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.

Three Whole-Grain Portions Daily May Lower Cardiovascular Risk

Yeah--Right!
    This one's a beaut.

" Daily consumption of 3 portions of whole-grain foods (WGF) is linked to lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in healthy, middle-aged people mainly by lowering blood pressure (BP), according to the results of a randomized controlled dietary trial reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92:733-740)


Given the role that fiber plays in slowing down the digestion of carbohydrates, everything these folk found can be explained by lowered blood glucose levels. Here's where it gets really entertaining:


"Although the mechanisms by which WGFs decrease BP remain unclear, our findings have important public health implications and provide a sound scientific basis for advising the daily consumption of 3 servings of WGF to combat CVD."


In fact, what they found was a statistical clue to do some science. They admit that the science eludes them and they can't figure out why WGF loading would lower BP.  Nor do they seem disposed to look for the science or consider the possibility that their assumptions are flawed.
    Another indicator of the shortage of three-digit IQs in the nutritional sciences.

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.

Another useless study

This time it's about reducing hypertension.
    Steven Chen from John Hopkins and a bunch of others put together a study not to figure out what kind of diet reduces hypertension, but looking for evidence to support the American Heart Association's sweetheart DASH diet.
    They had 459 subjects try one of three high-carb diets for 8 weeks (those numbers guarantee that chance has a big influence on the results). To no one's surprise, the DASH diet came in slightly ahead of the others. No one said anything about it being the best of a bad lot.
    Now the AHA can add another notch to DASH's headboard and heave a sigh of relief that the low-carb camel's nose remains outside the tent.
    Ref: Circulation online 31 August 2010

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.

Drugs, more drugs, expensive drugs

Cashew Extract?! 

Here we go again. A new study from researchers at the University of Montreal and the Universite de Yaounde in Africa finds that, "cashew seed extract significantly stimulated blood sugar absorption by muscle cells."

Extract. Someone is going to make a lot of money selling this goo to diabetics who haven't been advised that the simple and effective way to get your blood sugar down is to not get any there in the first place.

Ref:http://www.nouvelles.umontreal.ca/udem-news/news/20100714-cashew-seed-extract-an-effective-anti-diabetic.html

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.

Dog heaven

Dogs are carnivores too. Have you ever seen a dog run out to the potato patch to dig up a treat?
    After extensive research, I found that, in Canada, President's Choice "extra MEATY" Dinners have the most meat and the least rabbit food. It helps that they're also the most real food (protein and fat) for the buck.
    I've got big dogs with the usual hip problems. They're a whole lot better since I stopped feeding them kibble (aka rice and corn) and put them on an all-animal diet.