tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64767073736096183532024-03-21T01:55:32.899-07:00Low Carb WisdomSorting through the various low carb claims, using my own experience as a touchstone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-58007331979341187162012-03-17T13:44:00.000-07:002012-03-19T06:21:02.030-07:00Dietary Articles of FaithThis is the last post on the Low Carb Wisdom blog. But I will be continuing my blogging at a new blog, <b><a href="http://realfoodwisdom.blogspot.com/">Real Food Wisdom</a></b> (more on the new blog below). I am abandoning this blog as I no longer consider myself to be following a low carb way of eating. I am grateful for the introduction to the low carb lifestyle, as it opened my previously closed eyes to the realities of eating nutrient dense foods. But I no longer believe the central, low carb article of faith: the Taubesian hypothesis that carbohydrates elevate insulin levels, which in turn drives fat storage. I also reject the belief that you must only count carbs, not calories and I reject the belief that exercise does not help with weight loss. These three ideas are elaborated on at length in Gary Taubes' book, <i>Why We Get Fat</i>.<br />
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This means I do believe there are good carbs (e.g., potatoes, white rice) and bad carbs (e.g., refined wheat or sugar), just as there are good proteins (e.g., meat) and bad proteins (e.g., gluten) and good fats (e.g., butter or lard) and bad fats (e.g., soybean or corn oil). I am also put off by all the low carb dogma out there, where you are a "sinner" if you eat a potato or white rice. Also, there is a growing recognition that the low carb way of eating is not a <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.de/2011/07/low-carb-honeymoon-is-over.html">magic bullet</a></b>, that <b><a href="http://www.cheeseslave.com/why-i-ditched-low-carb/">low carb can cause problems (and abandoning low carb may actually cure those problems)</a></b>, and that <b><a href="http://freetheanimal.com/2012/02/synthesis-low-carb-and-food-rewardpalatability-and-why-calories-count.html">some carbs may actually help with weight loss</a></b>.<br />
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So what do I believe? How will I be eating in the future? I now consider myself to be following a version of the Paleo diet and briefly considered creating a blog called "Paleo Wisdom" (the name <i>is</i> available), but I didn't want to lock myself into another diet mode (repeating the "Low Carb" mistake by linking my way of eating to a specific, named dietary approach). The version of the Paleo diet that I follow most closely is the Jaminets' <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b>, which is controversial in the Paleo community, because it doesn't shun potatoes, rice, and dairy. But I reserve the right to change my mind in the future about what I eat, as new evidence comes along.<br />
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So what do I believe? And how will it affect my future diet?<br />
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I believe that natural, real, whole foods are best, foods with very little or no processing. This means I am open to some non-Paleo belief systems, such as the <b><a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/">Weston A. Price view of nutrition</a></b>. It also means that things like potatoes and bananas are fine to eat, in moderation, and perhaps even <b><a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/soaked-sprouted-fermented-grains/#axzz1pPODMcV2">correctly prepared, ancestral wheat</a></b>.<br />
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I believe that eating animal products is essential to good health.<br />
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I believe that correctly rendered lard, butter, egg yolks, meat, coconut and olive oils, tree nuts and other high fat items are healthy for you and won't give you a heart attack. I am grateful to <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332016776&sr=8-1"><i>Good Calories, Bad Calories</i></a></b> by Gary Taubes for opening my eyes on this point.<br />
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I believe that calories count, that this is the biggest determinant of weight loss and maintenance. I also believe that calorie restriction is necessary for maintaining appropriate blood glucose levels. It is not all about eliminating carbs, it is also about limiting calories. Adding in potatoes and rice, while watching calories, <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2012/01/eating-safe-starches-lowers-my-blood.html">actually helped me stabilize my blood glucose levels</a></b>.<br />
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I believe in eating vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And some fruit.<br />
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I now believe that <b><a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/03/09/seduced-by-food-obesity-and-t.html">food reward and palatability</a></b> are crucial concepts to understand in losing and maintaining weight. I believe that simple foods are best, for most occasions. Thank you, <b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/">Stephan Guyenet</a></b>.<br />
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I believe in exercise. Both resistance training and cardio vascular. Just not to excess.<br />
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I believe that eating nutrient dense, whole, real foods is a high fat, moderate protein, and low carb approach to eating. Therefore, <b><a href="http://lowcarbmenu.blogspot.de/2011/05/may-9-2011-low-carb-menu.html">it is not necessary to add fat just to be more healthy</a></b>. It is already high fat.<br />
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I believe in (this may surprise you) the Weight Watchers approach to losing weight. Not their low fat mantra nor their fat phobia, but their psychological perspective on weight loss, the weekly accountability of weighing in and the community support one gets from interacting with others on a similar weight loss journey. One of my most gratifying experiences in life was when I was a leader at Weight Watchers. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.de/2011/08/from-committed-low-carber-learning-from.html">I have written about this before</a></b> and I am now actively considering re-joining Weight Watchers, but on my own terms. Calories count, but counting calories is a bummer. Counting points is easier. I can eat Paleo using their point system to track calories and I will lose weight. Plus I will gain the support of the people in the weekly meetings and perhaps influence some of their attitudes about eating real food.<br />
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So if you have enjoyed what I have written on Low Carb Wisdom, consider following me as I transition to <b><a href="http://realfoodwisdom.blogspot.com/">Real Food Wisdom</a></b>. The first post will be up shortly, probably tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-34871075061104773312012-03-11T15:44:00.004-07:002013-01-28T08:36:33.985-08:00Dinner at the Paleo Restaurant Sauvage in BerlinI was recently in Berlin, Germany, and had dinner at the Paleo restaurant, <b><a href="http://www.sauvageberlin.com/">Sauvage</a></b> (<i>sauvage</i> is French for "wild" or "savage") and want to report on the experience.<br />
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First of all, the only lighting in the restaurant was candle light, so most of the following photos are blurry, as my not-so-smart-phone had trouble focusing on the dishes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgJMqYv1Kfr4sEyjSi1AgXNPj3e2USUjU4azKq_rTA8SRaugEk3FNJfRWW2l_OpscGpMG-vye0JvD8TkbtymshGsYzjpgan5nD1q8Jjswk8eF5D3ZUL7E0rh47GFgtjt6-JoHY8btx8k/s1600/2012-03-11_18-48-36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgJMqYv1Kfr4sEyjSi1AgXNPj3e2USUjU4azKq_rTA8SRaugEk3FNJfRWW2l_OpscGpMG-vye0JvD8TkbtymshGsYzjpgan5nD1q8Jjswk8eF5D3ZUL7E0rh47GFgtjt6-JoHY8btx8k/s200/2012-03-11_18-48-36.jpg" width="112" /></a></div>
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Also, this is upscale, fine dining. Berlin has some very inexpensive restaurants, but this one is for the foodies among you, and, consequently, has prices to match. I ordered a starter, main dish, dessert, and bottle of designer mineral water. I do not drink, so wine is not included in my total. I spent 45 euros on the meal, or approximately $60. But I <i>am</i> a foodie and it was so very worth it. The only thing missing from the experience was my wife, who is also a foodie, but who did not accompany me on this trip. The other professors on this study abroad trip had no interest in eating "caveman" food and I know them well enough to know they are <i>not</i> foodies. So I went alone. <b><a href="http://huntgatherlove.com/">Melissa McEwan</a></b>, you are not the only one who dines alone from time to time.<br />
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The restaurant is rather small and I doubt it could hold more than 35 to 40 patrons. It was minimally decorated, but that was fine because they only used candles for lighting and you couldn't really see a lot (though there were electric lights in the kitchen and bathrooms). Very Paleo, that. The wait staff was very friendly and helpful, but professional and unobtrusive. They never interrupted my meal to ask me how if I liked it (I <i>hate</i> it when American, non-professional wait staff interrupt my meal to ask me that banal question). The staff at Sauvage only asked about the meal when they removed the plates.<br />
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Here is the menu in German (click to enlarge). The wait staff was very helpful with the translations.<br />
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Not all items were available, and the menu changes often, depending on the fresh foods they can obtain. So what did I order? In addition to the designer bottle of mineral water, I had a Paleo antipasti plate as a starter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTicfM30uz3PY62xoU1Oog0TUpxez6APiOpBfhmn9xqYgGseTNXb1F93h2S9X2gjlv0ea21QooYsETIt9ZGCk2RTm9VFShc5SKnTh5b9n-SSvh62_osNY5mWUe6LlXgP4mv-iSlQznpGI/s1600/2012-03-11_19-14-59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTicfM30uz3PY62xoU1Oog0TUpxez6APiOpBfhmn9xqYgGseTNXb1F93h2S9X2gjlv0ea21QooYsETIt9ZGCk2RTm9VFShc5SKnTh5b9n-SSvh62_osNY5mWUe6LlXgP4mv-iSlQznpGI/s320/2012-03-11_19-14-59.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The plate had some crackers made with nut flours and other natural ingredients (crunchy <i>and</i> tasty), some dried seeds, two types of fermented vegetables, some carrot chutney, a roasted garlic clove, and a meat sampler. It was served on a stone plate and was very, very tasty.<br />
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Here is the main dish (sorry for the poor quality of the photo):<br />
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The main dish was a 100% grass fed filet mignon with a garlic and coconut oil topping, a salad, some mashed celery root, and some fermented beet and carrot shreds. I must say this was an exceptionally good choice that delighted my taste buds. I eat a fair amount of steak, including filet mignon, and this was perhaps the most tender piece of beef I have eaten in a good, long time. Perhaps ever. And it was cooked to medium rare perfection.<br />
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This was my dessert:<br />
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It was an orange custard cake on a Paleo crust, though I am not sure what the crust was made with. This was called a "Primal" dessert choice, not Paleo, since they used butter in the custard (egg yolks, orange blossoms, butter, and spices) and was topped with a small amount of cooked apples. The apples were the only thing that was really sweet about the dessert, but it was perfect and I have lost my sweet tooth anyway.<br />
