Yes, Christine and I have been away for the past couple of weeks while she had endometriosis surgery in Missouri, but we are back home again and ready to bring you more fun and exciting YouTube videos about the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle! THANKS so much to everyone who has subscribed to our videos.
We debuted with a quick promo video late last month and have since recorded two full-length episodes that have garnered hundreds of views already on YouTube. Episode 1 was an introduction about who we are and why we are talking about low-carb living while Episode 2 discussed the kinds of fruit you can eat on a low-carb diet.
Continuing with the theme of the last episode, today we focused on the subject of the vegetables you can eat on the Atkins diet. Yes, contrary to what you might have heard, you CAN eat your veggies when you are livin' la vida low-carb as the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins outlined in his book Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution.
Christine and I show you exactly which vegetables you will want to consume (including one exotic new vegetable I'd never seen before until recently) and explain what NOT to eat. As usual, we have some playful fun to make the video entertaining, so ENJOY:
If you like this video, then please leave a comment at YouTube about it and tell all your friends to check 'em out, too! We really do have a good time making these videos and look forward to creating even more of them for you soon!
By the way, in Episode 3 I cite fellow low-carb YouTuber Kent Altena's fantastic Mashed Fauxtatoes recipe made with cauliflower. You will certainly want to check out that one if you miss mashed potatoes on your low-carb lifestyle.
At the end of the video, we share one of our secret tips for dining out the livin' la vida low-carb way at a popular restaurant chain for less than $10 for both of us! If you are a low-carber and want to pinch those pennies when eating out, then you won't want to miss this tip.
As always, I'd love to know what you think and welcome your comments and suggestions about how to improve these videos. I turned the volume of the music WAY DOWN on this one, so hopefully that was better for everyone who was concerned it was too loud in the previous videos. Let me know what you think. E-mail me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.
Dr. Pierce says fruits and veggies may not prevent breast cancer deaths
Dean Ornish, Joel Fuhrman, and other low-fatties, eat your heart out!
That's because your cherished high-carb, low-fat fruits and vegetables diet took a major blow this week in the largest study of its kind that found women who showed early signs of breast cancer who ate this way did NOT have a lower risk of breast cancer recurrence compared to women who followed a diet consisting of five servings a day of fruits and vegetables as reported in this Yahoo News story.
Well, well, well, what do we have here? It seems the many layers of the low-fat lie onion just keep getting peeled away one-by-one as new research builds the case that this dietary approach is the fraud we know it to be. Ever since this historic 8-year study was released in February 2006 showing a high-carb, low-fat diet does NOT improve the risk of cancer or heart disease as had been claimed previously, it's all been downhill from there.
Lead researcher Dr. John P. Pierce, professor at the University of California San Diego Cancer Center in the Family & Preventive Medicine Cancer Prevention & Control Program, and his fellow researchers observed 3,088 American women (between the ages of 18-70) who were previously diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer and split them into two groups:
INTERVENTION GROUP--1537 of the study participants were randomly assigned to receive a telephone counseling program supplemented with cooking classes and newsletters that promoted daily targets of 5 vegetable servings plus 16 oz of vegetable juice; 3 fruit servings; 30 g of fiber; and 15% to 20% of energy intake from fat.
OR
COMPARISON GROUP--1551 of the study participants followed a written form of the "5-A-Day" dietary guidelines.
The INTERVENTION GROUP ate TWICE as many fruits and vegetables as the COMPARISON GROUP over the course of the study that took place in seven different cities. Each of the women were observed from 6-11 years.
What did the researchers find?
The INTERVENTION GROUP increased their servings of vegetables by 65 percent, fruits by 25 percent, fiber by 30 percent, while LOWERING their fat intake by 13 percent. These changes were confirmed by blood tests among those in that group.
There were a total of 518 recurrences of breast cancer over the average 7.3 years of follow-up among both groups. But the difference between the two groups was insignificant:
INTERVENTION GROUP--256 women (16.7 percent) COMPARISON GROUP--262 women (16.9 percent)
Similarly, there were 315 deaths with eight out of ten of them due directly to the breast cancer, but there was little statistical difference between the two groups:
INTERVENTION GROUP--155 women (10.1 percent) COMPARISON GROUP--160 women (10.3 percent)
The researchers admit that there is plenty of room for discussion about what nutritional approach is best to ward off various types of cancer rather than simply accepting the "all-you-can-eat fruits and veggies" diet that has become the tried and true advice given out by doctors and medical professionals.
Dr. Marcia Stefanick, one of the researchers on this study from Stanford University, told Reuters that she was "surprised and disappointed" by the results of this study.
"I think we believed that by eating real food and nutrient-dense food, we were going to come up with a different outcome, but we didn't," she explained.
Perhaps rather than being upset, Dr. Stefanick, why not learn from the empirical knowledge you have gleaned from this experience to realize perhaps the old adage of eat LOTS of fruits and vegetables was just plain bad advice. It's okay to admit that even if it goes against everything you ever believed about a healthy diet.
Dr. Pierce was a bit more pragmatic in his response to the results explaining there is a "threshold effect" when it comes to your intake of fruits and veggies.
"I look at it the other way," he stated. "We're telling women they don't have to go overboard here. They can have a good quality of life without worrying about their dietary pattern all the time."
Well hallelujah! A voice of reason in the scientific community at last! This obsession with having people eats unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables as if it is the great cure-all has been annoying at best. I've always contended that kind of dietary advice is a copout, mainly because what people consider their veggie intake is mostly potatoes and more specifically, FRIED potatoes.
The researchers said the recommended vegetables are the nutrient-dense, non-starchy dark leafy greens, sweet potatoes and carrots and NOT the popular nutritionally bankrupt ones like iceberg lettuce and the extremely high-carb white potatoes.
One area of study that may be pursued further is whether consuming a low-diet high fruits and vegetables as a young person results in lower breast cancer risk.
What's so glorious about encouraging fruit and vegetable intake?
When you finally come to the place where you realize how much everything you ever knew about diet and health was wrong when you started livin' la vida low-carb, it probably made you wonder what else you've always believed was true that might not be exactly as you have always thought.
Have you ever given serious thought about some things that are commonly believed to be "healthy?" Take, for example, eating fruits and vegetables. GASP! You can't start talking about NOT eating fruits and vegetables, Jimmy. Everyone KNOWS how healthy those are to your diet and removing them from your list of foods is just too extreme.
Sigh.
Nobody is thinking of completely removing ALL fruits and vegetables from your diet. Although there are some people who believe there is no benefit whatsoever to eating these foods on a low-carb diet, I am not one of them. Selective fruits and vegetables have their place for people who are livin' la vida low-carb, but it's not a free-for-all which I'll explain in this post.
