Low carb diets gain respect

[Jay_Gatsby]

A benefit I've also noticed is that the LCHF diet seems to also naturally lend itself to reducing your portion size. That was always my problem. We eat quite healthy and generally have for about 8 years but my portions were always really big and usually seconds. I blame the wife for being an awesome cook.. lol

This may be due to the fact that protein makes you feel sated faster. This is why many parents back in the day made kids eat their meat first, veggies next, and THEN they could have dessert.

On a related note, the LCHF diet works because it: (1) relies on protein to satisfy hunger and preserve muscle mass, and (2) relies on fat for energy and forces the body to use its stored fat reserves. It takes roughly 7-10 days for your body to switch from burning carbohydrates to burning fat.

Here is an interesting version of LCHF popular in bodybuilding circles:

The Velocity Diet
VELOCITY LIFE | The New Science of Rapid Body Transformation

 

[donheff]

For those of you who can't live without pasta I have been cooking with Dreamfield's for a couple of years ever since I read that it was "lower" carbs. I like it because it tastes like any good regular pasta. I hate most faux pastas and whole wheat pastas. In any event, with DW trying Atkins and all this info on this thread I started researching Dreamfields and it sounds like there is a good chance it's claims concerning "digestible carbs" (not to be confused with standard net carbs) may be accurate. that would mean a portion of Dreamfields is effectively providing only 5g of carbs. I'm in heaven. Now I have to wait for my Internet order of all of T-Al's ingredients to arrive so I can add pastries and candies.

 

[braumeister]

I started researching Dreamfields and it sounds like there is a good chance it's claims concerning "digestible carbs" (not to be confused with standard net carbs) may be accurate. that would mean a portion of Dreamfields is effectively providing only 5g of carbs.

You may have missed the other side of the story:

The Dreamfields Pasta Fraud | Dietdoctor.com

I think it's safe to say there is considerable debate about the carb loading of Dreamfields.

 

[donheff]

You may have missed the other side of the story:

The Dreamfields Pasta Fraud | Dietdoctor.com

I think it's safe to say there is considerable debate about the carb loading of Dreamfields.

Thanks Braumeister. What a drag. To good to be true is just that. What swayed me the most was testimony from a diabetic blogger who did blood sugar tests that showed no impact. Either he didn't wait long enough or he was BSing.

I think I needed "fraud" in my search.

 

[Chuckanut]

Are beans considered low carb?

 

[TromboneAl]

Are beans considered low carb?

No.

 

[Chuckanut]

Has anybody used TVP - texturized vegitable protein - in things like meat loaf? I am wondering about this stuff as it doesn't seem like real food to me.

 

[Ally]

I used TVP in meatloaf in the 70's when beef was high. We liked it alright. You couldn't really tell the difference.

 

[haha]

Thanks Braumeister. What a drag. To good to be true is just that. What swayed me the most was testimony from a diabetic blogger who did blood sugar tests that showed no impact. Either he didn't wait long enough or he was BSing.

I think I needed "fraud" in my search.

Just buy yourself a meter and some strips and see how it works for you, if pasta is important to you. It may be fine. I am very carb sensitive, so I really do not want to tempt fate for something I don't much about.But it might be ok in your metabolism.

Everyone should have a meter, it is a wonderful truth finding tool.

Ha

 

[braumeister]

For those still wondering about last week's "red meat will kill you" study from Harvard, there was another good piece in the WSJ today debunking it.

Individuals generally want to know how different their lives will be if they make a certain decision, and relative risk can obscure the effect on the individual.

if eating red meat really does shorten life instead of merely being associated with higher death rates, the results translate into a typical 40-year-old man in the study living to 79 instead of 80 if he chooses to add a hamburger a day to his diet.

 

[jj]

Are beans considered low carb?

Dried beans not, but green beans are ok

 

[jj]

KCl - Potassium Chloride?

Al,

Looking through your recipes I saw KCl as an ingredient (thanks for those by the way).

How do you buy this ingredient and what is its purpose in the recipe?

I have been using FitDay.com to log my foods and I have noticed I'm low on potassium in my diet while following a LCHF diet, not that I've been experiencing cramps, but my stats show a lower than RDA intake for potassium.

Any thoughts, anyone?

(Started LCHF on 2/20 and have lost 12lbs so far, no hunger pangs, about 25lbs to go)

 

[braumeister]

Most supermarkets around here carry potassium chloride, right next to the regular salt. Look for the little blue shakers.

Morton Salt | Morton® Salt Substitute

 

[TromboneAl]

I had been wondering why KCl NaCl mixes are recommended over straight KCl, but I've since read that some people find KCl to taste metallic.

 

[Khan]

I had been wondering why KCl NaCl mixes are recommended over straight KCl, but I've since read that some people find KCl to taste metallic.

I'm one of them.
I use regular salt, but not very much.

 

[unclemick]

"sweetened with maltitol, which is just about as bad as sugar."


Not to mention the usual side effects, which can make you very unpopular at the table or the ride home...

I noticed that 'effect' in my past 'experiments' with low carb diets, Atkins et al' over the last two years.

heh heh heh - my downfall no matter which diet - I dog it on the exercise part periodically and have to jump start when I finally feel too guilty.

