A Crunchy Low-Carb Snack

One of the things that are hard to get in low carbs is crunch.

FritoLay Baken-Ets are tasty, crunchy, pure meat--no additives, and only 5 grams of carbs in a big bag.

Tubers rescued after falling in B.C. river

I was disappointed to read that this headline wasn't about a wayward truckload of potatoes.

Put whipped cream on top of pinapple cream cheese and freeze. Eat right out of the freezer. Amazing treat. No carbs.

Scrambled Eggs a la Carnivore for Two

Take no prisoners.

Start by putting half a stick (60g) of butter in a frying pan at low/medium low--just enough to bubble but not brown.

Warm a quarter cup of small chunks of cooked meat and a couple tablespoons of spicy salsa in the microwave.

Put six eggs and a quarter cup of cream in a mixing bowl and whisk to a froth. Put it in the pan and scramble slowly. When the eggs start to cook, add the meat. 

If the eggs brown, the pan was too hot; start again. You want to poach the eggs, not fry them.

Serves two and costs less than one Starbucks coffee.

Stop Selling Low Carb

Has it really been more than a month? I've been busier than it feels.

In any case, I've come to the conclusion that we should stop doing missionary work pushing a low carb diet. I know, it's hard not to try to save the world, but in this case it's counter-productive.

First, you're pushing a rock uphill against a trillion-dollar carb industry and government "health" organizations that can't admit that, since 1970, their advice has been killing people.

More important is a simple market fact: The more demand there is for high-carb, low-fat foods, the less demand there is for our kind of food.

Low demand means low prices--an equation I see every week in my grocery bill. It was really evident when we started this carnivorous experiment--it cut more than 50% from our grocery bill, which was already low-carb. And the downward curve continues, not because our diet is changing, but because prices are. The prices of eggs, common cheeses, butter, frozen or smoked fish, and not-lean meat are all creeping downward.

So Give It Up. When the conversation turns to diet, smile knowingly and be a good listener. When pressed about your carnivorous choices, say it's a choice you've made, just as others choose to be vegetarians (or vegans--is there a difference?).  Let your good health and high IQ speak for themselves.

Double Down Comes to Canada

KFC has decided to try the DD in Canada. First chance to try it is Oct 18.
    In case you haven't seen the data, this puppy is Ultra Low Carb. The grilled version has only 3 grams of proto-glucose. On a percentage basis, that's a bit over 1% carb.
    Bring along a fellow carnivore and a knife; weighing in at 240 grams of meat and cheese, it's two good and greasy meals.

Eating Animals is Cheap

For the last two years I've been slowly cutting out everything but animal products. I'd been on a 25 gm or less track for ten years; then one thing at a time, the rest came off. Now it's meat, fish, eggs, cheese, period. Cream in my coffee, the odd garnish, but that's it.

    I'm in better shape than I've been since I was a lot younger. I'm wearing clothes I haven't been able to get into for over twenty years. 

    But the real bonus: a radically shrunken grocery bill. Part of it is reduced volume and no packaged goods. The rest is the "lean" craze that results in "not lean" being really cheap. A well-marbled steak that makes a big meal is only about $6 at the local grocer. I get lots of real butter (a third of a stick is fundamental to a lot of recipes), eggs to gently cook in it, cheeses of all kinds (the only expensive part of the diet),  a variety of fish fillets, and meat of every description. I eat chewy, greasy, buttery, delicious, for about $10 a day.

    And my blood glucose is so low that my doctor can't figure out why I'm not dead. Icing on the cake!

Dogs are Carnivores Too

An update on dog dinner. President's Choice Extra Meaty Dinner (not chunks) is now available by the case at three-quarters the price of single cans.
    As I've noted before, EMD has the most animal protein and fat and the least rabbit food in a can I've been able to find. 10% protein, 6% fat. That means I can feed an active 120 lb. bowser for $2 a day.
    And no "diseases of civilization" for her either.