Dealing with those who fall for supposedly common sense dietary ideas like eating more fruits and vegetables (borne out of a lack of adequate nutritional education) is something I've come to realize is a fact of life that will not go away easily (but I'm trying my darndest to change that with my blog).
I don't blame people who suffer from what I describe as "educated ignorance," but it is indeed holding us back from progressing forward as an enlightened society. If only people knew how harmful certain fruits and vegetables were to their body, they wouldn't be so quick to embrace them indiscriminately.
It's not so much that eating fruits and vegetables is an unhealthy thing for your body, per se, but you really need to qualify what you mean by "fruits and vegetables." Painting that category of foods in such a broad brush is not a very wise thing to do. Let me explain by showing you some jaw-dropping numbers from one of the leading health organizations in America.
According to the report entitled "2006 ADA Nutrition Recommendations: Context of Dietary Trends" from 1999-2000, the following is the breakdown of the actual vegetables consumed by adults 20 years and over:
Others-35% Fried potatoes-22% Other potatoes-13% Tomatoes-11% Dark green/orange-11% Legumes/beans-8%
EEEEK! Over one-third of the vegetable consumption by adults is the high-carb potatoes, most of which is made up of French fries ostensibly from fast food restaurants like McDonald's. As much as you want to argue that a potato is a healthy vegetable, I would beg to differ. Not even if you chill it to lower the glycemic load can you convince me these spuds are something I need in my body. NEVER again!
Speaking of children, check out the vegetable servings from that same ADA dietary trends report for children ages 2-19 years (don't pass out when you see this!):
Fried potatoes-46% Others-22% Other potatoes-10% Tomatoes-9% Dark green/orange-7% Legumes/beans-6%
Yes, you read that right! Almost two-thirds of the "healthy" vegetable consumption by the future of our society is made up of potatoes. SAY WHAT?! These extremely starchy, carb-loaded vegetables are as harmful to your child's weight and health as eating table sugar by the spoonful! Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Oh yummy...NOT!
Can you see how the McDonald's culture has so gripped our nation's youth that nearly half of their vegetable intake is from French fries? Yikeseroo! And this is what I'm talking about when I say it's a copout to generically say "eat fruits and vegetables." Without a qualifying statement to explain what you mean, then that is not necessarily a good thing.
In fact, I think it should be criminal to make the claim that a potato is a vegetable. Here's the truth about potatoes--It's poison for your blood sugar! You don't need it, you'll never need it, and you won't miss having it. Trust me on this, you won't.
Instead, there are some VERY good vegetables that should be consumed as part of a healthy diet because they are non-starchy and provide some excellent nutrients for your body. These are the kind of veggies that contribute to the doubling of vegetable consumption on low-carb. They include, but aren't limited to:
Green leafy veggies like kale, spinach, and lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, celery, and cabbage
Even vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, and onions are probably not a good idea when you are trying to lose weight on a low-carb nutritional approach. Add them back in limited quantities once you reach your goal weight, but avoid them to help keep your carb counts low enough to keep on losing weight and avoiding stalls. You'll be glad you did!
Okay, that's great for veggies, but what about fruits? Are there any a low-carber can eat? This is an interesting question that one of my readers asked me about in an e-mail this week. Here's what she wrote:
"Can you tell me if its okay to eat an apple each day on the low-carb diet along with some vegetables like salad? I eat lots of fish and meat. Or is the apple too sweet? I still need to lose weight and want to do what's best for me.
Am I better to skip the fruit for a while to lose weight? I love fruit but can manage without it as long as I have my veggies. Thanks for your help."
Very good question and I'm happy to answer it. As long as you stick to the non-starchy veggies I listed above, then you'll be okay. But the apple is probably not a good idea when you are losing weight. One apple has about 20g carbs consisting mostly of sugar. The worst fruit of all is a banana with close to 30g carbs, again LOADED with sugar. Not far behind are sugary raisins--are you seeing the trend here?
We all think that it's fruit, so it must be good for us. But these are clearly NOT healthy for you no matter how you slice it when you are livin' la vida low-carb. This is a wake-up call for a lot of people who THINK they're eating healthy.
If you just remember that sugar is not your friend on low-carb, regardless of the source, then you'll avoid the heartache of disappointment when your weight loss plan does not help you shed the pounds.
Another big no-no that a lot of people pretend is healthy for them and consider part of their fruit intake is orange juice. Did you know there is almost as much sugar in a glass of OJ as there is in a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola?
Then you've got juice products like Sunny Delight and Juicy Juice which have tons of added sugars in them and it's a potent potion for sending your blood sugar on a tricky rollercoaster ride. Is that REALLY healthy for you? I don't think so.
Your body doesn't care if the sugar you take in comes from a supposedly "healthy" fruit or a candy bar, your blood sugar spikes in reaction to it the same way. Focusing on the low-glycemic (or low-sugar) fruits is key or even skip them altogether until you reach your weight loss goal.
Making the right choices as it relates to fruits and vegetables is an important distinction that is never made by the so-called health "experts" who advise to eat fruits and vegetables in unlimited quantities since they're so good for you. If most Americans are eating potatoes and bananas as well as drinking orange juice and grape juice, then is it any wonder why our nation is so fat and getting fatter by the moment? Chew on that one for a while.
So the next time you hear someone give you the "fruit and vegetable" copout excuse claiming they are eating healthy and you are eating unhealthy because you don't eat as much of those foods as they do, then you tell them that you're eating the RIGHT kind of fruits and vegetables for your healthy low-carb lifestyle. Then just stare at their face because it will be priceless! :)
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!
Do you like vegetables, but get tired of steaming them or dipping them raw into Ranch dressing? Are there ways you spruce up your vegetable intake while on a low-carb diet that you'd be willing to share with others?
If so, then my friend and fellow low-carb blogger Suzique from the "Waisted In The Wasteland" blog wants to hear from you because she is conducting a vegetable recipe contest now through midnight on Tuesday, March 13, 2007. Here's your chance to show the world that low-carbers aren't all just a bunch of salivating meat-eaters only (although there's absolutely nothing at all wrong with devouring a great big steak!). :)
Anyone who submits a low-carb veggie recipe in the comments section of the contest post gets put into a drawing for a new copy of a book written by George Mateljan called The World's Healthiest Foods (a $40 value). While it's not a "low-carb" book, per se, it is chock full of many delicious nutrient-dense foods that are appropriate for people who are livin' la vida low-carb.
Once you submit your recipe, then be sure to go back and visit the "Waisted In The Wasteland" blog on Wednesday, March 14th to see a compilation of all the recipes entered and to find out who the winner is. Enter Suzique's contest RIGHT NOW by clicking here.
Dr. Osterholm leads panel looking into E. coli produce outbreaks
After last year's public relations nightmare following the media frenzy that ensued when the E. coli virus contaminated bagged spinach products in California killing over 100 and making thousands more sick all across the United States, the nation's top manufacturer of ready-to-eat salads has stepped forward to take the lead in trying to prevent something like this from happening again.
