Photo food diary Dec 1, 2008

Late morning snack Dec 1, 2008 Chocolate/caramel shake

Mid-afternoon snack Dec 1 2008 Salami/peppers/pickles

Dinner Dec 1, 2008 Steak and wedge salad

Diet tonic two glasses Dec 1, 2008

Dessert Dec 1, 2008

31 Responses to “Photo food diary Dec 1, 2008”

1. Morgan, December 2, 2008 at 1:32 pm

   

   Dr. Eades, I watched your video, and you are working far too hard for your Americanos (Americani?)! I have a good espresso machine, and if I want an Americano-type coffee rather than an espresso, I just use a bigger cup and let the water run longer. Same crema, one cup, no boiling water in a separate kettle, no transit between the machine and the cup. I think your push-button machine should be able to do the same thing–maybe just push the button twice?

   And I totally agree with you with the cream thing–black coffee is best just the way it is!

   Unfortunately, my machine is programmed for either a single or a double shot. I can’t just hold the button and let the water run. I wish I could. But it’s easier than the video because we have an instant hot water device that puts out hot, hot water, so there’s no dragging around a kettle.

   Reply
2. Gretchen, December 2, 2008 at 1:44 pm

   

   Something that might be interesting to do sometime would be to calculate the cost of your day’s meals and compare it with (1) the cost of a typical fast-food menu for a day and (2) the cost of a slightly more upscale menu for the day, the type an urban employee eating all meals out might eat.

   It might turn out that the expensive-looking steak and out-of-season berry menu wasn’t much more, or even less, than restaurant food. This would be a good incentive for people to follow the plan.

   I wonder if a book consisting of just menus, beautiful photos, and perhaps approximate costs would sell. It would have to include some portable meals for those who worked in offices.

   Some of MD’s tips for making the plates look nice might also help people who are accustomed to eating out of clamshell containers.

   I’ll pass your suggestions along to MD; maybe she’ll blog on how she plates the stuff. I’m so used to it that it never occurs to me that it’s anything other than a plate of food. I guess I’m just an ungrateful swine.

   Reply
3. David MacPhail, December 2, 2008 at 2:09 pm

   

   This is off topic but the only post I can find on magnesium is the one you did on inflammation on 29 July 2005.

   Ever since I found out I have type II diabetes four years ago I have had a gut feeling that I am suffering from a long standing magnesium deficiency. I have most of the classic symptoms including heart palpitations. However although I have tried every form of magnesium supplement I could find the results have been less than dramatic, that is until I read about and started taking magnesium chloride hexahydrate in a concentrated water solution.

   The main problem I ran into with other forms of magnesium is that I could not seem to take very much without causing diarrhea and/or abdominal discomfort. Even though magnesium chloride is used by the ton as a deicer it was not easy to obtain in a USP grade powder. I had to get a pharmacy to order it for me. Even this took some doing.

   The literature I have read on magnesium, and especially magnesium chloride hexahydrate, is that it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year at fairly high doses to correct a long term magnesium deficiency. The results I have experienced after less than a month with magnesium chloride hexahydrate have been so far been quite remarkable.

   Some researcher suggests that high blood sugar and insulin levels interfere with the transport of magnesium. Other research has found that diabetics are deficient in magnesium and that this may explain why hypertension and nerve damage are common complications. To make matters worse, research also suggests that diabetics do not readily retain and store magnesium. For this reason I take it in divided doses during the day.

   Another advantage of magnesium chloride hexahydrate in a concentrated liquid solution is that the magnesium is absorbed through the skin when applied topically. A form of magnesium chloride hexahydrate that seems to be growing in popularity for this purpose is a product called magnesium oil. Although it feels oily to the touch it is not really oil based. Magnesium chloride hexahydrate just feels oily in a saturated solution.

   Although magnesium deficiency affects the majority of the population, like the low carb diet, it doesn’t get much respect. It would be great if you could start a blog on magnesium.

   Another thought is that you may have increased your levels of magnesium with the other supplements, but not to the point of symptomatic relief. Then when you added the mg chloride hexahydrate you were able to get levels up after a few more weeks of supplementation. It’s difficult under the circumstances to be absolutely sure that the mgcl hexahydrate was the key. But I’m glad you are doing well on it.

   The best way to get magnesium levels up quickly is by intravenous magnesium, which we used all the time in our clinic. it’s really too bad that more docs don’t offer that service.

   There is no question that diabetics are mg deficient, as are people with hypertension and a host of other disorders. There is an entire school of thought that posits that a mg deficiency underlies the entire metabolic syndrome.

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4. tom, December 2, 2008 at 2:30 pm

   

   I’ve been making shakes for breakfast fairly regularly since they are so convenient. I usually use a low calorie protein powder (currently AtLarge), frozen berries and peanut butter. I want to lower the carbs and increase the fat so I will have to try substituting coconut milk for the peanut butter.

   Whats your opinion on having shakes regularly? Some suggest that since they are liquid food they will digest much faster and increasing insulin.

   Also I’d be curious to see your macronutrient and calorie breakdown over a week, have you considered using a site like fitday?

   I have shakes once per day, sometimes twice, but usually only once. And some days I skip. But they are so convenient…

   With all the projects I’ve got going right now, I don’t have time to run all this stuff through a nutritional calculator. Maybe someone else will do it for me. Should be easy – all the photos are there.