 

[haha]

I noticed that 'effect' in my past 'experiments' with low carb diets, Atkins et al' over the last two years.

heh heh heh - my downfall no matter which diet - I dog it on the exercise part periodically and have to jump start when I finally feel too guilty.

This is harder. I have found creating a spreadsheet to be helpful. I'm logging 410 cal/day exercising, day in day out over the past 6 months.

Yesterday I was late getting out to see my GF, a goal much more intrinsically rewarding than exercising. I knew that my stretch on I-5 would suck bigtime, but I told myself, if you only do enough to log 410+ cal, you will not backslide. So that is what I did, I do not want to see those numbers falling. If I have more time, I do more, which will gradually lift my bar.

I also keep 7d, 30d, and 90d moving averages. I want to keep them all rising, until I think I am getting maximum benefit. My guess is that is around 600-800/day, but it may be more or less. Imagine how much energy children expended when we were young, or for us older members, when our children were young. In summer, or during school vacations we would get going in morning, and not stop until our parents stuffed us into bed at night. Sometimes it was even hard to sit down for lunch.

Ha

 

[Zero]

I had been wondering why KCl NaCl mixes are recommended over straight KCl, but I've since read that some people find KCl to taste metallic.

Count me in on the metallic taste plus it seems to impart a cold, numbing sensation on the very tip of my tongue.

Would be interested to hear responses to putting a few granules of KCL in your palm and lick it, then NaCl, and see if there is a significant difference.

 

[TromboneAl]

Count me in on the metallic taste plus it seems to impart a cold, numbing sensation on the very tip of my tongue.

Would be interested to hear responses to putting a few granules of KCL in your palm and lick it, then NaCl, and see if there is a significant difference.

I gave Jenny a taste test when we were on our camping trip. I presented two samples on a plate and she tasted them both.

"Oh, Yuck!" she said, "That's the KCl (pointing to one) -- it tastes terrible!"

But what she didn't know was that her tricky old dad had given her two identical samples of regular old NaCl.

It can be fun to be me.

So, don't trust your perceptions!

 

[ERD50]

I gave Jenny a taste test when we were on our camping trip. I presented two samples on a plate and she tasted them both.

"Oh, Yuck!" she said, "That's the KCl (pointing to one) -- it tastes terrible!"

But what she didn't know was that her tricky old dad had given her two identical samples of regular old NaCl.

It can be fun to be me.

So, don't trust your perceptions!

The order you taste things in can affect it too.

In cases like this a 'triangle test' is best. Three samples, two are the same, one different. The taster knows this, but doesn't know which is which or which one was selected as the unique one. They can go back and forth, to get multiple tastes. If they can't reliably pick out the unique one, and then identify it correctly, then it isn't an obvious difference.

-ERD50

 

[donheff]

Count me impressed with low carb. DW wanted to try it because she stopped Lipitor. I am the cook so I read the new Atkin's book and decided to give it a shot too. We started on friday. I jumped in at level 3 since I am already at the top of normal for my height. I weighed 180, down from 195 about a year ago when I quit candy (I was a major addict) and upped my exercise regimen. I plateaued at 180 after a few months and have been there since. Today I weighed myself at the gym and am at 176. Amazing if it holds. I was good with the carbs holding myself to around 50 on Friday, 85 on Saturday, and 50 yesterday. I will let the weight go to 170 and want to hold there even if that means more carbs.

Now if I could find pasta, rice and French bread substitutes. "

 

[tmm99]

I gave Jenny a taste test when we were on our camping trip. I presented two samples on a plate and she tasted them both.

"Oh, Yuck!" she said, "That's the KCl (pointing to one) -- it tastes terrible!"

But what she didn't know was that her tricky old dad had given her two identical samples of regular old NaCl.

It can be fun to be me.

So, don't trust your perceptions!

You are just too cool to be a typical dad!

 

[TromboneAl]

Now if I could find pasta, rice and French bread substitutes. "

Have you tried Shiritaki noodles? Not ideal, but they are pasta-like, and you can have spaghetti with a low-carb sauce and Italian sausages. Here's from my pre-low-sodium days:



I haven't tried this:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm

I'm going to make it tonight.

--------------------------------

It's remarkable that there have been no anti-low-carb posts on this thread. A few years ago, there would be some "of course you need carbs," or "the brain needs carbs," or "it's bad for you kidneys." posts.

 

[donheff]

Sorry Al, I tried shirataki last night and didn't like it. Cauliflower sounds horrifying but I will make some for DW and taste it.

 

[Chester_A._Riley]

I started a LCHF diet last October after reading "Wheat Belly" by Dr. Davis. I frequent Mark's Daily Apple website and have cut out all grain, dairy, sugar and legumes (beans) and added more seafood and various varieties of meat. I have lost 40 pounds (still have 20 to go to get to High School weight) and all of my blood work has improved markedly. I usually have bacon and eggs for breakfast, along with "bulletproof" coffee and perhaps some kippers; lunch is a salad, usually with a bit of fish or chicken and dinner is seafood or meat with some greens. No snacks of any kind, ever; and I restrict my drinking to water, coffee, unsweetened green tea and red wine.

I always feel as though I have overeaten, but my weight keeps dropping at the rate of about a pound a week, give or take.

I tend to ignore the low-fat noise.