Fresh Express, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International, Inc., is the #1 seller of bagged salads in North America with more than 20 million customers eating their healthy spinach and other green leafy vegetable products every single week. Concerned about the long-term fallout of the spinach crisis in the Fall of 2006, they have made a rather unique and unprecedented move: a $2 million donation towards an independent scientific advisory panel looking into preventing the dangerous spread of E. coli to future spinach and other produce crops.
This is a bold initiative by Fresh Express considering none of their products have ever been shown to cause any food borne illnesses in company history. Even still, they are doing everything they can to regain the public's trust in the safety of their products, something their Food Safety Chief Jim Lugg assured me recently when I interviewed him about this subject.
The panel consists of six nationally recognized food safety experts from both the state and federal government levels who have been looking into the E. coli problems on a voluntary basis since May 2006 to determine why the contamination is happening. Their research is considered vital to the prevention of future outbreaks.
Chaired by Dr. Michael T. Osterholm from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, the panel also includes Dr. Jeff Farrar from the California Department of Health Services, Dr. Bob Buchanan from the FDA, Dr. Robert Tauxe from the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Bob Gravani from Cornell University, and Dr. Craig Hedberg also from The University of Minnesota.
This group of food safety experts has already uncovered five of the most critical research priorities for them to examine in the coming months, according to Dr. Osterholm.
"We systematically used our individual areas of expertise to scrutinize the entire supply chain and ultimately uncover the areas where we collectively agreed more research was necessary," Dr. Osterholm explained.
These priorities include but are not limited to:
1. Determining how E. coli is internalized in lettuce or spinach. 2. Identifying ways to E. coli from spreading to green vegetables. 3. Conducting crop studies to assess the severity of the contamination. 4. Looking into how E. coli can multiply during the harvesting of produce. 5. Finding out if E. coli is able to survive the composting processes.
These and many other kinds of rigorous research initiatives are being conducted by Dr. Osterholm and his team this year to help the fresh-cut produce industry deal with this very serious and potentially costly problem. The results of their research findings will be made public to help educate the entire fresh produce industry as well as consumers about why this is happening.
No date has been set for the release of the panel's conclusions, but it is likely expected sometime in late 2007. The availability of the $2 million donated by Fresh Express is immediate and the panel has free reign to use the money as they see fit to conduct the research process in as independent and thorough manner as possible.
In the meantime, Fresh Express president Tanios Viviani says he is proud to be on the frontlines of the research looking into the E. coli problem which has the potential to completely destroy the industry completely should another outbreak hit as hard as it did in late 2006.
"At Fresh Express, food safety has been and will always be our No. 1 priority in every phase of our operations," he said. "We have long been dedicated to food-safety innovation, and this research effort is part of that ongoing commitment. We are grateful to these leading experts for their generous contribution of time and expertise to guide this initiative."
Viviani added that he is confident the panel will offer plenty of "new knowledge, practices, and technologies that the entire fresh-cut produce industry can use to provide consumers with ready-to-eat produce that is consistently safe and healthy."
The "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog will continue to follow this story in the coming months and report to you any further developments that you need to be aware of, especially when the panel's findings are released.
America's top ready-to-eat bagged salad company Fresh Express has attempted to regain the public's trust in the safety of their products. To that end, I recently conducted an interview with their food safety chief Jim Lugg to ask him the hard questions that I'm sure are still lingering in the back of your mind about buying spinach.
I appreciated his candor about the E. coli scare and hope you feel as confident as I do that spinach is indeed safe to eat again (I've already purchased about a dozen bags of spinach in just the past month!). ENJOY this interview and please leave your comments about it at the end of this post.
1. I'm pleased to welcome to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog the food safety chief for ready-to-eat salad company Fresh Express and 43-year industry veteran Jim Lugg. It's been quite a year for you and your company dealing with the challenges of the last few months of 2006. When the E. coli news started spreading across the media, what was your initial reaction to it?
Our reaction was one of concern: One food borne illness related to the leafy green category is one too many. We were fairly certain we were not involved in the outbreak due to our rigorous food safety programs that actually begin right in the field and carry through all the way to delivery of our products. Thanks to the comprehensive scope of these programs and our day-in and day-out focus on food safety, in our entire 18-year history, Fresh Express has never been epidemiologically linked to a food-borne illness outbreak.
2. Do you think the news media tended to over sensationalize the story in order to attract viewers and readers or was the massive coverage by them warranted?
I think the media is on very, very tight deadlines and don't always take the time to educate themselves about a situation thoroughly enough to write articles that tell the whole story. As a result, they can send incomplete or inaccurate signals to consumers.
3. This tragic event has undoubtedly taken its toll on your company's profits despite the fact that your company had nothing at all to do with the E. coli strand that sickened so many across the nation. What has Fresh Express done to reassure its customers that their products are and have always been safe to eat?
We have stepped up our communications efforts to describe our exceptional food safety programs to help them better understand how detailed and effective our food safety practices are at every stage of the salad-making process.
4. Unfortunately, no matter how much you tell some people about what you are doing to protect their health, you will still have those who want some sort of an incentive to come back. What is Fresh Express doing to woo their skeptical customers into buying leafy greens again?
Our research shows that the price of packaged salads is not the issue among those who have stopped purchasing. So no amount of couponing will influence this group. The main thing we are doing to woo these customers back is to continually improve our food safety program. We've spent millions over the past 10 years to make Fresh Express a leader in food safety and this will continue aggressively.
5. We're getting mixed message from FDA Food Safety spokesman Dr. David Acheson who believes there are long-term food safety issues regarding foodborne illness associated with eating spinach and other green leafy that need to be addressed. What is he referring to?
He is simply referring to the disparity within the industry--that unfortunately, most companies do not have the same rigorous approach to food safety that we do. All companies should adopt comprehensive, end-to-end programs like Fresh Express' stringent focus on PREVENTION. Until they do, consumers need to be smart about what brands they purchase.
6. What steps are being taken by Fresh Express to prevent an outbreak of E. coli or other such virus from showing up among your crops?
Fresh Express developed and implemented the first comprehensive and multi-step Raw Product Food Safety and Quality Program within the industry. That program is even stronger today and is designed to prevent problems through very specific practices in the fields where the lettuce and spinach is grown and harvested. These practices range from testing irrigation water and buffering the fields against wildlife or livestock to strict worker sanitation requirements.
7. Is there anything a consumer should do with the green leafy vegetables they buy from Fresh Express to protect themselves against possible illness? Do they need to wash the vegetables again even if the bag says they are prewashed?
Our salads and spinach are thoroughly washed and ready to eat. All consumers need to do is pop open the bag and enjoy! If consumers do decide to rewash the salads--which we do not recommend--they need to be sure they are using careful food preparation practices in their kitchens. Cleanliness is extremely important and they should especially watch out not to cross-contaminate the salads with other food items such as raw chicken or even other unwashed veggies that might have been in or near the sink or cutting board or so on.
