Started off the day today with three lightly scrambled eggs, bacon and some of MD’s home made, made from scratch, excellent pico de gallo or salsa.
Went to lunch at my golf club. The grill has a great burger that comes with choice of fries, fruit, salad or cole slaw. I always choose the fruit. While waiting for the burger, the waitstaff always brings a small bowl of nuts. MD and I picked all the almonds out of this bowl. We left the peanuts.
As near as I could figure, I probably ate about a dozen almonds.
And I ordered the burger without a bun. I slathered about a tablespoon (maybe a little less) of ketchup on it. This patty is pretty big, probably about 3/4 inch thick.
I had a glass of unsweetened ice tea to drink. The best part of this whole deal is that this lunch costs a whopping $9.75. I just noticed that there is no bacon. This burger usually comes with a couple of strips of applewood smoked bacon. That’s how it’s listed in the menu. I didn’t even notice it was missing at lunch.
I went out and played golf at another country club after lunch. After the round, I went in the clubhouse and succumbed to a Jameson on the rocks.
We proceeded from the clubhouse bar to the pro shop where there was an open house and pro shop sale going on. There were hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer. Since I can never let free wine, beer and/or hors d’oeuvres pass me by unmolested, I partook.
The snack was fruit, a couple of kinds of cheese and some prosciutto. The wine is a Brander Syrah. I had another half plastic glass of EOS cabernet sauvignon and a quarter of a glass of EOS zinfandel. Hey, it was a long open house with a lot going on. I noticed my behavior changing for the first time since starting this photo diet diary. I would probably have gone back for another plate of food had I not been doing this exercise.
While the open house was going on there was a raffle. We were all given one raffle ticket when we showed up there at the place (as Arlo Guthrie would say). There were several drawings, and on the very last one my ticket got selected. I was the proud winner of a pair of brand new Nike Air Zoom TW 2009 golf shoes.
MD was rehearsing tonight for her big Messiah performance this weekend, so I was left to my own devices for supper. I called a friend who is recently single to see if he might want to go for a burger with me. He had a group of guys (most of whom I knew) at his house cooking steaks, so he invited me over. My friend is a low-carb dieter, so I knew I would be safe. He was grilling steaks and zucchini on the grill and roasted a few root vegetables (parsnips, turnips, carrots and beets). He had also made a cream sauce with poblano peppers in it (this guy loves peppers).
Of course there was wine, and of course I had some. It was an Australian shiraz. I had a glass and a half.
And for dessert…
Blackberries, blueberries and heavy cream. At least I didn’t have pomegranate again.
MD just got home from rehearsal, and, as usual after a rehearsal, she’s wired. We debriefed a little and now plan to watch a Brit mystery DVD. Tonight it is Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren. While watching, I’ll nurse a small glass of 12 year old Jameson neat over the 2 hours that the show runs.
I’ve drunk much more booze of one kind or another tonight than I almost ever do. But, how often does a guy win a pair of Nike Tiger Woods designed golf shoes. Back on the straight and narrow manana.
The official website of Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, low carb pioneers and authors of Protein Power.
Dr Eades why are so many doctors close minded? I blogged today about my experience dealing with docotrs at the party and here is a little sample.
Guess what people, today was a battle of my evil, lovable , hugable demons trying to decide who will get my attention! And you know what happened? Follow along, I will tell you …
5 pm=
I have no idea how much in calories I cunsumed, so I will just list the amount and kind of food
25 Kosher bacon wrapped scallops
4 oz of roast beef
3 thyes of jerk chicken
3 mini hot dogs
6 pm-
6 pieces of jerk chicken
5 more of the best ever tasting Kosher bacon wrapped scallops
Ok, it might seem like I ate a lot, and I did but…… I was invited to the one and only once a year President’s Holiday Party! There were bunch of ass….. and ass sympathizing people there that I try to avoid on regular bases. There was so much fakeness and ass kissing gooing around that even politician would look like Saints next to them. Oh my Lord, I felt like a virgin all over again. I was so out of place sitting at the table with all these , how do I put it politically correct, know it alls that I almost puked literally! I was the only one eating low carb mind you. You dont even know how many “‘ Do you know bacon causes heart attacks ” I got. So I swore for every time someone will mention anything about bacon causing artery clogging effect I will get up and get another bacon. So hence so many Kosher, artery clogging, and comment provoking pigs in the blanket! Eventually someone got the point and we started talking how great Obama is. I swear these people go from one extreame to another. Mind you, I work at Suny Downstate ( world famous medical instituition ) hence most of them were world’s class doctors. And there we went with Obama, how great he is, how great he was and how great he is going to be! So eventually I swore next time someone will mention Obama name one more time I was going to eat another pig in the blanket, yes, that Kosher, artery clogging bacon. Eventually they stopped talking about Obama and went back talking about how artery clogging bacon was. At that moment President started speaking and I was long gone…..so cant tell you the rest of the story… Except that my emotional demons and fat cells were pretty happy today and trully got my attention!