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This was an excellent meal and in all my future trips to Berlin, I will stop by, if it is still open. Which I think it will be, since the restaurant was full on a non-weekend night. I made a reservation a few weeks in advance and I was very glad I did.<br />
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The meal was very European in the sense that it took several hours to complete and was served by a professional wait staff who were also very knowledgeable about the Paleo lifestyle. I arrived at 6:30 p.m. and left at 10:00 p.m. The thing I love about European cuisine is the <i>savoir vivre</i> that accompanies the food. You don't do dinner and something else, such as a show, dinner is what you <i>do</i>. You savor the flavors and spend time on conversation. Unfortunately, I was alone, but the experience will be a treasured one for me. And the best possible compliment I can pay <b><a href="http://www.sauvageberlin.com/">Sauvage </a></b>is this: I will be back the next time I am in town with another group of students. And not because I wish to support Paleo restaurants (though I do), but because the cuisine was simply superb.<br />
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Directions using public transportation: Make your way to the Alexanderplatz station on either the S-Bahn or the U-Bahn. From Alexanderplatz, take the U8 (direction Hermannstrasse) and get off at Schonleinstrasse. Head south on Kottbusser Damm for a couple of blocks and turn left at Pflugerstrasse until you get to number 25. All in all, about a 10 minute walk from the Schonleinstrasse U-Bahn station.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-31556417694376380312012-03-09T09:24:00.002-08:002012-03-09T13:27:14.528-08:00Dinner TonightI am still trying to decide what to do with this blog, since it is called <i>Low Carb Wisdom</i> and since <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-does-low-carb-work-review-of.html">I no longer believe in the carbohydrate-insulin-fat hypothesis</a></b>. I have converted to a more <b><a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/about-the-foundation/about-the-foundation">ancestral </a></b>way of eating, more <b><a href="http://freetheanimal.com/2012/02/synthesis-low-carb-and-food-rewardpalatability-and-why-calories-count.html">Paleo</a></b>, more <a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8"><b>Perfect Health Diet</b></a>, with a focus on real, whole foods, and without the dogma I see on so many low carb sites. So until I decide what to rename the blog, I thought I would post some photos of what I have been eating. Most people are curious to know what I eat anyway.<br />
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Here is a photo of dinner tonight (click to enlarge):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstKskD0dO1lOtEaN0nrv1VbWX8x8ZAz3Stj6sqp3A07duMAtT2epYM0o4QQPyR9gbIj5j0sW5aEnU3IwzMxFEJhrzi4r78VpiPvbsKwPHl-Kpj8xtzKV55gUyLjvPvMI4R5A8Jjib4zI/s1600/2012-03-09_10-13-00_401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstKskD0dO1lOtEaN0nrv1VbWX8x8ZAz3Stj6sqp3A07duMAtT2epYM0o4QQPyR9gbIj5j0sW5aEnU3IwzMxFEJhrzi4r78VpiPvbsKwPHl-Kpj8xtzKV55gUyLjvPvMI4R5A8Jjib4zI/s320/2012-03-09_10-13-00_401.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I ate a 250 gram (roughly 8 ounce) Irish rib eye steak (100% grass fed) cooked in a small amount of coconut oil (perhaps one or two teaspoons). Since I am not in Ireland (sad cries), the steak is obviously imported. The salad is what the British call "rocket" (and what the French call <i>roquette</i>); we in the states call this "arugula." The photo also shows some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. For a dressing: olive oil (<b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/04/olive-oil.html">the good stuff: first cold pressing from Italy</a></b>) and balsamic vinegar, with a bit of salt and pepper. Two large cups of filtered water to drink, and for dessert, 10 grams of 70% <i>Cote d'Or</i> dark chocolate. Total calories: about 1,000, give or take. I doubt I have consumed more than 2,400 calories today and have walked<i> </i>a lot (13,000 steps and counting).<br />
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Blood Glucose reading <b><a href="http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-to-test-new-study-pinpoints-timing.html">one hour after eating</a></b>: 109.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-9844080672968468522012-02-03T08:05:00.000-08:002012-02-03T08:05:51.224-08:00So What did I Eat?Several people have asked me about what I ate on my 30-day clean Paleo experiment that helped me to<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2012/01/busting-through-my-stall.html"> bust through my stall</a></b>. So I thought I would elaborate.<br />
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First of all, let me say I am a tall (6'3"), 50-year-old male. My goal weight is between 215-220 pounds. Also, I tried to keep it simple. I ate very palatable foods, but choices low on food reward. For example, steak, which is very palatable, but does not cause me to want more, as more rewarding foods do. So here is the menu.<br />
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Every morning, I ate two fried eggs (cooked in coconut oil) and either some homemade sausage or thick sliced bacon. Plus water.<br />
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Lunch was a bit more varied. I would often take a soup made with beef or chicken stock, that contained some meat, but lots of veggies and a safe starch (white potatoes or rice). I tried to have something made with bone broth every day. I would also take a salad, with tuna fish, olives, olive oil, and Balsamic vinegar. Sometimes, I would take a piece of meat that was leftover from dinner (e.g., chicken or ribs) instead of either the soup or salad.<br />
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For dinner, I would eat a piece of meat (beef, pork, chicken, salmon or other fish) plus vegetables. If I hadn't eaten a safe starch for lunch, I would also include a small sweet potato. The only condiments I used were salt and pepper.<br />
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I rarely snacked, but if I did, it was usually berries of some sort. Upon occasion, I had some herbal mint tea, unsweetened. And I made sure I drank adequate water.<br />
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In addition to all of that, I would eat<b><a href="http://chriskresser.com/selenium-the-missing-link-for-treating-hypothyroidism"> two to three Brazil nuts per day</a></b>, plus take liver pills. That is, frozen pieces of raw liver that I had chopped up into pill-sized shapes that I could swallow (thanks<b><a href="http://chriskresser.com/natures-most-potent-superfood"> Chris Kresser</a></b> for that great idea; I have a hard time with liver). I would also supplement with other vitamins, as per the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b>.<br />
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Whenever possible, I practiced intermittent fasting. Sometimes for as much as 24 hours, but mostly I would go 13 to 16 hours between eating. Once dinner was over (usually around 6:00 p.m.), I didn't eat anything else until breakfast the next morning (around 7:00 a.m.; later on weekends).<br />
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And it <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2012/01/busting-through-my-stall.html">worked beautifully</a></b>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-78979767115350734092012-01-30T13:30:00.000-08:002012-01-31T08:45:13.943-08:00Busting Through My StallOne of my new year's resolutions was to do a 30-day, very clean Paleo experiment. I chose a hybrid of the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b> and <b><a href="http://personalpaleocode.chriskresser.com/">Chris Kresser's Personal Paleo Code reset diet</a></b>. So for the past 30 days, I gave up dairy, artificial sweeteners, dark chocolate, most packaged and processed foods, and all forms of sweeteners, artificial or not (e.g., no more maple or rice syrup). I avoided eating out as much as possible and concentrated on eating real, whole foods that I cooked myself. I made sure to eat safe starches each and every day, in the form of sweet potatoes, potatoes, or rice. I do not drink alcohol, coffee, and caffeinated teas, so they were not a problem for me.<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/low-carb-honeymoon-is-over.html"> And I paid attention to calories, as they matter</a></b>. Today is day 30 of this experiment.<br />
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<b><i>What Happened </i></b><br />
So what happened? Several things, all of them good.<br />
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First, I busted through my stall. For about six months, I had stalled in the 242-245 pound range, though in recent weeks I had gotten up to has high as 249. That was a good 25-30 pounds above my ideal weight (I am tall). On January 1, 2012, I weighed 249.8 pounds and this morning, January 30, 2012, I weighed 233.8 pounds, for a total loss of 16 pounds.<br />
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Second, my blood glucose levels were excellent. They fell, and rapidly. In particular, my fasting blood glucose levels were a bit high (the "dawn phenomenon"), but they fell to below 100 most mornings. One-hour readings were almost always below 120 and two-hour readings were close to 100.<br />
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Third, I broke an addiction to artificial sweeteners. I haven't had anything with an artificial sweetener for 30 days now and have drunk nothing but water and herbal tea. Something caused me to have big headaches the first week, as I was weaning myself from non-natural foods. It was like the caffeine withdrawal I had when I finally gave up diet colas three years ago (I am not a coffee or caffeinated tea drinker). I don't know what caused the headaches, but I am wondering if it wasn't all the artificial sweeteners I had been consuming.<br />
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<b><i>Why I Believe it Worked</i></b><br />
So why was I able to drop 16 pounds in 30 days, when I was stalled for six months? Because I was consuming fewer calories, bottom line. When you cut out dairy, sweeteners (artificial and real), chocolate, and other processed foods, you simply eat less. I noticed that immediately, when I realized the range of foods available for me to eat was quite limited. I also stopped snacking. Plus the foods I actually ate were whole and real. I only ate out when I absolutely could not help it.<br />
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After going gangbusters on a low carb diet, I got sloppy and started eating things that were probably not good for me. Dark chocolate tops that list. I pretty much ate some chocolate almost every day and for me, chocolate is a trigger food. Also, I bought into all the "high fat low carb" <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/12/low-carb-fairy-tales.html">fairy tale</a></b> hype I had seen on the Internet. So I was making an effort<b><a href="http://lowcarbmenu.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-9-2011-low-carb-menu.html"> to add fat to everything</a></b>. What I didn't really realize was that a low carb or Paleo diet is <i>already</i> high fat; you don't have to add fat to make it high fat. When you cut back on carbs, fat fills the void. Naturally.<br />
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I also ate a lot of energy dense foods as snacks, such as cheeses, almonds, almond flour, other nuts, and <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=2408">ice cream</a></b>. You simply cannot eat all you want of these types of food and lose weight; calories count. This is a message that needs repeating on the Internet.<br />