8. The sad part of this E. coli story is that spinach is an excellent part of just about every healthy lifestyle whether it is vegetarian, low-fat or low-carb. What is Fresh Express doing to help educate people about why they should be eating more spinach and are there any practical ways to encourage consumers who may have never eaten it previously to try it now?
We're doing quite a bit. We're using in-store opportunities to communicate directly with consumers. We are also reaching out to the media and have already had various stories and ads appear, with more planned.
9. Nothing beats a big plate of spinach leaves topped with a salmon steak or grilled chicken strips and yet you can't find this kind of meal at most American restaurants. In fact, Applebee's recently pulled all of the spinach from their popular new menu in response to the fear generated by the E. coli event. Is Fresh Express prepared to help reassure these restaurants that their product should be served with pride to their diners?
Our industry associations are working actively with the organizations who represent white tablecloth, themed, casual dine-in and quick serve restaurants.
10. THANK YOU again for sharing just a little bit of time with my readers today, Mr. Lugg! I'm sure this experience has provided a rollercoaster ride of emotions for the leaders of your company as you attempt to deal with a crisis that could very well pop up again in the future. What are you doing right now to prepare for the "next time" because there will inevitably be one at some point? Can Fresh Express survive another E. coli outbreak even if your crops are never compromised?
We stand behind our food safety programs and our products and we've been pleasantly surprised to learn that our loyal consumers are standing behind us as well!
Please visit FreshExpress.com for more information about the company.
By the way, you may want to take advantage of their New Year New You promotion where you can get a FREE PEDOMETER with the purchase of any two Fresh Express products. All you need to do is fill out this mail-in form and you'll have your pedometer in 6-8 weeks.
Your purchase must be made by March 31, 2007 to qualify and postmarked no later than April 7, 2007 to take advantage of this offer. I've already sent my first form off in the mail for my FREE PEDOMETER! In fact, I may do it again with my next purchases, too. Hey, what can I say, I LOVE spinach!
After the E. coli spinach scare, can Fresh Express make a comeback?
I don't know about you, but I am so glad to FINALLY see bagged spinach back on grocery store shelves again following the recent E. coli outbreak in California in September. At the time, I blogged about what the long-term fallout of this crisis would be and whether people would start purchasing spinach again.
Here's what I wrote at the time about what the spinach companies face:
"The spinach and green leafy vegetable industry will be fighting an uphill public relations battle in the coming months. They need to somehow reassure consumers that it really is safe to begin eating their products again. A national marketing campaign on television and radio may be needed to get people to begin purchasing these products again."
Well, I was prophetic with what I wrote because that's exactly what the leading packaged salad company Fresh Express is doing. Just before Thanksgiving, I received a personalized e-mail from a representative at Fresh Express who said they read my blog and appreciate my support for consuming fresh salad greens as part of my healthy low-carb lifestyle.
They said they read about my concerns regarding the safety of their product following the E. coli incident and assured me they take every precaution to ensure the highest safety and quality of their products. Fresh Express referenced this USA Today article that explains the stringent standards that Fresh Express demands of the crop growers which make them the food safety leader in their industry. It's an educational read, so check it out!
Fresh Express Food Safety Chief Jim Lugg inspects the crops
There will be a bloggers-only press conference taking place in a couple of weeks with Jim Lugg, food safety chief for Fresh Express to answer any questions or concerns about the consumer safety of the Fresh Express products. If you have any specific concerns or questions that you would like for me to ask Mr. Lugg, then please e-mail them to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I will certainly report back to you any relevant information that comes out of that.
Then, in today's mail I received the weekly newspaper sales flyer for my favorite local grocery store and noticed they were featuring the Fresh Express product line in a special front-page fold on the right-hand side of the paper. All of the Fresh Express bagged salads, including Baby Spinach, Spring Mix, Green & Crisp and Hearts Of Romaine, among others were featured on sale for BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! Sweet! I LOVE a BOGO sale! :)
At the bottom of the pictures of the Fresh Express ad read this:
"OUR PROMISE TO YOU: When you buy Fresh Express ready-to-eat salads, you have our pledge to provide the absolute freshest, safest, and highest quality salads and greens available. FOOD SAFETY, OUR NUMBER 1 PRIORITY."
I personally started buying spinach again about two weeks ago. This is a product that people who are livin' la vida low-carb should be eating as part of their healthy lifestyle because it is chock full of some essential nutrients that your body can use. Nothing beats a big plate of spinach leaves with some fresh grilled chicken, cheese, sunflower seeds, and Ranch dressing. I could eat that at every meal! :)
How about you? Have you started eating spinach again yet? I think the public panic has now passed and it's probably time we start supporting companies like Fresh Express who are doing everything they can to reassure and protect their customers from harm. The E. coli issue will unfortunately keep some people away from spinach for good, but that's an unreasonable reaction since the source of the problem has been identified and taken care of. It's time to come back to spinach again.
In fact, here's an incentive for you to go buy a bag of spinach this week:
Click on the image above to print the 55 cent coupon
Go ahead, try a bag! Even if you have never purchased bagged spinach before, give it a whirl. You may find like I did that you enjoy eating it more than you think. And it's so incredibly healthy for you, too! EAT UP, low-carbers!
Dietitian Juliette Kellow is obviously not a fan of the Atkins diet
It's that time of year again when those who think they know what diets people need to do and not do so freely share their opinions about what they think is healthy, nutritional, and safe. Of course, at the same time, they are just as eager to blab on and on about what diets they think are decidedly unhealthy, lacking in nutrition, and even allegedly dangerous. As I have said in the past, you should be very wary of any "expert" weight loss advice because the source may not be very reliable.
Furthermore, do I even need to tell you which ones a typical dietitian thinks are good versus the one ones that are supposedly bad? No, I don't because the examples of the intense and bitter feelings against livin' la vida low-carb have been evident with just about every dietitian who has ever written about or uttered an opinion on this amazingly healthy lifestyle. Click here to see just a few examples of this kind of stupidity from these self-proclaimed health "experts" that I have highlighted at my blog. The concerted effort by these people to not just maim but completely destroy all remnants of low-carb from modern-day life is as clear to see as the protruding stomachs of a majority of the world's population.
Well, even still we've got another dietitian and health columnist today from Mirror.co.uk who continues with the Atkins-bashing party. Her name is Juliette Kellow and her bio describes her as a "bright and bubbly" professional who seeks to help people lose weight with her "wealth of experience in health, food and diet." HA! What you will quickly find is that Kellow shares more of the same old garbage information about low-carb because it is simply mindless and ridiculous attacks against the low-carb lifestyle. Will these people ever grow up and get a brain for once? We can only hope...SOMEDAY!