Wow, that was some day for you! Booze, great food and golf! And you won a raffle? lol good for you! Are you a happy drunk when you get a buzz ? Does your behavior change dramatically or you stay the same? Does MD mind when you drink a bit much or she lets you be a boy in those moments and just do your thing?
Nope, my behavior doesn’t change all that much – at least that’s what people tell me. And, BTW, I didn’t drink all that much yesterday although it probably seems that I did. I had one drink of whiskey and about a quarter of a drink of whiskey later. And if you add up all the wine, it was probably a little over two regular pours in a standard wine glass – the little plastic cups don’t hold a lot and my friend’s wine glasses are small. I had my first drink at about 4:45 after golf and my last drink from 11:45 ’til about 1:15. So that much booze over an almost nine hour period isn’t all that much.
Just curious – don’t like peanuts, or something else? (they’re my go-to glove compartment snack)
MD thinks she may be allergic to them ( a lot of people are), so I don’t eat them when she’s around out of spousal solidarity.
That day’s worth of food and drink looks so appealing. And, I too can never let free wine, beer and/or hors d’oeuvres pass me by unmolested. I think if more people knew what a low-carb diet can consist of, many more people would partake. In fact, i think that your next dietary book (if there is one), should include a week in your life (and/or MD’s) in terms of your meals and drinks, including photographs. That is, monday we ate this, tuesday we ate this, and so on and so forth.
Lastly, can i ask, why did you dodge the peanuts? Is it because they are technically a legume? I often eat good quality peanut butter. Aside from being high in fat and relatively low in carbs, its got plenty of protein, and not to mention nutrients for the circulatory system like magnesium, vitamin-e and arginine.
I don’t know how many people would buy a book to see what we eat. But who knows? Stranger books have probably sold. See the previous comment on the peanut issue.
Dr. Eades,
I’ve been eagerly following along in your exercise. Not long ago I kept a photo food diary to make a smaller weight class for the Pan Ams (Jiu-Jitsu). Having tracked myself through Fitday.com and photojournaled, I have to say that keeping the photo journal was much more effective in terms of keeping me on the up and up. There’s just something about ‘seeing’ how much you’re eating that reins you in (moreso than just numbers).
One thing I’m finding interesting is your fruit consumption. One of the more persistent myths of low-carb eating is that “you never eat any fruit or vegetables; it’s all just meat, meat, and more meat.” Maybe your photo journal will be educational for the naysayers.
I hope so. I could never figure why people thought there were no fruits and vegetables in a low-carb diet.
It’s me again doctor. this comment/question is out of context in terms of the your post, i hope you don’t mind. here goes: I am planning on moving to South Korea for approximately one year. However, i am not sure how feasible it will be to adhere to a low-carb die there. Have you ever been to South Korea? Perhaps you know some people living in Korea that are low-carbers. Alternatively, maybe there are some Korean readers of this blog who can shed some light. Cheers.
I’ve never been there and know little about the culture and/or food. However, I did one post a couple of years ago on Korean fast food. Maybe other readers can help you out.
I’ve noticed that you’ve eaten beef in the form of either steak or burgers every day so far ! Is the beef from organically reared animals ? Just wondering as it’s a lot of beef. I think I eat a lot as, since seeing a photo on your blog a while back of rib eye steak I decided to buy some for me and dh and we now have some once a week. Very delicious but very expensive, at least it is here in the UK. One portion of organic rib eye steak from the supermarket which weighs 250grams or 8oz costs £4.28 or $6.22. So for the two of us that’s over $12 and that’s eating at home !
Anne
I don’t know about the burgers while eating out. I doubt that they are organic. The ones at home are organically-raised. It is a little pricey, but we spend almost no money on carbs to make up for it.
what a booze hound! Now I dont feel so bad about the 3 or 4 (5?) glasses of wine I had last night!