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<b><i>Challenges I Faced</i></b><br />
It wasn't easy to do. I got withdrawal headaches from something that were very unpleasant for the first week. Then my father passed away and I spent 10 days on the road, eating what I could, when I could. On only one occasion during the funeral trip was I forced to make a compromise. I hadn't eaten much and, because of traveling, had to eat on the road. I probably consumed fewer than 1,000 calories that day, but I did buy a stick of beef jerky and some smokehouse almonds from a convenience store to get through that particular situation. I also had a really bad cold two weeks into the process and took some cold medication (but not a lot) . I had wanted to have a chemical free experience, but life happened.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Lessons Learned</i></b><br />
Here are some lessons I learned:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Calories count. </li>
<li>Whole foods are best. </li>
<li>I was addicted to chocolate, which means I will probably have to avoid it in the future. </li>
<li>I can survive without diet soda. </li>
<li>I miss cheese, but will not go overboard with it when it is reintroduced. </li>
<li>Coconut oil is my friend. </li>
<li>I got sloppy and careless on the low carb diet, and consumed too many calories each day, which is why I stalled.</li>
<li>Paleo is a much better eating philosophy than low carb.</li>
<li>The low carb conventional wisdom found on the web (e.g., "Add fat!") is wrong.</li>
<li>However, as a road warrior, low carb is easier to live with than clean Paleo, if one is forced to eat out a lot.</li>
</ul><br />
<b><i>Moving Forward</i></b><br />
I will be gradually reintroducing some of the foods I have not eaten for a while, but continue to pay attention to calories. I am getting near my goal of 215-220 pounds and I want to reach that, as I want to go<b><a href="http://www.paragliding-interlaken.ch/en"> paragliding in Switzerland</a></b> this summer. I am still taking refuge in the <b><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/">Carbsane Asylum</a></b> and not blindly accepting what I read on the web anymore. There are many wise voices on the web, but also lots of<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/12/more-fairy-tale-advice.html"> fairy tales</a></b>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-34268286482038289412012-01-12T08:18:00.000-08:002012-01-31T12:05:45.457-08:00Eating Safe Starches Lowers my Blood Glucose LevelsRecently, I have been aggressively monitoring my blood glucose levels and I have noticed a very interesting pattern. On days when I do not eat safe starches, my fasting blood glucose level the next morning is approximately 105. However, when I do eat safe starches (usually a sweet potato, regular potato, or white rice), the next morning my fasting blood glucose level is approximately 95.<br />
<br />
So I have been testing this idea by purposefully not eating any safe starches one day and checking my fasting blood glucose level the next morning. Like clockwork, my blood glucose levels are higher the next morning. When I eat safe starches, the fasting reading the next day goes down to 95. I am getting a 10-point drop the next day by eating safe starches. This is a very consistent finding.<br />
<br />
Even more curious, on days when I forego the safe starches, I am actually consuming fewer calories than the days when I eat them. My menus have been very consistent across all of these tests (I am trying to eat simple and dull meals, as suggested by <b><a href="http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-that-time-again.html">Jenny Ruhl</a></b> and <b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/10/losing-fat-with-simple-food.html">Stephan Guyenet</a></b>). So if I am eating less food, why are the fasting readings always higher? For purposes of full disclosure, my one hour readings are almost always below 125 and two hour readings are almost always below 100. Not bad for a type II diabetic. <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">The Perfect Health Diet</a></b> has effectively controlled my disease.<br />
<br />
So is the consumption of safe starches actually contributing to lowering my blood glucose levels? That is what it looks like to me.<br />
<br />
See my previous entries on safe starches <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2012/01/safe-starch-update.html">here</a></b>, <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/11/credibility-and-safe-starch-debate.html">here</a></b>, and <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/10/safe-starch-debate-diabetics.html">here</a></b>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-64191485687656149562012-01-06T08:42:00.000-08:002012-01-06T08:42:27.509-08:00Safe Starch UpdateAs I have previously mentioned, I am a type II diabetic, as well as a <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b> adherent. I have been following the PHD quite rigorously for a while now and wanted to report on the progress.<br />
<br />
First, I eat safe starches every day as part of my Paleo diet. Usually a half a cup of rice or a small- to medium-sized baked potato. Lately, I have been eating sweet potatoes (small to medium sized) most every evening, without anything added. And I check my blood sugar regularly. Two hours after eating a dinner of baked salmon with <b><a href="http://www.oliviersandco.com/home-page/lemon-specialty-olive-oil.html">lemon infused olive oil</a></b>, salad, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a medium sized sweet potato, my blood sugar was 95. My fasting blood sugar was 101 the next morning (my morning readings have always been high; Jenny Ruhl calls this the <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/17561156.php">"dawn phenomenon"</a></b>). Now these are not "normal" readings, but they are very good for me, especially given my history.<br />
<br />
What is interesting is that my blood glucose levels have consistently <i>fallen</i> since adding in safe starches (and following the other aspects of the Perfect Health Diet), especially my fasting blood glucose readings. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/10/safe-starch-debate-diabetics.html">So I <i>still</i> reject the safe starch exclusion for type II diabetics</a></b>. If it helps, like it does for me, eat safe starches, even if you are a type II diabetic.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-23314059160734844772011-12-26T15:35:00.000-08:002011-12-26T15:35:49.015-08:00Taubes on Low Carb Stalls<b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/21960035.php">Low carb diets stall if you need to lose more than 17-19% of your body weight</a></b>. That's the dirty little secret about low carb diets, one that I wish I had known. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-two-weight-loss-experiences.html">Weight Watchers took me all the way to goal</a></b>, but low carb stalls. This has left me about 25-30 pounds short of my goal.<br />
<br />
The good news is that I am weight stable; the bad news is that I am no longer going down. This is also very common.<br />
<br />
Gary Taubes slickly warned us all of this phenomenon in his book, <i>Why We Get Fat</i>. So I can't say I wasn't warned, but he sugar coats the reality. The following quote is from pp. 204-205 of the 2010 hardback edition of his book:<br />
<br />
<i>"The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be. This is clear. But there's no guarantee that the leanest we </i>can <i>be will ever be as lean as we'd like. <b>This is a reality to be faced...</b> [I]f you are not actively losing fat and yet want to be leaner still, the only viable option (short of surgery or the prospect that the pharmaceutical industry will come through with a safe and effective anti-obesity pill) is to eat still fewer carbohydrates, identify and avoid other foods that might stimulate significant insulin secretion--diet sodas, dairy products (cream, for instance), coffee, and nots, among others--and have more patience."</i> (The bold and italicized emphasis is mine).<br />
<br />
Why is this aspect of the low carb experience not given more exposure? I had to learn about it by reading the <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/">What They Don't Tell You About Low Carb Diets</a> </b>web site (a very good web site, which I highly recommend). And is patience the only way to get to goal? <b><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-i-eat-low-carb-response-to-reader.html">Carbsane has stalled, but been weight stable, for over three years now</a></b>. How much more patience is needed? Lots of suggestions for busting through stalls, such as <b><a href="http://www.pre-diabetes.com/lifestyle/low-carb-diet-got-you-stalled-reason-1-you-are-not-drinking-enough-water.html">drinking more water</a></b>, intermittent fasting (Taubes on p. 205 of the book referenced above), <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/21960035.php">counting calories</a></b>, etc.<br />
<br />
Or perhaps low carb is not the answer, or at least, not the entire answer, to losing weight. I do not want to remain obese, even if other health markers are good (e.g., normal blood pressure, stabilized blood glucose levels). <b><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-diet-fitness-regime-for-health.html?showComment=1322938966752#c5475498315978908752">That is not a good strategy</a></b>.<br />
<br />
So over the next few months, I am going to explore other options. I remain committed to the Perfect Health Diet way of eating, but I am going to aggressively monitor calories and experiment with various foods that may or may not be causing me to stall. I have a goal in mind: I will be taking a group of students on a study abroad trip to Europe this summer (<b><a href="http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/">gratuitous link</a></b> to my study abroad blog) and I want to be thin enough to go <b><a href="http://www.paragliding-interlaken.ch/en">paragliding</a> </b>in Interlaken, Switzerland. The upper limit is 220 pounds, so that is my goal. I should be able to lose another 25 pounds in the next six months or so and be ready for the paragliding activity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-51778311264585466402011-12-15T13:53:00.000-08:002011-12-19T07:06:15.908-08:00More Fairy Tale AdviceWant a current example of a<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/12/low-carb-fairy-tales.html"> low carb fairy tale</a></b>? A so-called, self-proclaimed "diet doctor" sends this <b><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/DietDoctor1/status/147210559656439808">message</a></b>: eat as much "real food" as you like this holiday season, <b><a href="http://www.dietdoctor.com/feast-without-fear-%E2%80%93-on-real-food">"because counting calories isn't necessary when eating real food."</a></b> *<br />
<br />
While this message might work for someone who is not/has never been obese, it is absolutely the wrong message to send to an obese, or formerly obese, person struggling to lose weight. You simply do not tell a person with eating issues that they can eat as much as they like and still lose weight. Even if it is grass-fed beef, pastured butter and raw, pastured cream, if you eat too much of it, you will gain weight.<br />
<br />
Many thoughtful low carb luminaries recommend calorie counting (e.g., <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/19058429.php">Jenny Ruhl</a></b>, <b><a href="http://lowcarb4u.blogspot.com/2011/02/deep-thoughts.html">Stargazey</a></b>, and, most prominently of all, Drs. Volek and Phinney in their book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Living/dp/0983490708/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323975431&sr=1-1" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Art and Science of Low Carb Living</a>). Carbohydrate restriction and calorie counting is the key to weight loss success. Eating moderately, as Volek and Phinney point out, is also the key to <i>maintaining</i> that weight loss. This is especially important for people who are obese or formerly obese.<br />