In the article entitled "A Decade Of Diets But Which Should You Try," Kellow gives her own personal lowdown on the most popular diets from the past ten years including Weight Watchers, The Food Combining Diet (never heard of!), Low GI Diet, South Beach Diet, Detox Diet, Blood Type Diet, Atkins Diet, and The Zone Diet. As you can see, half of these are considered "low-carb" plans. However, Kellow was not afraid to tell you quite explicitly which one she thinks was the worst among them: The Atkins Diet!
My blogging friend and fellow triple-digit Atkins diet weight loss success story Kent Altena wrote a letter to the editor of Mirror.co.uk to express his concerns about how Kellow so blatantly distorted the truth about what the Atkins diet is about in her column. Kent did such an outstanding job with it that I'd like to share with you what he wrote. It is a fantastic, fact-filled response that exposes the malicious lies that Kellow tried to get away with! Not gonna happen!
Here is the classic masterpiece response that Kent wrote:
I would urge your health correspondent, Juliette Kellow, to actually research the topics before actually writing about them. I am of course referring to her recent "Decade of Diets" article where she reviews the popular diet plans. Her review of the Atkins Diet was chock full of misconceptions and gaping holes about this way of eating that were so large a truck could drive right through them!
I am an avid follower of the Atkins way of eating and have lost over 200 pounds on the diet. Because of the gross misrepresentation that Kellow made with her column, I would like to respond to each of her points individually to share the truth:
"HOW IT WORKS This high-protein diet cuts out carbs so your body begins to burn fat. Bread, potatoes, pasta, milk and fruit are off-limits but you can eat meat, fish, cheese, cream and butter."
There is not a single phase of the Atkins diet that cuts out carbs altogether. Her statement simply ignores the fact that there are four distinct phases to the diet and she conveniently leaves out the fact that vegetables included even in the Atkins diet. In fact, during the Induction phase people are encouraged to eat six servings of vegetables per day, which is considerably more than the average person eats. The purpose of the Atkins diet is to simply get people to take back control of their eating first and foremost and then begin adding back foods that are healthy for them long-term.
THE PROS You lose weight quickly - around 6-10lb in the first two weeks, slowing to 1-3lb a week after this.
No argument here, but let's not forget that the point of the Atkins diet is not to lose weight but to learn how to eat healthy.
THE CONS Research shows this diet is unhealthy. A high fat intake increases the risk of heart disease, a lack of fruit, veg and fibre are linked to cancer and excessive protein may cause kidney problems. Side effects include bad breath, fatigue, nausea, constipation, headaches and insomnia. And veggies can forget it.
Boy, there's a lot of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) being spread in those statements, Ms. Kellow! Most of the current scientific research is showing how beneficial to your health a low-carb dietary approach really is. I eat more vegetables today than I ever did before I went on the Atkins diet. Additionally, Dr. Atkins recommended in his books for people to eat vegetables high in fiber rather than ones high in starch. I don't know where you are getting the notion that the Atkins diet is lacking of vegetables because it is certainly not from the Atkins books! Certainly some of the side effects you mention can happen when you are first getting in a state of ketosis, but I'll take them over obesity and diabetes any day! Atkins or obesity: Which do you think is more dangerous, Ms. Kellow?! The good news is that most of the side effects you mention are gone after the first few days of Induction.
JULIETTE'S VERDICT There are lots of healthier diets. If you must, follow it for two weeks and make it healthier by choosing lean meat, grilling rather than frying and skipping butter and cream.
Skipping butter and cream for trans-fat-loaded margarine or flavor-free skim milk? Umm, NO THANK YOU! Why would I follow the Atkins diet for just two weeks and then leave just as the results are beginning to happen? I would highly encourage Ms. Kellow to simply admit that she doesn't know one single fact about the Atkins diet and how it really is more than just eating meat, cheese, and bacon for three straight meals!
WOO HOO, YOU GO GET 'EM, KENT! Man, I must be rubbing off on you with a response like that! LOL! I enjoyed the way you broke down each point one by one because it really was loaded with factual errors that an "experienced" health writer should not be making. But we know why she wrote what she did and it has to do with her low-fat/low-calorie/portion control agenda. There's no doubt about that.
Just look what Kellow said about Weight Watchers:
Eat or drink whatever you like, providing you stick to your daily points allowance. Points are based on the calorie and saturated fat content of foods so ultimately you're following a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet. Counting points takes away the need to tot up calories or fat. And it's a good way to learn about healthy eating.
Says who?! What makes Weight Watchers "healthy eating" and the Atkins diet NOT, Ms. Kellow? The senile subjectivity of a "healthy diet" is something that people who are livin' la vida low-carb have had to deal with from day one of their plan. The pervading myth that low-fat is inherently good and low-carb is obviously bad must stop if we are ever going to move forward with getting a handle on obesity. What happened to rational thinking and open-mindedness, hmmmm?
She got in more comments in her review of the other low-carb plans:
- GI Diet--"When combined with a low-fat intake, the GI diet is a great way to lose weight." - South Beach Diet--"The first two weeks are similar to the Atkins diet - this means you won't get your five daily portions of fruit and veg and may suffer similar side-effects. This diet is more flexible than other low-carb plans and requires serious willpower only for the first fortnight." - The Zone--Trying to work out how to make each meal and snack meet the 40:30:30 ratio is almost impossible, unless you have a degree in nutrition or plenty of spare time. As with all low-carb plans, this is likely to be lacking in fibre and certain nutrients. There are loads of easier diets.
"Easier?!" Is that what losing weight is all about, Ms. Kellow? Nobody ever said weight loss was going to be easy, but frankly speaking on a personal level, eating a low-carb lifestyle has been one of the easiest diet plans I have ever followed in my life! Too bad I can't say the same about my low-fat diet experience. Talk about a hard diet to follow and to keep following over the long-term. I pity those who have fooled themselves into believing that they HAVE to eat that way for the rest of their life to be healthy. It's simply not true and the proof is in the fact that people like me and Kent have lost 200 pounds each and kept it off for several years now.
Special thanks to my friend Kent Altena for sharing his impressive response to Kellow's misguided remarks about the Atkins diet. We all need to openly challenge the status quo health "experts" when they make these kind of ridiculous comments about livin' la vida low-carb in places where people can be influenced such as a newspaper column. I try to find them and respond when I can, but YOU should be on the lookout for them and reply when appropriate as well.
If we ever hope to change the hearts and minds of people concerning low-carb living, then it must begin with our staunch and undying support for what we believe in. Even if that means taking on the "experts" like dietitians. Don't be intimidated to tell them they are wrong about livin' la vida low-carb because they usually are!
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:
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:
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.
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.
After tackling the major questions about the Induction phase of the Atkins diet over the past month or so, Kent Altena has moved on to videoblogging about the Ongoing Weight Loss phase, also known as OWL.