The Health Canada HiCarb Guide to Correct Living

I thought I'd see if Health Canada had learned anything over the years so I engaged archive.org's WayBack Machine to look at the Canada Food Guide.
    It turns out that since 1998 they've had only two versions of the Guide. Somewhere around 2002, they started an intensive study into the latest medical knowledge and by 2007 they made an evidence-based decision that they had been right all along except for total quantity and grains. They changed the Guide to what it still is today, leaving three of the food groups unchanged but reducing total intake by reducing grain servings per adult from 12 down to 8.
    This is not a trivial change. The Guide still recommends a hyperglycemic, pancreas-destroying, diabetigenic carb load, but it takes about 60 grams of carbs out of what was a 350 gram diet before dessert and drinks. Grains are where most of the starches and sugars come from, so any cut is significant. On the other hand, they count beans and peas as vegetables, so no cheering yet.
    It's interesting that their reduction is twice the total in a low-carb diet.

Sugar, Soft Drinks and Blood Pressure, Oh My!

Another study uncovering the obvious:

A study out of Louisiana State University finds that reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is independently associated with a reduction in blood pressure. The relationships persisted after controlling for weight-change and body-mass index.
     Dr. Liwei Chen et al. also found that caffeine and sugar-free drinks had no effect on blood pressure.
    "Our study has important public-health implications," observe Chen et al. "For example, it has been estimated that a 3-mm-Hg reduction in systolic BP should reduce stroke mortality by 8% and coronary heart disease mortality by 5%. Such reductions in systolic BP would be anticipated by reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by an average of two servings per day."

Ref: Chen L, Caballero B, Mitchell DC, et al. Reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with reduced blood pressure. A prospective study among United States adults. Circulation 2010; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.911164. Available at: http://http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/22/2398

Hot Bried Prosciutto

Food for the Gods:

Fold a couple of slices of Prosciutto, maybe 100 grams, to hamburger size. Put a few tablespoons of Brie on top. Microwave for about two minutes so the Brie melts over the meat.
    Add cayenne. Enjoy.

Swedish Meat Balls

There's a scene in Babylon 5 where G'Kar is entertaining a guest for dinner. His guest is curious as to how G'Kar was able to get "breen", a particular delicacy from the Narn home world, since it's occupied by the Centari. G'Kar explains that it's actually an Earth dish called Swedish Meatballs.
    He goes on to say he's discovered that every sentient race in the galaxy has a dish just like it. He suspects that it's one of those great universal mysteries that will either never be explained or that will drive you mad if you ever learn the truth.

Recommended: President's Choice Swedish Meatballs.

Easy to prepare, tastes great (though it needs salt) and 6 carb grams per serving.

The Lower Limit of Dietary Carbohydrate

How do you speak the truth about the role of carbohydrates in nutrition and keep your grant money flowing? Bury it on page 275 of a 1300-page report sporting a large panel of well-credentialed scientists as the authors.
    Here's what you'll find if you have the patience or curiosity to get that far:

The lower limit of dietary carbohydrate compatible with life apparently is zero, provided that adequate amounts of protein and fat are consumed.

There's more:

There are traditional populations that ingested a high fat, high protein diet containing only a minimal amount of carbohydrate for extended periods of time (Masai), and in some cases for a lifetime after infancy (Alaska and Greenland Natives, Inuits, and Pampas indigenous people) (Du Bois, 1928; Heinbecker, 1928). There was no apparent effect on health or longevity. Caucasians eating an essentially carbohydrate-free diet, resembling that of Greenland natives, for a year tolerated the diet quite well (Du Bois, 1928). However, a detailed modern comparison with populations ingesting the majority of food energy as carbohydrate has never been done.

That last sentence is telling. No one wants to do the definitive study for fear of what it will say. They don't want to know. On the other hand, the experiment is ongoing in trailer parks across the U.S.

See:

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10490&page=275

DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKES FOR Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. The Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Low Carb Labelling -- go to jail

If there's any doubt that Health Canada's bureaucrats are influenced by the starch and sugar industry, it can be quickly dispelled by the regulations that came into force 12 December 2007.

See http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/nutrition/educat/te_quest-eng.php#a1

According to their FAQ, "The regulations were developed through extensive consultation with consumers, health interest groups and the food industry. " That's fairly obvious.
    According to these regs, nothing can be labelled "Low Carb". Low Fat, Low Sodium and a host of others are OK. Low Carb is illegal. The only winners are the people trying to feed us starches and sugars and the people to whom they're indebted.
    Fortunately, they screwed up and required carb content on the nutrients label, so it's easy to find good food even if it doesn't scream at you from across the aisle.