   Reply
5. Vadim, December 2, 2008 at 2:44 pm

   

   AJ, there was a wonderful egg omelette on previous post and Cofee Americano, I assume you didnt see those first few pictures!

   Reply
6. Robert, December 2, 2008 at 3:54 pm

   

   Do you prefer an isolate or a concentrate? I finally found a low heat concentrate that doesn’t kill my gut like the isolates do. I think they taste better too, more of a natural taste. Wonder if I could find some university to test my GSH levels before and aft? lol.
   I like the diet diary and pic idea. I have heard many say how after doing the diary, they were shocked at all they ate or what they ate. Pics may be even more of an eye opener… for those who care.

   I prefer a combination of the isolate and the concentrate, with more of the latter than the former.

   I’m sure that if you’ve got the $$$ to spend, you can find someone to test your GSH.

   Reply
7. Monty, December 2, 2008 at 7:16 pm

   

   Thanks for your protein drink recipe…I will definitely pick up the Torani Caramel Sugar Free syrup at Beverages and More sometime this week. I searched the Internet for the brand you use, but didn’t come up with the name at all.

   I also wanted to share that I add Instant Expresso to my Chocolate low-carb whey protein drink. Absolutely Delicious!

   Here’s the brand of Instant Expresso I use (you have to scroll down a bit to see the jar of it). I can buy it locally at a couple of supermarkets, so I’m very happy and always have several jars on hand.

   http://www.totallynawlins.com/medaglia.html

   If you have trouble finding the Torani, go through the highlighted link on this post and get it through Amazon. They’ve got all the flavors and ship pretty quickly. That’s where we get ours.

   Hmmm. The instant espresso sounds good. May have to try it.

   Reply
8. David MacPhail, December 2, 2008 at 8:19 pm

   

   ME: The best way to get magnesium levels up quickly is by intravenous magnesium, which we used all the time in our clinic. it’s really too bad that more docs don’t offer that service.

   Yes, it really is too bad that it is hard to get IV magnesium therapy. Interestingly when doing my research I found several references that claimed that supplementation should not exceed more than 1/2 the RDA (1/2 x 420 mg for men) because magnesium becomes toxic over this level. What’s with that? Other sources said that it is best to get all the magnesium we need from food sources and not rely on supplements. I for one believe this is impractical.

   I think that you are correct in speculating that the main reason I suddenly saw dramatic improvement was that I was able to get to the levels I needed with mgcl hexahydrate. For the initial 2 weeks I was ingesting 1200 – 1400 mg/day in divided doses spread throughout the day. I have since read that when a single dose approaches 200 mg the body’s absorption rate of magnesium decreases dramatically. So I think divided doses spread throughout the day is also a factor.

   I don’t know where the idea that anything more than half the RDA is toxic. I’ve both taken and given much more than that countless times without incident, other than maybe a little diarrhea. In days of old we got much of our magnesium from our drinking water because we all drank well water. Now we all drink bottled water or softened water, which is pretty much devoid of magnesium.

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9. ethyl d, December 3, 2008 at 11:16 am

   

   If I may, I’d like to follow up on the comment above about taking magnesium. I noticed the commenter mentioned heart palpitations as a symptom of deficiency. I had heart palpitations a lot as a child, but they went away as an adult (I assumed because I was a lot fitter) but started coming back a few years ago. Last year I added magnesium as a supplement based on your singing its praises in PP and PPLP to see if I could notice any difference in well-being. I don’t remember how much or what kind now. But the heart palpitations really increased and were getting kind of scary. After doing some research, and learning that one of the possible causes was mineral imbalance, I stopped the magnesium. The palpitations decreased to almost never having them. A few months ago I added some magnesium back in, the heart palpitation episodes increased, so I stopped the magnesium, and now they’ve decreased again to only an occasional one now and then. I was taking only a third of the dose recommended on the bottle. Could I surmise that I am getting enough magnesium from my food, and I don’t need to supplement? Or could adding the magnesium create an imbalance with other minerals? At any rate, it seems it would be better to not induce heart palpitations so I think I should skip the supplement if it has that effect on me.

   Interesting history. Thanks for passing it along. I’ve treated countless patients with magnesium – some with fairly high doses – and I’ve never had one tell me he/she had palpitations. It’s good to know that it affects some people that way. I don’t know the mechanism. I need to think about it a little, I guess.

   Reply
10. kristin, December 3, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    

    I have been supplementing with magnesium fairly steadily for four or five months now, but recently I have noticed that when I take it I generally wake up at night with my heart racing/pounding. I don’t know if it is just a coincidence and something else is causing it or what. Sometimes it keeps me up because it won’t stop and frankly it freaks me out a bit. I am thinking I should stop taking the magnesium… Or maybe I am just taking too much? I use the brand from your website and take two a night. Does anyone else out there experience this?

    They do. See Ethyl’s comment.

    Reply
11. Bryant, December 3, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    

    I’m a fan of good salami. That snack plate pic made me hungry. Which is your favorite: Molinari, Framani, Columbus Artisan or another of your choice? Thanks

    My favorite is whatever MD puts before me. I don’t think that I, myself, have ever purchased a salami in my life. In this case, she used Molinari.

    Reply