While Induction seems to get all the attention on the low-carb lifestyle, Kent accurately points out that OWL is what separates the people who are successful at livin' la vida low-carb from those who are not. For me personally, I stuck close to 30-35g carbs daily for most of my OWL phase because anything higher would have slowed down my weight loss substantially. With more than 100 pounds to lose after Induction, I knew I needed to keep my carbohydrate intake as low as possible for maximum weight loss. It worked!
Check out Kent's latest video on OWL:
ONGOING WEIGHT LOSS PHASE--END OF A GOOD THING?
I LOVED this video because Kent answers some of the popular questions that people have about low-carb diets. Do you ever get to eat fruits and vegetables again? Are you stuck giving up carbs forever on the Atkins diet? Will my weight loss stop if I start eating more carbs than Induction? Wanna know the answers to these questions, then watch the video!
The purpose of OWL is two-fold: 1. To see how your body will react to adding more carbs to your diet. 2. To determine your Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing (CCLL).
Both of these are very important as you are livin' la vida low-carb and should not be taken for granted. Listen to your body and do what's right for you. There's no hard and fast rule of thumb in this regard. The more you have to lose, the closer to Induction you should remain. Does this mean you won't lose weight on OWL? Of course not. But it will likely be slower.
With that said, there is one huge advantage to the OWL phase that you are not afforded with Induction. You get to add back more carbohydrates to your diet in 5g daily increments each week. That 5g may not seem like a lot, but it gives you the flexibility to eat more carbs while still losing weight. Kent reminds you to still eat enough fat and protein as the mainstays of your diet and avoid the obvious pitfall of falling back into burning carbs for fuel. That would NOT be good.
When you have been on low-carb for a while and have figured out how many carbs you can eat and still lose weight, then you will notice your awareness of foods and what they do to you is enhanced. You know to avoid the ones that trigger cravings while enjoying those foods that leave you satisfied without carbing up.
What can you add back, you ask?
Kent lists the 9 rungs in order:
1. Vegetables (non-starchy) 2. Dairy (soft cheeses) 3. Nuts and Seeds 4. Berries and Melons 5. Wine and low carb liquors 6. Legumes/Beans 7. Fruits other than berries (in appropriate amounts) 8. Starchy Vegetables 9. Whole Grains
Be very careful about how fast up the rung you go with adding back these foods. In my personal experience with this, I only got to rung #4 during OWL and actually have not ventured any further down the rung since. That has been my choice, but it's working out for me. I know my limits and those things from #5-#9 would start packing on the pounds again.
Kent also shared his Rules Of OWL:
1. Keep protein and fat as the mainstays of your diet. 2. Increase daily carbs by no more than 5g weekly. 3. Add new foods in the order on the carbohydrate ladder. 4. Add one new food group at a time. 5. Eat new foods 3 or less times weekly, but then eat it daily. 6. Stop new foods ASAP if you weight gain or have cravings. 7. Stay on OWL until you are within 10 pounds of your goal.
For additional resources on OWL, check out the links provided at Kent's blog.
Dr. Feinman saw incredible behavioral changes of actual low-carbers
The results of a survey of 3,000 members of a popular low-carb forum were published today and the results of the survey showed some very surprising results about the dietary habits of people who are livin' la vida low-carb.
Lead researcher Dr. Richard D. Feinman, along with Dr. Mary C. Vernon and Dr. Eric C. Westman, wanted to see what kinds of changes that real-life low-carb dieters make when they begin counting carbohydrates for weight loss and improved health.
According to the survey of members of the Active Low-Carber's Forum, low-carb dieters aren't gorging themselves on tons of fatty foods as the popular media and opponents of the low-carb lifestyle suggest. Instead, they are actually replacing the old starchy and sugary foods that were previously consumed with lots of green leafy vegetables and salads. You may recall that I previously referenced the preliminary results of this survey last year when I blogged about how people who go on a low-carb diet tend to double their vegetable consumption.
In fact, 54 percent of the survey participants increased their salad greens with 34 percent reporting "double their usual consumption" of green vegetables to replace the starch and sugars they had been eating.
Additionally, a small percentage of respondents said they had drastically increased consumption of such high-fat foods as beef, bacon, and butter--foods that most people believe are the staples of a low-carb diet. But what the researchers found was that half of those people who lost 30 or more pounds on low-carb and kept it off for a year had not significantly increased their consumption of those foods. One exception was the lower-fat chicken. Thirty-four percent of low-carb dieters had doubled their chicken consumption.
In regards to the reaction from family doctors, Dr. Feinman said he was surprised by the change in attitude about low-carb living in the medical community. Half of the survey participants said they consulted with their doctor about going on low-carb before and during their experience and 55 percent of them said their doctor supported them in their effort along with another 30 percent who said their doctor displayed no opinion or support until weight loss happened.
Dr. Feinman said this is an important shift in thinking that is happening.
"Physicians can prescribe a diet for people who want to do low-carb that involves replacing starch and sugar with green vegetables and salads, a diet that few could object to on conventional health- or nutrition-related grounds," Dr. Feinman explained.
Oh, they'll still find a way to object to it, Dr. Feinman. But the clear message of this survey is that all the stereotypical biases against livin' la vida low-carb are dead in the water WRONG! This survey clearly shows that is true.
But the survey turned up another bug-a-boo surprise about portion control. Most of the survey participants did not actively engage in watching their portions beyond the natural responses to restricting carbs, but over half said they felt like they are eating less food now than they did before starting low-carb. Dr. Feinman said this should serve "as a model" for doctors interested in helping their patients lose weight.
"Most people were happy with the diet and a section of narrative comments produced consistent responses of 'have more energy,'" Dr. Feinman added.
Indeed we do, Dr. Feinman. The answers to this 27-item questionnaire were quite revealing about the actual behaviors of people following a low-carb regimen. The demographics of the average respondent show that they were mostly women and mostly significantly overweight with a significant number intending to and, in many cases, succeeding at losing more than 100 pounds. Most of them follow the Atkins or an Atkins-like diet.
One notable statistic from the survey was the fact that most of the respondents did not turn to the government or health agencies for information about their diet and health. HA! I wonder why with all the low-fat, low-calorie, portion-control propaganda they relentlessly push on the American people day in and day out! Good for these survey respondents for bucking the trend and learning about other ways to lose weight and get healthy.
The results of Dr. Feinman's survey were published today in the Nutrition Journal.
10-3-06 UPDATE: The always entertaining and ever-witty Dr. Mike Eades blogged about this survey today at his popular blog. Check it out!
With the dust settling from the E. coli outbreak, will you be buying spinach?
Okay, it's all clear now. There's no need to panic any longer. The outbreak has been contained and spinach is now okay to be consumed.
That's the message in this Reuters story about the recent E. coli spinach scare that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wanted to communicate on Friday.