<br />
If you restrict your carbs and pay attention to calories, you will lose weight. If you consume too many calories, you will gain weight. Even if those calories come from the "real food" you are eating.<br />
<br />
A parting comment: Kurt Harris, M.D., has some <b><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-diet-fitness-regime-for-health.html?showComment=1322938966752#c5475498315978908752">hard hitting advice about eating too much low carb/Paleo foods and yet remaining obese, despite improved markers of health</a></b>. His take in a nutshell: become lean. Eating junk and being thin is preferable to eating clean low carb/Paleo and being fat.<br />
<br />
*Note: I actually agree with much (but not all; I would never eat canola oil, for example) of the Diet Doctor's <b><a href="http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf">prescription for weight loss</a></b>, as long as one is brutally honest about this point: "Eat when you are hungry until you are satisfied" (from his list of approved foods). It's just that the obese and formerly obese need to be <i>very</i> honest about both <i>hunger</i> and <i>satisfaction</i>. All too often, the"until you are satisfied" part is lost behind the "Eat when you are hungry" advice. And all too often, the justification for overeating is, "Don't count calories, count carbs." Eating a <b><a href="http://www.byebyecarbs.com/heavy-cream-vs-milk/">cup of cream a day</a></b> will sabotage your weight loss strategy, even if there aren't very many carbs in that cream.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-91245923252584442652011-12-14T15:20:00.000-08:002011-12-19T07:01:26.519-08:00Low Carb Fairy Tales<b><a href="http://www.shiftn.com/obesity/Full-Map.html">Obesity is a complex problem</a></b>. But, as is human tendency, we want a simple answer to a complex problem. And low carb is a simple answer. Yes, you can lose weight, but this is almost by <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-does-low-carb-work-review-of.html">accident</a></b>, as when you go low carb, you cut out wheat and sugar, two very problematic things.<br />
<br />
Low carb proponents tell the obese exactly what they want to hear:<br />
<br />
1) <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-am-i-doing-this.html">It's not my fault I am fat</a></b>; my metabolism is broken.<br />
2) I can eat all the fat and protein I want and still lose weight, because low carb gives me a <b><a href="https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=eades+metabolic+advantage">metabolic advantage</a></b>.<br />
3) <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1323902999&sr=1-1">Calories don't count</a></b>, only carbs matter, since all carbs are fattening.<br />
4) <b><a href="http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/">Exercise doesn't matter</a></b>.<br />
5) <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=pd_sim_b_1">Carbs increase insulin, which increases fat storage</a></b>. Cut the carbs and burn fat.<br />
6) <a href="http://lowcarbmenu.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-9-2011-low-carb-menu.html"><b><i>Add</i> yummy fat</b></a> to your diet to be even more healthy and speed up weight loss.<br />
<br />
Isn't that nice? Only it's not true: it's merely a fairy tale, with very little empirical science to back it up.<br />
<br />
But it is one heck of a persuasive argument to tell an obese person. It shifts the blame from your willpower to something you can't control: an out of whack metabolism. And <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-am-i-doing-this.html">it worked</a></b>! At least at first. Then it <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/stalled-again.html">stalled</a></b> as it <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/21960035.php">always does after 17-20% weight loss</a></b> and I got wiser.<br />
<br />
It was like learning that Santa Claus is not real: <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/07/epiphany-no-magic-bullet.html">low carb is not the magic weight loss bullet I thought it was</a></b>.<br />
<br />
What I really wanted was a simple solution to what I now know is a complex problem. I didn't want my being fat to be blamed on my sloth and gluttony, I wanted another explanation (<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1323902999&sr=1-1">broken metabolism</a></b>, <b><a href="http://holdthetoast.com/content/gram-here-gram-there">fattening carbs!</a></b>). I didn't want to exercise and I didn't want to count calories. I wanted to eat until I was full and lose weight. Nice, neat, simple, compelling, and wrong.<br />
<br />
I am currently following the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b>, a scientifically developed Paleo diet that is not based on fairy tales and which encourages exercise and calorie counting, is already high fat (you don't have to add any more), and complex. But that is okay, because I no longer believe in Santa Claus.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-36441426310799264572011-12-09T14:51:00.000-08:002011-12-09T14:51:26.180-08:00Taking Refuge in the AsylumSo why have I been silent for the past few weeks? The safe starch debate really got to me, especially the smug, sanctimonious responses of many low carbers. <br />
<br />
I have decided I no longer want to be identified as a "low carber" and prefer the "Paleo" moniker instead, at least the <strong><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/">Perfect Health Diet</a></strong> version of it. Which means I am at a crossroads as to what to do with my blog, as it is called "Low Carb Wisdom." I am seeing there is no wisdom in low carb circles, just dogma. So it's time to hit the exits. I'm not saying I am abondoning the blog, but I am taking... a pause.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, I have sought refuge in the <strong><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/">Carb Sane Asylum</a></strong>. You might want to check in if you show any sign of these <strong><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/p/you-need-to-check-into-asylum-if.html">symptoms</a></strong>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-12269013389839697622011-11-06T04:06:00.000-08:002011-11-06T12:57:30.078-08:00Deer Hunting, Part IIt is deer season in North Dakota, and on opening day, I went out hunting with four other men. Between the five or us, we got three deer, two does and a buck. Unfortunately, I was one of the two that did not shoot something. We simply ran out of time, as it got dark. I guess that is what next weekend is for! We saw two or three dozen deer during the day, and only two or three other hunters. That is the benefit of living in a geographically large state, with a very small population (670,000 people, about one third of whom live in Fargo).<br />
<br />
It was a very good experience. After each kill, we had to field dress the carcass and carry it back to the truck. Since hunting was only allowed on opening day after 12 noon, and since it got dark at about 6:30 p.m., that was not a bad record. Each kill took time to deal with the dead animal. We cleaned the last one in the dark, using flashlights, and could hear the coyotes baying at the moon. I suspect they fed well that night, on all the dear guts left from the field dressing of each kill. This was my first time hunting (after going Paleo, I thought it would be a good thing to kill some of my own meat) and I expect to make it an annual event.<br />
<br />
I grew up in Utah, and deer hunting there is very different, as two of my brothers who still live there assure me. For one thing, the deer in Utah are mule deer, and are considerably larger than the white tail deer we hunt in central/eastern North Dakota. But the biggest difference was that North Dakota is basically flat: no lugging deer carcasses up and down mountains. Lugging them back to the truck across flat terrain was hard enough. It gave me new respect for Mark Sisson's advice to <b><a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-fitness/">move and lift heavy things</a></b> on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
Assuming I get my deer next week, I am very tempted to take up bow hunting as well. There is something deeply primal about stalking a deer with a bow, then having to chase the animal down after it is wounded.<br />
<br />
The only problem with North Dakota deer: I am pretty sure these deer spent much of the last two months gorging on corn and other crops, as this is an agricultural state. So much for grass-fed deer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-32341810954222281652011-11-03T13:47:00.000-07:002011-11-03T14:07:05.852-07:00Credibility and the "Safe Starch" Debate<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>salary depends upon his not understanding it."</i> --<b><a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair">Upton Sinclair</a></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">Are all carbohydrates bad? No. In a post today on Robb Wolf's blog about meat and potatoes, <b><a href="http://robbwolf.com/2011/11/03/meat-potatoes-back-on-the-menu/">Matt Lentzner said</a></b>: "Judging a food solely by its macronutrient composition is stupid. It’s hard to believe it has taken us 50 years to figure that out. We have good fats (saturated and omega-3’s) and bad fats (omega-6’s), good carbs (starch) and bad carbs (fructose), good proteins (meat) and bad proteins (gluten). It’s the quality of the macronutrient, not it’s classification, that makes it good or bad."<o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">I agree with Lentzner that it is quality, not classification, and that it is stupid to judge a food solely by its macronutrient composition. I didn't always believe this, but I do now. <o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">Why is it so hard to understand that there might be "good carbs," or, in the parlance of the debate du jour, "safe starches?" Why is the idea of a "safe starch" so threatening to so many people? The whole safe starch debate was really surprising to me, until I stumbled across the quote above by Upton Sinclair. Then, all of a sudden, a light went on.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">It appears to me that the major proponents of the "all carbs are bad" school of thought (I won't name names, but it isn't too hard to do) all make a good portion of their livelihood (if not all of their livelihood) from promoting this idea. It also appears to me that the major defenders of the safe starch debate, Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet, do not make their livelihood promoting the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b>, so they are more flexible in and open to accepting new information. The same is true with Kurt Harris and his <b><a href="http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/9/13/archevore-diet-revised.html">Archevore diet</a></b> and for others. Their livelihood does not depend on defending a certain belief or viewpoint at all costs, so they are able to go against the grain when strong evidence is available.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">The idea that there may be "safe starches" (good carbs) must be incredibly threatening to those whose livelihoods depend on not believing this idea. So they reflexively defend it at all costs. As a professor at a state-sponsored university, I do the same thing when people suggest cutting state funds for higher education. I am not immune to the impulse. Even if I intellectually understand the arguments about out-of-control higher education spending, I am viscerally against them, as my livelihood is at stake. So I am not throwing stones, just seeking more wisdom on the topic. <o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;">But it does lead me to this conclusion: arguments made by those without a vested interest in the debate are more <b><i>credible </i></b>than those made by people whose income is threatened by the debate. Just as I lack credibility on questions of funding for higher education.<i><o:p></o:p></i></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-69979937528897260872011-10-31T03:28:00.000-07:002011-10-31T03:29:29.846-07:00Obese No LongerI lost two pounds this week, but the bigger news is this: now that I weigh <b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?authkey=CJWj7vgM&key=0Av2xZeaFbpAhdFAwYVFJM1RHeldnc3dtb1NVbW1hRkE&hl=en_US&authkey=CJWj7vgM#gid=0">239.8 pounds</a></b>, my BMI has dropped below the "obese" threshold. I am officially no longer obese; I am now merely "overweight," with a BMI of 29.9. Yes, I am tall (6'3").<br />