It’s not all that much and it was over 9 hours.
Is it the changes in behavior that are the biggest problem for dieters when they drink (i.e., we almost always increase our carb/calorie intake in social settings), or does the alcohol itself change the way your body treats fat storage? Do you see any advantage to increasing fat or protein intake before attending a party? With the holidays coming, these questions are not merely rhetorical!
I’ve always found (as has MD) that following a low-carb diet allows me to drink more with less effect. And it makes sense metabolically. The liver deals with carbs – they are absorbed into the blood and go directly to the liver where they are processed. Fat works differently. It absorbs more slowly and doesn’t occupy a lot of the liver’s capacity. As everyone knows, the liver breaks down alcohol. If you are using some of the livers capacity to deal with carbs, you’ve got less to deal with the booze. On a low-carb diet, you’ve got a lot more working liver cells helping you detox the booze.
Dr. Mike
These photo food logs are outstanding.
They really do help.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Sounds like a regular feast day, actually. Not bad at all. But why not eat the peanuts, while you’re at it? Don’t you like them or is there a diet reason?
MD thinks she might be mildly allergic to peanuts, so I’m taking a peanut sabbatical with her.
Nice food!
This has little to do with your post, but — don’t know if you have seen this yet: http://www.webmd.com/news/20081203/fda-webmd-announce-partnership
In a recent survey done by one of my med center clients, approximately 80% of the CME participants get their CME and general medical info. by going through WebMD. Now that they’ve partnered with the FDA (not that WebMD was great before), I suspect it will become even less objective than it was before.
The insurance companies, in their shortsightedness, also appear to be lining up at the government welfare trough advocating socialized medicine (unlike with Hillarycare 16 years ago).
I saw this, and it is disturbing. The mainstream working hand in glove with the mainstream. Can’t beat that for innovation.
Dr Mike, sexy meal choices!
Dr Mike there seems to be a very heated debate amongs low carbers on Jimmy Moore website after his interview with Dr Barry Sears. Lots of people got fiery after hearing Dr Sears specifically saying that aerobic exercise is not effective tool in weight loss. It created an array of reasonable and unreasonable comments. But one of Vadim’s caught my attention. Sorry for constanly bringing him up, but all who got to know him know that this dude is passioante about weitht loss and low carb way of living, and off course he is my friend. What do you think about his comments???
Vadim (16:03:22) :
Jimmy, again we happen to be on different sides of the river. I read Garry’ s book. It was a bit challenging to finish to be quite frank. However the argument that cardiocascular exercise doesnt help with weight loss is not very valid to me. By itself it is valid, but in the context of general statement. Lets examine it further to understand where people are upset with authors who claim cardio is not an effective tool to weight loss! I could theoretically argue with you or anyone else out there that resistence training is not effective in weight loss. So without further a due lets go to the evidence so to speak. I nver claimed to be an expert in the feild but I do have enouph fundamental scientific background to speak on the issue. Does social support by itself burn calories? No, does it help with weight loss? Abbbbbbbsooooooluuuutely! So saying that aerobic exercise doesnt help with weight loss is like saying social support dosnt either. Can you argue with both statements? It depends! It is a lawer in me speking now. Fundamentally and scientifically there is nothing wrong with both these statements. Directly cardio might not help with weight loss, but indirectly it absolutely does. So by working out an hour onelliptical machine, will it make one loose weight? According to Mr Taubes and Mr Sears it may not. Why? Because it makes one hungry, for one and it will only raise metabolic rate temporary two! Ok, it is scientifically correct> Socially not so fast! For many people cardiois an invaluable tool in weight loss. One, it makes them eat more but better food. I have yet to see a fat person in my gym who would eat a carrot cake right after working out an hour on treadmill! Lets now go to resistence training. Is weight training aka resistence training an effective weight loss tool or more effective then cardio? Yes and no, I can prove it both ways! Scientifically speaking, absolutely! It doesnt necessarily increase the metabolic rate dramatically while you are doing it, but it will keep your BMR revved up for a longer period of time then cardio will therefore helping you loose weight. It will also build up muscle tissue which in itself is helpful to burn additional calories. We all know, or most of us do, that muscle tissue is much more metabolically active then fat tissue. But……. For argument’s sake I will prove to you that weight training could also be detrimental in weight loss to lots of peoplewho are obese. I know it from real life! What does weight training do? It will immediately pull additional water into the muscle fiber and make them expand, therefore making numbers on the scale go up initially. Also, initial muscle gain will make you bigger on a cale. Its a fact that a pound of muscle tissue will weight as much