You will recall the nationwide uproar that hit in mid-September when E. coli was discovered in spinach in eight states with 50 people sick and one dead. In the two weeks since, the number of states involved has increased to 26 with 97 hospitalized and three total presumed dead because of the outbreak.
If you have tried to purchase spinach over the past couple of weeks, you probably couldn't because there was a total recall of all fresh spinach products in grocery stores and restaurants all across this country. But with the FDA declaring spinach to be safe for consumption again, spinach is expected to return to shelves and on salad bars at your favorite restaurants again within a week or so.
I went shopping at my local grocery store earlier today and the bagged greens section looked pretty skimpy still. Then we went out to dinner at a restaurant tonight and I overheard a server tell a customer that they would not be able to have a certain menu item because it's got spinach in it and they're not serving spinach right now.
Since this was first announced, I've personally avoided eating spinach (obviously!) and even salad greens for the most part until this outbreak with E. coli passed. It was a decision I could most certainly live with and don't regret one bit.
But what now? What will be the long-term fallout from this E. coli spinach scare? Will people feel comfortable eating spinach again despite the assurances from the FDA that everything is fine? Maybe, but the concern may not be over just yet.
The FDA said they are still very worried about a rash of food poisonings resulting from fresh greens like spinach and even lettuce which have all come from California-based farms. That is why stronger regulations are being proposed by the FDA. Nevertheless, they still say so confidently that it's okay to eat spinach again.
Doesn't this remind you of the constant message Americans heard in the days and weeks following the September 11, 2001 attacks when our government leaders said, "Just go about your normal daily lives as if nothing has happened?" While an E. coli outbreak is not the same as a terrorist attack, I think it's safe to say life will not be the same again in either case.
FDA Food Safety spokesman Dr. David Acheson said the spinach that will be available to consumers by early October will "be as safe as it was before this outbreak."
Is that supposed to be reassuring, Dr. Acheson? If it was so safe BEFORE the outbreak, then why did this happen in the first place? Even scarier are the lingering doubts about whether spinach is really safe to eat or not.
"There are some longer-term issues that need to be addressed," he said.
Yes, go ahead and get that spinach Mr. and Mrs. Consumer because we HOPE it's gonna be okay. Argh! Talk about your proverbial rock and a hard place! They're still investigating Natural Selection Foods in San Juan Bautista, California regarding their role in this E. coli outbreak which showed up under the name brand Dole.
What gets me is the fact that Dr. Acheson is still so adamant they have "serious concerns" that need to be addressed regarding leafy greens and even lettuce, but he also says it's okay to eat the spinach again.
"The FDA and the state of California have previously expressed serious concerns with continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens," Dr. Acheson said.
Which is it, Dr. Acheson? Is it safe or not? Why all this talk out of both sides of your mouth? He's even discussing what they NEED TO BE DOING to prevent this from happening again and spreading to other leafy veggies.
"And as part of our longer term strategy, FDA and the state of California expect industry to develop a plan to minimize the risk of a further outbreak of E. coli 0157 not just in spinach but in all leafy greens including lettuce," he explained.
EEEEEK! With 20 E. coli outbreaks since 1996, most of which have originated from California, Dr. Acheson said farming practices need to be reviewed to make sure the cattle that caused the outbreak are kept far enough away from the crop fields as possible. Physical barriers may even need to be constructed to keep the animals from endangering the crop again.
"Having cattle that may or may not be carrying 0157 that are uphill and upstream of a field that is growing a fresh product that is going to be consumed without cooking obviously raises concerns and questions," Dr. Acheson concluded.
How does this make you feel if you are used to eating spinach and other green leafy vegetables as part of your healthy lifestyle? Will you be changing your diet to avoid these products now because of the E. coli scare? Or will you go back to eating spinach leaves as you did before?
Before I started livin' la vida low-carb, I didn't even know there was fresh spinach leaves. To me, spinach was a disgustingly slimy glob of green stuff that came in a can with water in it and it make Popeye the Sailor Man grow muscles when he ate it. That's the perception that a 400+ pound man has about anything that is HEALTHY for him.
That was then and this is now.
There's no denying the tremendous health benefits of eating green leafy vegetables. These foods are so full of vitamins and nutrients that do your body a lot of good. I have personally missed having as many spinach greens as I was used to eating over these past couple of weeks. They have helped me tremendously in my nearly 200-pound weight loss and I regularly ate about 1-2 cups of spinach leaves daily prior to the outbreak.
What's gonna happen from here? To tell you the truth, I'm still not fully convinced they have this spinach problem under control, so I will continue to avoid it for the time being. I hate this because I don't want to see companies like Dole that sell this product have to suffer from the lack of sales from customers who used to buy their product. I literally bought 6 bags at a time of spinach leaves to stock up for my healthy low-carb lifestyle. But now...
The spinach and green leafy vegetable industry will be fighting an uphill public relations battle in the coming months. They need to somehow reassure consumers that it really is safe to begin eating their products again. A national marketing campaign on television and radio may be needed to get people to begin purchasing these products again. It's a shame that something like this would deter people from eating healthy, but it has happened and nothing can change that now. The damage has been done.
So what vegetables am I eating instead of spinach right now? I just stocked up on some cauliflower (to make this recipe) as well as French cut green beans today. Mmmm, yummy! I will enjoy these excellent vegetables, although I hope to feel confident enough in the safety of spinach leaves again soon to eat my salads that I cherish so much. Right now, I'm just not so sure it's a wise decision.
How about you? Are you gung ho to start eating spinach leaves again when they begin hitting grocery store shelves next weekend? Tell us about it by clicking on the comments link below and let us know your thoughts.
I enjoy writing posts at my blog that garner lots of feedback from my readers. It's one of the goals I set out to accomplish when I begin typing at this keyboard each and every day. An honest, open debate of ideas that is inclusive of a variety of voices and opinions from one end of the spectrum to the other is what helps us expand our cranium and discover fresh, new perspectives about what we believe.
But anything you read from people who post at my blog should never be misconstrued by anyone that I necessarily agree with it or that it jives with what most low-carbers support. In other words, what you read in the comments section of my blog may not necessarily be the ideals and concepts of the Atkins diet. I've never required it to be and never will.
In a discussion of eating a healthy diet, Gerald Pugliese from "Disease Proof" lamented that not everyone will follow Dr. Fuhrman's vegetarian diet because they don't see any value in eating vegetables.
Who the hell cares about the veggies anyway? You don't need them and there is absolutely nothing essential about them. Don't let the acculturated veggie sympathizers tell you otherwise.
Pretty crazy right? Especially since even the Atkins Diet calls for the daily consumption of vegetables.
That quote from my recent blog post showing one of my weekly low-carb menus is from none other than Rob from the "Zero Carb Daily" blog. Most of my readers already know that he is on a zero-carb, carniverous diet as his way to lose weight and get healthy.