<br />
Have I ever mentioned that I think the BMI measurement is a <b><a href="http://www.lowcarbconversations.com/390/27-newell-wright-trey-potter/">bunch of bunk</a></b>?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-72443524759300858532011-10-29T18:51:00.000-07:002011-10-30T18:39:01.327-07:00Safe Starch Debate: A Diabetic's PerspectiveThere is a debate raging in the low carb blogosphere about the concept of "safe starches." Here is the <b><a href="http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/is-there-any-such-thing-as-safe-starches-on-a-low-carb-diet/11809">start of the debate</a></b>; here is Paul Jaminet's<b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4878"> initial response</a></b>, and here is the <b><a href="http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/more-safe-starches-stuff-and-why-ive-decided-not-to-test-them-on-myself/12068">latest installment</a></b>, featuring Dr. Ron Rosedale, with an response coming on Tuesday from Paul Jaminet.<br />
<br />
One thing all sides have said: We do not necessarily recommend "safe starches" for diabetics. Well, I am a type II diabetic and a <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet follower</a></b>, so I want to chime in with my experience.<br />
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First off, I have lost about 62 pounds, but 55 of that came following the diet described in the back of Gary Taubes' book, <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319937265&sr=1-1">Why We Get Fat</a></b></i>, which I later learned was the Atkins Induction phase. This helped to <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-in-diabetes-denial.html">stabilize my blood glucose levels</a></b> in about three weeks time, as well as returning my blood pressure to a normal range. But then I stalled and started reading more broadly about low carb diets. I discovered Gary Taubes didn't have <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/07/epiphany-no-magic-bullet.html">all the answers</a></b>, and I switched from the Atkins Induction diet to the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a>. </b>I have been eating rice, potatoes, bananas, and other safe starches ever since, as well as fermented dairy products, such as plain, whole milk yogurt. I have also slowly lost another seven pounds. I enthusiastically recommend the book, <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Health-Diet-Youthful-Vitality/dp/0982720904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319937236&sr=8-1">Perfect Health Diet</a></b></i> by Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet.<br />
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Today, my fasting blood glucose reading was 105. Note that since following the Perfect Health Diet, my fasting blood glucose reading has gone down. Previously, I was suffering from the <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/17561156.php">"dawn phenomenon."</a></b> My blood glucose levels overall were well<b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045621.php"> below 140 one hour after a meal and 120 two hours after a meal</a></b>. Only my fasting BG reading was out of whack, usually between 120 and 130, first thing in the morning.<br />
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For dinner tonight, I had a fatty pork rib, green beans, and a small baked potato with butter and sour cream. For dessert, I had a half cup of <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=2408">vanilla ice cream</a></b>. One hour after eating, my blood glucose level was 128 and two hours after, it was 112.<br />
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So not only am I losing weight on the Perfect Health Diet, my blood glucose levels have actually <i>improved</i>, thanks to the increased carbs counteracting the dawn phenomenon, just as <b><a href="http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2011/10/keep-leptinade-flowing-im-going-to-die.html?showComment=1319846419749#c2638038940406132727">Dr. Kurt Harris</a></b> (another proponent of safe starches) said it would.<br />
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So for me, as a type II diabetic, this "safe starches" exclusion is pointless. I realize that I have greatly helped my diabetes situation by losing a lot of weight prior to switching to the Perfect Health Diet. And I am taking Metformin Extended Release pills every day. Nevertheless, despite the type II diabetes, I am doing just fine on the Perfect Health Diet, thank you. I reject the diabetic exclusion of safe starches.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-69754370771616926272011-10-28T12:42:00.000-07:002011-10-28T12:42:48.394-07:00Back from EuropeI am back from Europe, where I have been for the past six weeks, with a study abroad group. I had an interesting experience with the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/">Perfect Health Diet</a></b> while in Europe. First off, it appears I lost 3-4 pounds while I was gone, which is amazing, considering that we ate out almost every day for the past three weeks, often three times per day when we were in deep travel mode.<br />
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But following the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">PHD principles</a></b> led me to making good choices. Among the items I consumed while abroad: a good deal of cheese made with raw milk; deviled lamb kidneys; pate de foie gras, pheasant pate, goose liver, pastured eggs, grass fed beef (especially in Scotland and Ireland), many truly fresh vegetables, a bit of chicken, fish, shrimp, etc. It was especially easy to eat in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as the local culture practically demands quality cuisine. It was more difficult in Switzerland, Germany, England, and Northern Ireland; somewhat less difficult in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. I spent the most time in Belgium, with a <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-i-love-belgium-part-i.html">fresh market</a></b> every weekend and whenever possible, we purchased fresh food and ate in. But when we ate out in Belgium, we ran in to some excellent restaurants, such as <b><a href="http://www.commesoupe.be/">Comme Soupe</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.tinjaske.be/">t'Injaske</a></b>. Everything is made fresh and the quality is just superb. My wife even bought a Belgian soup cookbook, so we can eat tasty, fresh, and hearty soups in the states.<br />
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The hardest part came when traveling in countries not known for their cuisine (e.g., England, Germany, Switzerland), but my strategy there was to hit the supermarket and buy whatever I could to eat. That usually meant cheeses, chicken, soup, vegetables, and yogurt.<br />
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So I am living proof that one can travel, a lot, and eat out, a lot, yet still lose weight when making wise choices. I am especially grateful to the Perfect Health Diet for convincing me to add back foods like rice, potatoes, bananas, and yogurt, which made the task all that much easier. Without spiking my blood sugars, but that is a post for another day (I am a type II diabetic). This <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4878">"safe starch"</a></b> concept has really helped make the low carb lifestyle sustainable and healthy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-72652514105941115232011-10-22T04:26:00.002-07:002012-03-09T13:32:05.818-08:00How Does Low Carb Work? A Review of Various TheoriesIn a recent post, I speculated on <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-we-get-fat-according-to.html">reasons why people are obese</a></b>. In many ways, this current post is the opposite: why do low carb diets reduce obese people to slender people? There are a lot of claims on the Internet about why low carb diets work, some of them quite outrageous, and I want to seek wisdom on this topic.<br />
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<b>The Carbohydrate Hypothesis. </b>Gary Taubes is the leading proponent of the hypothesis that carbs, especially refined carbs like flour and sugar, are fattening. This is also known as the "carbohydrate hypothesis." <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319272236&sr=8-1">According to Taubes</a></b>, carbs lead to insulin spikes, which leads to fat deposition (accumulation). The "carbohydrate hypothesis" is <b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/carbohydrate-hypothesis-of-obesity.html">widely disputed</a></b> and to date, there is no empirical evidence to back it up, though Taubes is apparently trying to <b><a href="http://garytaubes.com/2011/09/catching-up-on-lost-time-ancestral-health-symposium-food-reward-palatability-insulin-signaling-carbohydrates-kettles-pots-other-odds-ends-part-i/">raise money</a></b> for such an empirical test. Personally, I no longer believe this theory, though at one time, <b><a href="http://inner-carnivore.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-am-i-doing-this.html">I was a believer</a></b>. True believers in this hypothesis include <b><a href="http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/">Jimmy Moore</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.holdthetoast.com/">Dana Carpender</a></b>, <b><a href="http://garytaubes.com/blog/">Gary Taubes</a></b> (of course), and <b><a href="http://www.fathead-movie.com/">Tom Naughton</a></b>, among many others.<br />
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<b>Metabolic Advantage. </b>Others suggest that a low carb diet gives you a <b><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15588283">metabolic advantage</a></b> (the idea that you burn calories more efficiently while low carbing, and can therefore consume greater quantities of low carb food and still lose weight), though at present there is very little empirical evidence to back up this claim. This idea is also <b><a href="http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/ketogenic-low-carbohydrate-diets-have-no-metabolic-advantage-over-nonketogenic-low-carbohydrate-diets-research-review.html">widely disputed</a></b>, as exemplified by the <b><a href="http://blog.coreconceptswellness.com/?p=166">dust-up between Michael Eades and Anthony Colpo</a></b> on this very topic. The metabolic advantage theory leads to the idea that calories don't count, that some calories (e.g., "low carb" calories") are better than other calories. Thus, if you eat low carb, you don't have to worry about calories. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/low-carb-honeymoon-is-over.html">I am also on record as rejecting this idea</a></b>.<br />