as two ann a half more then a pound of fat. So an overweight person who is either unaware of that effect or mentally not prepared to deal with scale increase, no matter how rational it is, will just give up period. I know few people that did that! So indirectly and for some weight training could be detrimental in weight loss efforts, unless they fully comprehend the science behind the numbers increase and are mentally prepared to deal with few pounds gained initially! Aerobic exercise on the other hand will make one loose water and therefore allow for numbers on the scale to go down, bringing about the most desirabel effect, lower numbers on the scale! In this society and especially for a lot of overweight people it is all about all or nothing effect and instant gratification! No wonder billions of diet scams are around. The faster you promise one to loose weight the faster people will but it! All you have to do write a book with an attractice name like’’ New penicia for weight loss, fast and dramatic results”” and people will buy it. Then you recommend them to eat 2 oz of grilled chicken 5 times a day with lettuce and drink grapefruit juice with cranberry water and boom, 5 pounds a week weight loss. No exercise needed, just a lot of water loss and happy people until they realize it is a temporary effect and we all know what happens next… So Jimmy, like I said its all about how you look at things and how you define cause and effect. And I can totally undestand some people frustration with DR Sears or Garry when it comes to their message ‘’ aerobic exercise doesnt help with weight loss. Directly no, but indirectly it brings about so many other changes that totally change equasion toward weight loss. Dr Sears, Garry are brilliant men, but I just feel lots of people misunderstand their take on aerobic value. But aerobic exercise is tremedous tool in weight loss, indirectly. This is an equasion that I found works for so many people; Aerobic exercise= healthier food choices and boost in motivation and confidence! Guys I am very sorry for typos and misspelled words. My typing skills are horrible, and my time is usually limitted. But I love this forum. And my thoughts are much faster then my fingers, so pardon my english and my tyoing skills!
I’ve commented countless times on the fact that I agree that exercise doesn’t make people lose weight faster. The data simply don’t show it. Exercise has a multitude of health benefits, and it some people may help with weight loss, but for the masses, it’s not a reasonable recommendation for increasing the speed of weight loss. I always recommend it and I do it myself for health reasons, but not for weight loss.
tough life.
It was yesterday. But somebody’s got to do it. I’ve spent all day today, so far, perched in front of a computer.
You guys are making me hungry. Keep up the good work. Jim
Oh my God. I just surfed around a bit on WebMD. I knew the ADA’s diabetic diet advice was bad, but WebMD’s is even worse. Check it out:
http://sparkasynapse.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-diabetes-is-skyrocketing.html
Yep, a sad state of affairs.
Yes i have it based on yr extra no plate observations
A def sure fire way to make the new book a best seller.
Include a small Leica camera with the first 10 000 000 copies and even though it’ll bankrupt yee or the publisher you’ll always be welcome in Solms which is known for great beer, wine and def. meat.
Only problem i foresee is that you’ll eventually die due to consuming so little food with the ever present cameroo.
And perhaps as i follow this highly illogical chain through so might many others, whilst becoming slim and lean along the way, Alright..it was a crap idea !
And on a serious note do you folks know owt about DHA and appetite ?
Have searched the web and there seems to be some stuff..articles
I changed my fish oil when i got back from trip and this one has a reasonable DHA content versus my previous and my appetite is noticeably reduced..very very noticeably.
Sinc and incase you didnee get the other email Seasonal greetings etc etc
I don’t know anything specifically about DHA and appetite vs EPA and DHA. But if works for you, keep after it. My emails have stacked up on me just like these comments. I’m paying the price for playing golf yesterday.
Dr Eades do you enjoy eating your steaks by yourself or you dont mind company as long as they are low carbers!
Because some guys I know, including my husband dont want to be bothered when they eat or watch football. I just read another guy version of how guys dont like to mingle with women while eating their menly steaks!
Harry fortunately I stayed low carbs despite these people driving me insane. I was in a kind of funky mood to begin and initially set at a seperate table. But then I was accused by my woman boss that it is an anti-social behavior to eat by myself at such big event. I wanted to tell her ” Damn woman, when a man is trying to enjoy his steak the last I want to hear is how pissed you were that you didnt get a chance to buy nice silky lingerie for your husband or oh, you guys are so cute lets take a picture. I have a german shephard at home and when he eats his steak the last thing I want to do is take a picture! Just leave the beast alone with his steak! LOl, I hope I still have my women subscription after these comments! I love women more then life. Once I was asked at a meeting what were my biggest inspiration and I said ” dogs, women and kids” but there is a time for everything, and everyhting is in its time!