However, people who follow the Atkins diet DO eat daily amounts of vegetables, Mr. Pugliese! If you go back to that same post where Rob made his comments that you quoted and actually LOOKED at the low-carb menu I posted, then you will see something very peculiar: VEGGIES, VEGGIES, VEGGIES! Duh!
To extrapolate one blog reader's comments and interpret them as what everyone who visits and reads that blog believes about livin' la vida low-carb is irresponsible. Just as everything I write in this forum is not necessarily what some low-carbers believe, the same is so for the people who post comments.
This probably has more to do with Furhman and his team's utter disdain for the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins than it does about getting the facts right about what the Atkins diet and its followers actually follow. If you are interested, Mr. Pugliese, a survey last year found that low-carbers eat DOUBLE the amount of vegetables than before their low-carb lifestyle. Sorry to rain on your parade, but that's the cold hard truth.
As for Rob, well, he's slamming my "Omega Diet" that I am following right now claiming that he's "roughly keeping pace" with my weight loss. But what Rob conveniently forgets is that I don't have near as much weight to lose as he does right now.
When I was losing my weight back in 2004, it was coming off at about a 5-7 pound weekly average. Now that I'm much lower in weight, I SHOULDN'T be losing more than a pound or two every week. That's why I started my "30-In-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge. Even still, to date I have lost 21 pounds in two months and will continue to strive for losing another 20 pounds by the end of February.
Rob, when you lose 180 pounds, keep it off for two years, and then seek to lose another 30-40 pounds, then you can come back and talk all you want about how zero carb is helping you. Until then, your analogy of my weight loss with your weight loss efforts is simply apples and oranges, my friend. Nice try, though.
Whether I make it to my goal of 199 or not is not as important as the changes I have made in my life since I started livin' la vida low-carb almost three years ago. I gladly eat healthy carbohydrates as most low-carb followers do which includes nuts, berries and non-starchy veggies, along with meats, cheeses, and eggs. Rob has his strong opinions about these foods and that's fine with me. But the fact is you CAN lose weight and get healthy eating carbohydrates (even if they are greatly reduced from what I used to eat!). I'm living proof!
So, Mr. Pugliese, you might want to go back to your boss Dr. Fuhrman and remind him that Rob doesn't speak for all practicing low-carbers and neither do I. We are simply presenting opinions to help others make their own decisions about what to do about their weight and health.
To quote Dr. Furhman from his "Eat To Live" book:
"I do not expect the majority of individuals to live this healthfully. However, they should at least make that decision being aware of the facts rather than having their food choices shaped by inaccurate information."
That's all I want for people as well. Let THEM make the decision based on everything they learn about the healthy low-carb lifestyle whether it is for them or not. When we stop hyperbolizing what low-carb living is, then people can make wise choices for themselves. That's all I ask.
9-27-06 UPDATE: I attempted to respond to comments made by someone named Helena who posted remarks about me and my blog at the "Disease Proof" blog today and the adminstrators there have refused to post it. Are they afraid of dissenting opinions? Go ahead and try to send your own comment to see if they will post yours. That's such a shame from a web site purporting to spread information about health. That's the difference between what I do at my blog and these radical web sites like "Disease Proof."
9-28-06 UPDATE: Gerry Pugliese sent me an e-mail about my concerns today:
Hi Jimmy-
I noticed your post. There must be some kind of misunderstanding--we want your comments! As far as I have seen you have never even posted one on DiseaseProof. There are dissenting comments all the time. We have been pretty clear about our commenting policy. Every legit comment gets approved. Please try commenting and you'll see.
-Gerry Pugliese
My response to Gerry was the following:
THANKS for your note, Gerry. However, I have tried MANY times over the past year to post my comments to the "Disease Proof" web site in response to columns there and they have NEVER been published. Why? Are they ALL being blocked by a "spam filter?" That's just too convenient an answer and seems rather suspicious in my book. But, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and try to post something again in the future. THANKS again for e-mailing.
Anyone else having trouble posting comments at the "Disease Proof" blog? How about taking Gerry up on his offer to make dissenting comments. Try it NOW by clicking here.
When you start livin' la vida low-carb, there are certain foods that you know will not be a part of your new healthy lifestyle any longer. While some people say they are just too unwilling to give up these foods they think they can't live without, those of us who have been on the Atkins diet have simply learned to adjust our eating habits in such a way that we find other options to replace those "comfort foods" we enjoyed so much prior to going on low-carb.
One such food is potatoes. As much as people think they MUST have potatoes or their life will end, the truth is potatoes are decided unhealthy for your body and cause just as much of a rise in your blood sugar as eating chocolate cake. GASP! But I thought potatoes were a vegetable and aren't all veggies good for you, Jimmy? In a word, NOPE! The starchy vegetables are jam-packed with carbohydrates that your body simply does not need.
So what is a low-carber to do who likes the taste of potatoes, but doesn't want all those carbs to keep them from losing weight and getting healthy? You could shell out some money for pre-packaged potato-alternative products like Imitaters or Instant Mashers. But you could just make your own as my friend Kent Altena shows you in his latest Atkins cooking video.
ATKINS DIET RECIPES: FAUX-TATOES
This was the second how-to cook for the Atkins diet video Kent made (Click here to see his first one about making a low-carb Mock Danish) and mashed cauliflower is a favorite among people who are livin' la vida low-carb. I have yet to meet anyone who can tell the difference between this amazing side dish and traditional mashed potatoes. And yet the carbohydrate count is immensely different.
Here are the ingredients you will need for the Faux-tatoes:
1 Head Cauliflower or One Bag of Frozen Cauliflower 2.5 TBS Butter 1/3 cup Heavy Cream 1 Chicken Bouillon cube 1 tsp salt White pepper to taste
Quick and Easy Directions:
1. Cook Cauliflower until fork tender. Drain well. 2. Place cooked cauliflower and other ingredients (crush bouillon cube first) into the food processor. Run on high until consistency of mashed potatoes. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple times to prevent lumps.
Serve to your friends and family and let them be amazed.
I enjoyed the end of this video when Kent had his 12-year old and 8-year old daughters try a bite and give their reaction to the Faux-tatoes recipe. If you haven't seen these adorable girls, then watch the video so you can see them for yourself. There's even a quick cameo of Kent's wife holding the dog at the very end and you can definitely tell where the girls get their good looks from. :D
THANKS again, Kent! These cooking videos are superb because people are always wondering what those of us on the low-carb lifestyle eat. Um, it's called food! Duh! LOL! Keep it going, buddy! Leave your comments for Kent about his latest video at his blog.
(a $40 value). While it's not a "low-carb" book, per se, it is chock full of many delicious nutrient-dense foods that are appropriate for people who are livin' la vida low-carb. 