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<b>Satiety. </b>Another theory about why low carb diets work is that protein and fat are more <b><a href="http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=1987/US/US87256.xml;US8731369">satiating </a></b>(see <b><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18469287">this article</a></b>, too). When you eat a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet you lose weight <b><a href="http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/2/276.full">because you spontaneously consume fewer calories</a></b>. There seems to be a lot more evidence for this theory (e.g., <b><a href="http://www.ajcn.org/content/82/1/1.full">here</a></b>, <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=2046">here</a></b>, and <b><a href="http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/2009/08/protein-and-satiety.aspx">here</a></b>). Note, too, that this theory implicitly rejects the theory of metabolic advantage mentioned above. I am <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-low-carb-works-at-least-for-me.html">on record as saying this is a major reason why low carb works</a></b>.<br />
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<b>Toxins, Infections, and Malnutrition. </b>The Perfect Health Diet maintains that <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4268">weight loss happens</a></b> when you eliminate toxins <i>from </i>your diet, as well as malnutrition and infections caused <i>by</i> your diet. The Jaminets have developed a diet based on these three ideas, which is <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">summarized here</a></b>. The diet is a low carb diet that includes so-called "safe starches," such as potatoes and white rice. A "safe starch" has nothing to do with carb or glucose content. It is a term invented by the Jaminets and "refers to any starchy food which, after normal cooking, lacks toxins, chiefly protein toxins. We do not consider glucose to be a toxin, though it may become toxic in hyperglycemia" (<b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4878">reference</a></b>). Their definition of a low carb diet is one between 100 to 150 grams of carbs per day, mostly from "safe starches," as a low carb diet for them "means eating less than the body's actual glucose utilization, so that a glucose deficit has to be made up by gluconeogenesis" (<b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4878">reference</a></b>). But weight loss happens not because carbs are reduced, but because toxins are eliminated, infections are reduced, and malnutrition is aggressively attacked. I am currently following the Perfect Health Diet, so I guess you could say I am a believer in this hypothesis.<br />
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<b>Low Carb Works by Accident. </b>Kurt Harris, M.D., maintains that low carb diets work by <b><a href="http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/9/29/jimmy-moore-inquires-about-safe-starches.html">accident</a></b>. Specifically, he says:<br />
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<i>Low carb plans have helped people lose fat by reducing food reward from white flour and excess sugar and maybe linoleic acid. This is <b>by accident</b> as it happens that most of the "carbs" in our diet are coming in the form of manufactured and processed items that are simply not real food. Low carb does not work for most people via blood sugar or insulin "locking away" fat. Insulin is necessary to store fat, but is not the main hormone regulating fat storage. That would be leptin.</i> (emphasis added).<br />
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<b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20reward">Food reward</a></b> is an idea championed by Stephan Guyenet and the basic idea is that highly palatable foods lead to obesity. Lowering food reward, or palatability, by reducing refined sugars, flours, and even salt and other spices to produce more bland eating options leads to losing weight. The idea proposed by Harris and Guyenet is that low carb diets work, not by design, but by accident. By following Atkins, for example, you naturally reduce food reward by eliminating a whole macronutrient category, carbohydrates. As the Harris quote above indicates, he (and <b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/carbohydrate-hypothesis-of-obesity.html">Guyenet</a></b>) both reject Taubes' carbohydrate hypothesis.<br />
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This is a curious argument, one that makes a certain amount of sense. Why does Atkins work? If you follow Atkins, you eliminate two major problematic foods: refined sugars and refined flour. This will naturally lead to weight loss. Atkins is not too concerned about seed oils, though, which is why I don't claim to be following Atkins. My version of a low carb diet has eliminated seed oils from a very early stage in my weight loss history. Atkins also produces a lot of junk food, made with wheat gluten, soy, and other products I don't consume. An Atkins low carb diet is not necessarily a low calorie diet, if you eat too much low carb junk food. So I do think there is an element of "accident" in why low carb works.<br />
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<b>My Position.</b> I believe low carb works because 1) protein and fat are more satiating than carbs; 2) low carb eating causes me to spontaneously consume fewer calories, since protein and fat are more satiating than carbs; 3) calories count, so be mindful of how much you eat; 4) low carb lowers food reward by eliminating sugar, flour, and seed oils, especially those three in combination; 5) low carb removes toxins, reduces infections, and corrects malnutrition; 6) low carb requires that I eat real foods, the kind that are not processed; and 7) low carb simply offers fewer food choices. It is a lot harder to snack and harder to eat out, at least in the U.S.A. This means I eat real food cooked at home more often than not. Fortunately, my desire to snack is greatly reduced thanks to the satiety of what I eat.<br />
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I do not believe in the carbohydrate hypothesis and reject the notion that carbs are inherently fattening (this idea seems to be widely believed and held on the Internet). Rejecting this idea opened my mind to the idea of eating "safe starches," as defined by the Jaminets. I also reject the idea of metabolic advantage and believe that calories count. Thus, I would never <b><a href="http://www.byebyecarbs.com/heavy-cream-vs-milk/">substitute a cup of heavy cream for a cup of whole milk</a></b>, simply because there are fewer carbs in the cream than in the milk, nor would I add <b><a href="http://lowcarbmenu.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-9-2011-low-carb-menu.html">12 tablespoons of fat to two pounds of meat</a></b> to increase the fat content of my diet That is simply too many calories and a low carb diet is already a high fat, moderate protein, low carb way of eating. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/high-fat-diet-but-dont-overdo-it.html">You don't need to add a lot of additional fat</a></b>.<br />
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Taken together, the seven reasons cited above are a recipe for low carb success.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-47700962226413031082011-10-13T08:35:00.000-07:002011-10-25T22:10:11.613-07:00Silence ExplainedI take students abroad for my day job and have been in Europe for the past few weeks, working 12-15 hour days. It hasn't left a lot of time for blogging, so I hope that explains my silence. Here are some <b><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/108262110927123701886/2011FallAntwerp?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjV5Y2dttq0UA#">photos</a> </b>I took from recent travels to Belgium, France, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland (plus a <b><a href="http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/">gratuitous link</a></b> to my other, neglected study abroad blog).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioH5wISgzv1z0av9L4ZZ7TGqVdRysBCWhs8fhZqPQKYhvCLZ4_7M3iiQQKLCHM1OwEB333yi9bGXsxX5RODdarYdjXEWElzvxOG2cyQyZiL_brLxVMAzN1Q_hK6Vk-vhkekIzh5Gn1we8/s1600/IMG_2183-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioH5wISgzv1z0av9L4ZZ7TGqVdRysBCWhs8fhZqPQKYhvCLZ4_7M3iiQQKLCHM1OwEB333yi9bGXsxX5RODdarYdjXEWElzvxOG2cyQyZiL_brLxVMAzN1Q_hK6Vk-vhkekIzh5Gn1we8/s320/IMG_2183-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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So a few links: Paul Jaminet <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4878">responds </a></b>to various comments about safe starches. The man is a class act and I respect him more now than ever before. Not only has he taught me about how to do low carb safely and correctly, he has taught me how to be a gentleman as well.<br />
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I some times despair at finding wisdom in the low carb blogosphere; everyone thinks carbs are fattening and that all we have to do is cut carbs to lose weight. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/low-carb-honeymoon-is-over.html">This is not true</a></b>. But occasionally, I do stumble upon low carb wisdom. <b><a href="http://www.byebyecarbs.com/heavy-cream-vs-milk/">Here is one such post</a></b>. Finding low carb wisdom is the reason I started this blog.<br />
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There has been a lot of activity about the book <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318519507&sr=8-1">Wheat Belly</a></b></i> by Dr. William Davis. I even wrote a <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/wheat-belly.html">review </a></b>of the book. But Chris Masterjohn, another superb example of a human being, wrote a very <b><a href="http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2011/10/wheat-belly-toll-of-hubris-on-human.html">decent review</a></b> of the book that captures the best and the worst aspects of the book. You can tell it is a compelling review by reading <b><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/WilliamDavisMD/status/124333236468989952">Dr. Davis' response</a></b> to Masterjohn's blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-38486304237368149262011-09-28T10:28:00.000-07:002011-09-28T10:34:27.331-07:00"Healthy" Food Options Lead to Unhealthy Food Choices<div class="MsoNoSpacing">I mentioned several theories of obesity from low carb and Paleo gurus in a <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-we-get-fat-according-to.html">previous post</a></b>. Today, I want to show some <i>psychological</i> reasons why people make poor food choices, potentially ending up obese. The theory of eating cues is not meant to replace any other theories about obesity, merely to supplement them. External triggers are very real.<br />
