally haven't eaten bacon very often on my low-carb plan in the past year, I do eat a lot of meat. Primarily, I enjoy turkey breast, chicken, sausage, Wild Alaskan Salmon, steak, and sometimes ham. Bacon is consumed primarily when I eat out at a breakfast-type restaurant or buffet place.

This nitrate and nitrite problem is one low-carbers should certainly watch out for, but it is easily remedied by limiting your intake of bacon and other cured meats or finding alternatives that are nitrate-free.

The article recommends finding "a source of preservative-free, fresh meat, whether it be a local butcher or a mail-order meat source." GREAT IDEA and I'll keep my eyes open for a good source for such products. If you have any recommendations, then please feel free to share in the comments section below.

At the end of the article, there is a warning for people on the low-carb lifestyle to only select meats and portions that keep cholesterol consumption to 300mg or less and fat intake at the prescribed minimum for low-carb diets.

Let's get one thing straight: consuming cholesterol in your diet does NOT increase the cholesterol in your body. Dana Carpender hits this point very hard in her book Every Calorie Counts and it is one worth repeating over and over again. This is one of the most misunderstood health concepts that people still don't understand. Wake up people! It's NOT the cholesterol you eat that gives you high cholesterol!

As for the warning about only eating the amount of fat prescribed on your low-carb plan, what the heck is that? The last time I checked, there is NO limit to the amount of fat you can eat on most low-carb programs, especially Atkins. Fat is the lifeblood of your low-carb weight loss plan and limiting it will not help you shed the pounds any faster. The notion that you'll clog your arteries with fat is as old and outdated as the low-fat diet itself. We have GOT to get over this fat phobia people!

While I appreciate the information regarding nitrates and nitrites from The Weight Loss Daily Blog, the information provided was a mixed bag at best. That's why you must always be discerning and skeptical of any and all information you read about, even what you read here at "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb."

When more people start becoming independent thinkers rather than mind-numbed robots believing everything we hear, then we will see a radical shift in attitude about these long-held dietary beliefs. Until then, we'll have to keep correcting the lies when they rear their ugly head!

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.

Don't Blow Your Low-Carb Plan When Invited To Dinner

This Fredericksburg, VA-based Free Lance-Star article contained some good information for people who are livin' la vida low-carb regarding being invited to friend's house for a meal. With summer cookouts just a few months away, these tips are really important and will keep you on track with your low-carb eating program.

This story was written by a registered dietitian named Jennifer Motl who has a healthy living web site at brighteating.com.

However, Motl did not begin her article on a particularly good note with me because she described the Atkins lifestyle as "meat-based."

I have emphasized this over and over and over (until I'm blue in the face!) that doing a low-carb lifestyle does not require that you eat a lot of meat. It just doesn't. There are plenty of other options for people to choose from when they are livin' la vida low-carb. Nuts, eggs, cheese, green beans, cauliflower, salads, just to name a few. The continual labeling of low-carb as meat exclusive gets a bit nauseating from time to time.

Nevertheless, what's not to like about eating steak, chicken, turkey, pepperoni, ham and more, especially since most of these foods have ZERO carbs?! The way some people describe Atkins, you would think this is all we eat. How boring would that be?

But Motl redeems herself in the remainder of her article by offering tips for both hosts and guests.

For the hosts: "Ask your guests to tell you what they like to eat, and attempt to make one or two of their favorites, even if they are just side dishes."

Whenever my wife and I are invited over to someone's house to eat, the first thing they always ask me is, "What can you eat on your diet?" Aside from the fact that I'm not on a diet and haven't been since starting my low-carb lifestyle (I know, it's just semantics), I politely reply by asking what will be served.

Most main course foods can be eaten as long as there isn't any gravy or sugary sauces on them. For example, I can usually eat meatloaf if it is prepared without bread and ketchup and chicken if it is baked without any sauce or gravy. Most hosts have been very accomodating by setting aside special versions of the foods that everyone else will be eating. And it's not that hard for them, either.

Additionally, if the host is serving a pasta- or potato-based side dish, then I request cauliflower or salad instead. Again, this is not usually a problem and is very easy for them to help you stay on your low-carb plan. However, make sure they don't try to serve you "low-fat" dressings or you'll be getting more hidden sugars and carbs than you bargained for. I usually request the regular version of Hidden Valley Ranch because it's got 1 net carb and is the best-tasting ranch dressing on the planet!

The article also suggests that hosts create a buffet to allow guests to pick and choose what they want to eat. I LOVE BUFFETS!!! It is the absolute best way for me to get exactly what I can eat without worrying about excessive carbs. If you are filling your own plate, then it is YOUR responsibility to get what you are allowed to eat and nothing more. This is the best option for people doing low-carb.

As for the guests: "Do not drop hints or hope the host will read your mind. Instead, state your [low-carb dietary needs] clearly and offer to ... bring a simple substitute if the main dish" is not low-carb.

This is great advice. Don't beat around the bush about your low-carb lifestyle. Some people may not know you are losing weight yet (it wasn't until I lost 100 pounds before anybody noticed!), so don't be bashful and tell the host you are eating low-carb. You might have to explain what that means to some hosts (who may think it only means meat!), but education is always a good thing. They may even thank you for offering to bring a sample low-carb dish for other guests to try. I know my low-carb peanut butter cheesecake balls have always been a hit with people who didn't realize they were "diet" (the recipe for this delectable dessert will be in my book, by the way!).

Motl gives sound advice when she proclaims, "If you are a picky eater or on a weight-loss diet, it's not polite to expect your host to revamp the entire menu to meet your preferences. Instead, eat whatever items and portions you are comfortable with and politely decline the rest."

EXCELLENT ADVICE, INDEED! Even if it means you'll have to eat when you get home, it's better to just eat what you can so you don't get derailed on your low-carb plan. I would only add that you should always be prepared with low-carb snacks wherever you go so you will never get hungry or feel left out when everyone else is eating. Livin' la vida low-carb is not hard is you make it a conscious effort.