December 4, 2008 9:00 AM
I prefer to eat with other people. That’s why I sought my friend out and cadged an invite to his party instead of eating alone. Plus, I didn’t have to cook it myself.
This Photo Food Diary thing is such a great idea. Much harder-hitting than words. “Why, that pile of salad dwarfs the burger- and it looks good! I thought Atkins (because, you know, everything’s Atkins) was just meat and cheese and coffee…”
I also recently discovered the club soda button on soda machines that you mention in a previous post. What a godsend. Diet Pepsi just tastes too sweet (and yet chemical-y) anymore, but I still need my bubbles.
Take those leftover blackberries and pomegranates and puree them with a few raspberries and some white chocolate SF syrup. Add to plain yogurt.
Hmmm. That does sound good. Thanks
As I was looking at all this food I remembered about the candida diet. I believe I have candida and was told by an MD to go on there candida diet (to prep with probiotics and L glutamine) along with several rounds of antifungals (some prescription and some not). I know I have something because I get rash like on my face, scalp and behing my ears but when I take the prescribed antifungals and steroid creams it goes away temporarily. Plus I have Crohn’s Disease too.
My 3 questions are:
What are your thoughts on candidiasis?
Do you agree with the above orders?
As far as the diet goes it says only soft cheese is okay and no vinegar either(I like to eat pickles and cheddar cheese). Do you agree?
As always thanks so much for your time and doing what you do for everyone!!
Miguel
I’m not a big believer in the notion that everyone has candidiasis. I looked at the idea long and hard and came away pretty convinced that it was nonsense. Not the idea that some people (especially with compromised immune systems) have systemic candidiasis, but not the population at large as some seem to believe.
I suspect that the relief you’re experiencing comes from the steroid cream alone. Next time you get the rash, just take the antifungal alone and see what happens.
Since I don’t believe most people have candidiasis, I don’t necessarily buy into all the intricacies of the anti-candida diet.
This is slightly off-topic but I was wondering what you thought the environmental implications would be if large numbers of people moved to low carb life-styles? Could the 2 billion plus people in, say, China and India sustain a such an environmentally taxing enterprise? Is this a sustainable lifestyle?
This is something I’ve wondered about as low-carb dieter myself and I was reminded of it by this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/science/earth/04meat.html?em
Is this a bridge we’ll cross when we come to it–i.e. after the scientific conversation evolves–or is it an issue that demands our attention now?
Thanks, love the blog,
I’m planning a post on this topic in the future. I think it is hogwash just like I think the whole idea of global warming is pretty much hogwash. Until I get the post up, I’ll leave you with a comment from a few weeks ago from an astute reader who commented in response to someone asking about the Diet for a Small Planet idea, which is basically what you’re asking.
I’ve always found (as has MD) that following a low-carb diet allows me to drink more with less effect.
that’s interesting, I’ve found just the opposite. I used to be quite the heavy drinker. I would regularly down 10, 11, 12 pints of Guinness on a Friday night. That’s imperial pints the 20 oz kind, mind you. Repeat performance on Saturday night. Repeat again on Sunday. Maybe go out once or twice during the week (didnt usually drink THAT much during the week, but sometimes….)
Along came Gary Taube’s famous NY Times article, I decide to give that crazy Atkins thing a whirl, and one of the first things I noticed, was that I simply could not drink like that any more. Four Guinness and I was done. It wasnt the weight loss causing this effect, since I noticed before I had lost much weight.
At first I was annoyed by this, hahaha, even though I knew of course that it wasn’t really a good idea to drink that much. By now I’ve gotten used to it, and I’m relieved that I dont carry on that way anymore. Not as often, anyway.
“10, 11, 12 pints of Guinness on a Friday night.” I don’t know what to say. You’re a freak of nature, mrfreddy. Thank God you changed your ways. You were probably headed for some serious liver problems later.
nice…i love drinking straight up jamesons on the rocks…and i find if i take it slow and easy like you do with the low carb drinks i don’t get urges to eat sugar or carbs. I love how you love burgers with bacon…thats my staple when i go out with friends to eat…i am actually going out with friends later to in n out burger…3×3 extra grilled onions protein style please!!!