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Two important studies in the <b><i><a href="http://ejcr.org/">Journal of Consumer Research</a></i></b> show why “healthy” choices in a restaurant may lead to unhealthy meal selection. Words like “healthy” are in quotations marks, as the dominant paradigm of these studies is that low fat, high carb is good and high fat is bad. We Paleo and low carb types know better. Still, they make for very interesting reading and offer yet another reason why obesity may be increasing.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">In the <b><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/519499">first study</a></b>, consumers who went to Subway believed they were eating healthy food. This led to choosing a “healthy” sandwich, but several “unhealthy” sides, such as sugary drinks and cookies. When asked to estimate the number of calories they consumed, they estimated, on average, 35% fewer calories than they actually consumed. They did not make this magnitude of error estimating calories when eating at McDonald’s. Subway is permeated by a “health halo” that implies <i>all</i> of the menu items at Subway are healthy. In reality, some sandwiches have more calories than a Big Mac. At McDonald’s, people are not under the illusion that they are eating healthy foods, so they may actually consume fewer calories than at Subway.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">A <b><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/599219">second study</a></b> explains why this is happening. Consumers have a goal of eating healthier, and “healthy” items on the menu confirm their goal of healthy eating. The mere presence of a “healthy” menu choice does three things. First, it vicariously fulfills a desire or goal the make more “healthy” eating choices. Second, it focuses the consumer’s attention on the least healthy item in the choice set. And finally, it provides consumers with a license to indulge. Their goal of eating at a “healthy” restaurant is met, so they don’t actually have to <i>eat</i> in a “healthy” manner, just eat <i>at</i> a “healthy” restaurant. This is what focuses their attention on the unhealthy menu options and leads them to indulge, and this study demonstrates convincingly that this is even true with individuals who have a high degree of self-control. The authors of this paper demonstrated this effect in four different studies across different contexts. It also works in vending machines with more “healthy” options (sales of Snickers bars go up).</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">What does this all mean? In the rush to add “healthier” items to the menus at unhealthy restaurants, the net effect is an increase in sales of unhealthy items. When “healthy” items are not present, consumers make “wiser” decisions about their “healthy” food choices.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>So as I have shown before (<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/large-containers-large-plates.html">here </a></b>and <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/100-calorie-food-packages-and-low-carb.html">here</a></b>), cues, such as "healthy" food options, plate size, container size, 100-calorie packages, etc., have a direct and unrecognized impact on how people eat what they eat. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-we-get-fat-according-to.html">So it is not all food palatability, carbs, toxins, NADs, modern lifestyle, genetics, or infections that lead to obesity</a></b>. Sometimes, it is also pure psychology.</o:p><br />
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<o:p>There are a lot of other food cues to report on, but all in due time. Keep watching this space!</o:p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-15942183368763522402011-09-27T07:59:00.000-07:002011-10-16T11:26:56.535-07:00Why We Get Fat, According to...<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317133381&sr=8-1">Gary Taubes</a></b> blames carbs, especially the refined carbs like wheat and <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all">sugar</a></b>.<br />
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Laura Dolson is generally with Taubes on the refined carbs, but she also blames <b><a href="http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/b/2011/09/26/if-low-carb-diet-was-a-pill.htm">marketing</a></b>.<br />
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<b><Rant></b><br />
As a marketing professor, I find straw men arguments like this patently ridiculous. Marketing is not all powerful; if it were, I would have created a junk product and marketed it to all of you idiots out there, who would have bought it. You wouldn't have a choice; marketing would have <i>forced</i> you to buy it, and I could retire in style to the French Riviera. Unfortunately, life isn't like that. Consumers have <i>brains</i> and can choose to not purchase marketed products. <b><a href="http://www.blog.oplaunch.com/product_launch/2007/01/doing_everythin.html">Up to 95% of new products fail</a></b>, despite massive amounts of marketing. The influence of the home can swamp <i>any</i> marketing campaign. Massive amounts of food industry marketing do not work on me, for example, or the example I set in my family. I have a brain and I choose differently.<br />
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Also, does marketing/advertising <i>create</i> food attitudes, or merely <i>reflect </i>already existing attitudes in people? Any competent social scientist will tell you it is very hard to change behavior. While I think marketing can help to create attitudes, it mostly reflects what already exists. Take smoking, for example. <b><a href="http://www.helpwithsmoking.com/why-people-smoke.php">Reasons people smoke</a></b> include parental example/rebellion against parents; peer pressure; stress and anxiety reductions; desire to lose weight, etc. Marketing, though often blamed for smoking (Exhibit A: <b><a href="http://www.forbisthemighty.com/pages/joe_camel.htm">Joe Camel</a></b>), is not even mentioned as a factor (I would argue that marketing only informs brand choice, not the decision to smoke). Get real, folks. Marketing is just not as powerful as you would like to believe. It may be a convenient <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_boy_(disambiguation)">whipping boy</a></b>, but your belief in the absolute power of marketing is a fantasy.<br />
<b></Rant></b><br />
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Kurt Harris blames the <b><a href="http://www.archevore.com/get-started/">Neolithic Agents of Disease</a></b>, including fructose, wheat, and seed oils.<br />
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Stephan Guyenet blames<b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/roadmap-to-obesity.html"> highly palatable food choices</a></b> for weight gain.<br />
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Paul Jaminet blames <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4268">malnutrition, dietary toxins, and infections</a></b> for obesity.<br />
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Chris Kresser says there is <b><a href="http://chriskresser.com/there-is-no-single-cause-of-or-treatment-for-obesity">no single cause</a></b> of or treatment for obesity. Later, he says that <b><a href="http://chriskresser.com/reframing-the-obesity-debate-causeeffect-genetics-robot-clones">modern lifestyle + genetic predisposition = obesity</a></b>.<br />
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What do I believe? I used to believe Gary Taubes, because the solution he proposed worked for me, to a point. Harris, Jaminet, and Kresser are all singing variations of the same tune, so I suppose I am in their camp now. I am following the <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Perfect Health Diet</a></b>, though I am <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/stalled-again.html">stalled </a></b>at the moment. They seem the most reasonable, the most scientifically based, even though I have <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-does-one-justify-dietary-dogma.html">criticized science</a></b> as a <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/justifying-principles.html">justifying principle</a></b> for belief. But I guess I have to hang my hat somewhere.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-13755512558139212652011-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:002011-09-23T22:39:36.989-07:00Large Containers, Large PlatesYesterday, I wrote about research on <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/100-calorie-food-packages-and-low-carb.html">chronic dieters and small package size</a></b>. Today, I want to report on some research about large container size and its impact on eating.<br />
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Apparently, chronic dieters and their small packages aside, the larger the container, the more people will consume. <b><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1499404606602789">This article</a></b> reports on container size and palatability, and is one of Brian Wansink's infamous popcorn studies. Popcorn was given away during an early afternoon movie screening (just after lunch, so consumers would not be hungry) in either medium or large buckets. The popcorn was either freshly popped or stale (14 days old). But whether or not the popcorn was palatable was not the issue; consumers ate 45% more fresh popcorn from the big buckets and 33.6% more stale popcorn from the big buckets than from the medium buckets. The conclusion: container size is a powerful cue to how much you eat. <b><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329300000318">There is another version of this popcorn study</a></b>. In this second study, people who reported they disliked the stale popcorn still ate 61% more popcorn from a large rather than the medium container. Those who reported they liked the fresh popcorn ate 49% more popcorn from the large rather than the medium container. The conclusion: container size is a powerful cue for consumption. The bigger the container, the more will be consumed, whether the food is palatable or not.<br />
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Another, similar study was conducted to demonstrate the effects of plate size on portions. This <b><a href="http://www.mindlesseating.org/">video</a></b> (select the menu button on the player and scroll to the last segment) explains the study. Basically, participants scoop pasta on to a small plate. Before they can take the plate to the table, they are distracted. During the distraction, the plate and food are surreptitiously weighed. The server then "accidentally" coughs or sneezes on the plate and offers the participant a second plate and has them scoop up more pasta. The catch: the second plate is much larger. Once again, the plate is surreptitiously weighed before the plate is taken away. The results: the same person scoops up 25% more pasta on to the larger plate rather than the smaller plate. The takeaway from the study: we are cued into how much to eat by plate size.<br />
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Are people in the low carb/paleo communities susceptible to these cues? You betcha. But as Brian Wansink, the author of the above studies, wrote in his book <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316791836&sr=8-1">Mindless Eating</a></b></i>, you can use these cues to your advantage. Serve your meals on smaller plates and "mindlessly" consume less. As I have mentioned previously, I have <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/stalled-again.html">stalled</a> </b>on my low carb journey and need to cut calories. An easy way to do this is by using smaller containers and plates.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-69727210873601368922011-09-22T08:49:00.000-07:002011-09-22T08:49:06.848-07:00100-Calorie Food Packages and Low CarbAs my cousin Cathy once said, "When I think of all the reasons I eat, hunger has very little to do with it." How true. There is more psychology involved in eating than one may think, and there is a lot of interesting food research out there to report on. Not all of it is low carb or Paleo, but it is interesting nonetheless.<br />
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Since I am a marketing professor, I have decided to report on some of the interesting food research that I stumble across in the academic marketing literature. I will link to abstracts and full text articles whenever possible, though if you don't have academic access, you may not be able to pull up the full article. But fear not: I will summarize them in plain English and avoid the statistics and academic-speak.<br />
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Today's topic: diet "food" in 100-calorie packages. According to <b><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/591103">this article</a></b> published in the <i><b><a href="http://ejcr.org/">Journal of Consumer Research</a></b></i>, chronic dieters perceive that if a food, such as M&Ms, comes in a 100-calorie pack, it is a diet food. This perception can prompt chronic dieters to overeat the "diet food" contained in the 100-calorie pack. The authors caution dieters to be wary of "foods" contained in 100-calorie packs.<br />
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In a second study about small packages of food, <b><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/589564">this article</a></b>, also in the same issue of the <i>Journal of Consumer Research</i>, shows that large packages trigger concerns of overeating in chronic dieters, but small packages do not trigger the same concerns. In fact, small packages actually encourage chronic dieters to eat more.<br />
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In this clever study, one group of participants had their dietary concerns "activated" by taking surveys about dieting and thinness and by being weighed and measured in front of mirrors. They were then asked to evaluate commercials during an episode of <i>Friends</i>. Another group was given the same task, but did not take the dieting surveys and were not weighed and measured prior to watching <i>Friends</i>. The research participants thought they would be evaluating TV advertisements, but that was really a distraction from the true purpose of the study. The researchers actually monitored how many potato chips participants consumed during the TV show.<br />
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The catch: the chips came in large bags and small bags. The group whose dietary concerns were activated by the survey and the weigh in did not consumer very many chips from the large bags, but ate a lot of chips from the small bags. The control group ate roughly the same amount of chips from large or small bags.<br />
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The takeaway: dieters actually consume more high-calorie snacks when they are in small packages rather than large packages.<br />
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So, combining the results from the two studies, dieters perceive food in 100-calorie packages to be diet food, and they will eat more of them, even if they are, in reality, high calorie snacks.<br />
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Do we in the low carb/Paleo communities fall prey to this, too? I know I have, in the past. For example, these <b><a href="http://www.belgianchocs.com/catalog/cote-dor-mignonnettes-70-cocoa-c-41-p-60.html">10 gram, 70% dark chocolate mignonettes</a></b> each have three grams of carbs, one gram of fiber (for two net grams of carbs), 3 grams of saturated fat in the healthy cocoa butter, and 59 calories. Isn't that a perfect, low carb food? Yes--if you eat one piece. But if you perceive it to be "diet" food and overeat it, then no, it is not good for you and is in reality a high-calorie snack.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-37384123211787222912011-09-21T12:40:00.000-07:002011-09-21T12:44:43.996-07:00Justifying PrinciplesAn <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology">epistemological</a></b> question: why do people believe what they believe about low carb/paleo/ancestral ways of living? What are your justifying principles? I have written before about how tough it is to <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-does-one-justify-dietary-dogma.html">justify dietary dogmas</a></b>. But I think I would like to revisit that question in more detail.<br />
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It seems to me that in the low carb world, the overarching belief is that "carbs are bad." Gary Taubes, at least as interpreted by his adherents, seems to be a big proponent of this philosophy. According to this view, carbs are fattening, and therefore, cutting carbs causes people to lose weight. But I have actually read Taubes' two <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316626126&sr=1-1">main </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b">books</a></b>, and while he is certainly down on carbs, he does seem to be especially down on fructose and refined carbs, not all carbs. Also, this theory is under <b><a href="http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/carbohydrate-hypothesis-of-obesity.html">attack</a></b>, with many paleo and primal types rejecting it. As Chris Kresser <b><a href="http://chriskresser.com/reframing-the-obesity-debate-causeeffect-genetics-robot-clones">pointed out</a></b>, just because cutting carbs is a cure to obesity, it doesn't logically follow that carbs <i>cause</i> obesity. We are confusing a <i>cure</i> with a <i>cause</i>.<br />
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Yet, as I peruse the Internet, it seems to me the belief that carbs are fattening is widely held. I don't believe this and I personally think that we lose weight on a low carb diet because when we cut out sugar and refined carb products, we <b><a href="http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/2/276.full">spontaneously consume fewer calories</a></b>, as fat and protein (the foods with which we replace all those carbs we cut) are much more satiating. And limiting your intake of carbs cuts out an awful lot of food choices. That said, if you eat too much low carb food, you will gain weight, especially if you consume too much fat. <b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/low-carb-honeymoon-is-over.html">Calories do matter</a></b>.<br />
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What is the justifying principle for Paleo? Paleo types try to eat what they guess our Paleolithic ancestors ate. For example, J. Stanton of Gnolls.org suggests, "<b><a href="http://www.gnolls.org/1141/eat-like-a-predator-not-like-prey-paleo-in-six-easy-steps-a-motivational-guide/">Eat like a predator, not like prey</a></b>." Unlike low carb dieters, many Paleo adherents don't do dairy, <b><a href="http://paleohacks.com/questions/25883/paleo-primal-cordain-sisson-wolf-dairy-starchy-vegetables#axzz1YbiNl2i2">because have you ever tried to milk a wild buffalo</a></b>? But do we really know what our ancestors ate? It seems to me that a lot of Paleo adherents have a romanticized view of what our ancestors ate. Some Paleo adherents (e.g., <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">Jaminet</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.archevore.com/get-started/">Harris</a></b>) advocate eating "safe" carbs, such as potatoes, rice, tapioca, etc., in addition to adding dairy. Apparently, Harris is <b><a href="http://robbwolf.com/2011/09/13/the-paleo-solution-episode-97/">currently eating 40% of his calories as carbs</a></b>, including a lot of Rice Krispies and half and half (you'll have to listen to a rather long [but interesting!] podcast to hear him admit this).<br />
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My main problem with Paleo: its justifying principles are rather shaky. I can find all varieties of people who follow the "Paleo" lifestyle: those who do <b><a href="http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/thanks-to-ahs11-ive-shifted-my-diet-to-a-low-carb-paleo-approach/11494">low carb Paleo</a></b>; those who eat fruit, <b><a href="http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/">since not all ancient fruits were small, bitter, and low in sugar</a></b>; those who will <b><a href="http://www.archevore.com/get-started/">add some dairy</a></b> to the previous list; those who will add <b><a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-5-best-dark-chocolate-bars-in-the-world/">dark chocolate</a></b>; those who will add <b><a href="http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=8">rice or potatoes</a></b>; those who do <b><a href="http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/08/13/ancestral-health-symposium/">vegetarian variants</a></b> of the Paleo lifestyle; those who do <b><a href="http://paleohacks.com/questions/35493/low-fat-paleo#axzz1YbiNl2i2">low fat Paleo</a></b>; and those who try to do some version of Paleo, but who <b><a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/8020-principle/">cheat</a></b>, a little or a lot. There have also been some high profile people quit the Paleo lifestyle, such as <b><a href="http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2011/06/farewell-to-paleo.html">Don Matesz</a></b>. Since there is so much argument about what our Paleolithic ancestors ate, it seems to me that members of the "Paleo" community are more united by what they avoid than by what they eat. They avoid things that make modern man sick, such as refined carbs, dairy, seed oils, processed foods, etc.<br />
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I actually appreciate all of the discussions within the Paleo community. As General George Patton once said, "<b><a href="http://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=%22When+everybody+is+thinking+the+same+way%2C+nobody+is+thinking.%22">If everyone's thinking the same thing, nobody is thinking</a></b>." At least some thinking and progressing is going on in the Paleo community. Sometimes, it doesn't seem to me like as much thinking is going on in the low carb community. There does seem to be a lot of agreement in most Paleo camps that modern wheat, seed oils, refined carbs, and processed foods are not healthy to consume. The debate about dairy (fermented, cheese, cream), fruit, potatoes, rice, dark chocolate, etc., is actually very healthy. I know it has helped me change my mind on some topics. And at least they avoid nonsensical arguments like, "All carbs are fattening."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-80108043402572238862011-09-20T00:40:00.000-07:002011-09-20T00:40:52.838-07:00Stalled AgainI think I have officially stalled again. For one month now, I have been hanging around the <b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Av2xZeaFbpAhdFAwYVFJM1RHeldnc3dtb1NVbW1hRkE&authkey=CJWj7vgM&hl=en_US&authkey=CJWj7vgM#gid=0">242-243 pound range</a></b>. The good news is that almost without effort, my weight has stabilized in a range that is sixty pounds lower than when I started. The bad news is, I am still about 25 pounds away from goal.<br />
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<b><a href="http://lowcarbwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-two-weight-loss-experiences.html">Weight Watchers took me all the way down to goal</a></b>, but it was a miserable experience. Low carb/paleo/Perfect Health Diet has been a much better, overall way to lose weight. I am healthier, I am not hungry, and my type II diabetes is effectively in remission. Yet, I cannot seem to get down to where I want to be. <b><a href="http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/21960035.php">And this is a rather common problem when low carb dieting</a></b>. What to do? I don't really know yet.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476707373609618353.post-36796796817406313192011-09-17T19:46:00.000-07:002011-09-17T19:49:54.298-07:00Why I Love Belgium, Part IBelgium is a coastal country, with lots of seafood available, fresh. It is a land of French cuisine in the restaurants, without the French wait staff or attitude. And it is very, very easy for me as a low carb adherent to eat, even when I am on the road and have to eat out all the time. But it is even better when I can cook on my own.<br />
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The supermarkets sell all sorts of things, such as lamb, rabbit, duck, wild boar, and on the shelves it is easy to find offal (kidneys, heart, liver, brains, etc.). The eggs are almost all from free range chickens and some say, even on the box, that they don't throw your omega 3s and 6s out of balance. You can buy cheeses made from raw, unpasteurized milk, as well as yogurt, which is simply divine. And the selection of cheeses is enormous! The dark chocolate here is better, and a whole lot less expensive, than what we have to make do with in the states. But even better are the fresh food markets on the weekend.<br />
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The one in Antwerp is simply not to be missed. The quality of the vegetables, fruit, cheeses, butter, fish, meats, olives, olive oil, etc. is just amazing. I enjoy wandering around the market on Saturday morning and seeing all of the high quality food. Serious cooks know to get the best produce, fruits, and meat at the markets.<br />
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