About the Valdim comment…i think diet is the key to weight loss…but i think you should be active too. I do 3 sessions a week of 20minutes of lifting in a fast manner, and then 20 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training, and i surf when ever the waves are good and ride my bike everywhere. I think obese people should worry about their diet first and take walks before they start lifting or cardio programs.
I watched your low carb t.v. show while i was in vegas at for thanksgiving at my parents house…IT WAS THE BEST SHOW I HAVE SEEN IN ALONG TIME!!!! NO PROPAGANDA!!! I loved how you guys loaded up on fat and talked about its positive benefit on health and easing hunger!!! anyways…i like watching what you eat…keep the photos coming!!
t r o y
Hey Troy–
Glad you enjoyed the show. As I’ve said before, I didn’t realize it was still running.
I’ve found that when we put our patients on low-carb diets, they started exercising on their own spontaneously without our having to nag them to do it. So, it wasn’t a problem.
Cheers–
MRE
“10, 11, 12 pints of Guinness on a Friday night.” I don’t know what to say. You’re a freak of nature, mrfreddy.
someone said that you define an alcholic as anyone who drinks more than you do…
I once met a guy who claimed to be on his 23’rd or 24th pint. A friend of a friend at an Irish bar on St. Paddies day. The guy was huge, over 300 pounds, pushing 400, guess that helped. He was an alkie (and a freak of nature!), not me, not me…
Doc, your food looks great and it looks like you enjoyed yourself yesterday, you have worked hard and you have earned it! Congrats on winning the Tiger Woods Nikes!
Question, is peanut butter OK on low carb diets? I really enjoy it and found one by Jiffy called Natural. 5 or 6 g carbs for 2Tbsp. (sorry don’t have the jar in front of me) It does contain some sugar, what do you think?
Also, I have IR and live in Simi Valley, CA. Do you still treat patients? I really would like another opinion.
Thanks in advance,
Lisa
Be careful with the peanut butter if you’re trying to lose. I wrote a post about the problem of too many calories on low-carb diets.
We don’t treat patients now – in fact, we’re not even licensed in California.
Jeepers, Dr. Eades — I wish you wouldn’t do this! I’m looking at all of those wonderful meals right before dinner time and it’s making me really hungry! And I just can’t pull myself away! I especially love the big steak because all the food magazines always have artsy pictures of these teeny little 3-oz things that don’t even seem worth the bother to me.
I just wanted to add that when I diet low-carb, alcohol goes to my head really quickly even in small quantities, but when I’m eating a normal number of low-carb calories it doesn’t bother me (not that I drink that much — it’s rare that I would ever have more that two glasses of wine).
Forgive the off-topic post, but I thought you would find this article on coconut oil supplementation in Alzheimer’s fascinating:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/article879333.ece
Doctor says an oil lessened Alzheimer’s effects on her husband
Before treatment, Steve could barely remember how to draw a clock. Two weeks after adding coconut oil to his diet, his drawing improved. After 37 days, Steve’s drawing gained even more clarity. The oil seemed to “lift the fog,” his wife says.
Yes, it is very interesting. Thanks for sending.
Seeing that you’re having protein shakes with s/f syrup and eating moderate portions of low-carb fruits and vegetables, what do you think of the idea that simply the taste of something sweet (not sugar) will raise insulin levels and prevent weight loss (or even promote weight gain)? I admit that I think it’s highly unlikely, or that perhaps a bit of insulin might be released, but would that be a significant amount? I’ve been wary of the conclusions in studies on diet soda consumption (that it increased appetite and weight gain) because I don’t think the researchers bothered to ask the people what else they were consuming (such as a load of carbs). Are there any valid studies to support this idea that you know of?
There is some evidence that the taste of sweetness can prompt a little squirt of insulin – the so-called first phase insulin response. As long as the sweet taste is followed by a little carb or protein, it doesn’t much matter because the insulin will have something to act on. If it isn’t followed by carb or protein, then there is some evidence that the little pulse of insulin may drop blood sugar, which sends a hunger signal to the brain. There are studies on both sides of this issue, so it’s either an individual thing or the jury is still out.
You are a true man, dr Mike! Not only you dont mind to eat with your lovely wife, but you ddint touch peanuts because she might be allergic. Thats what i am talking about. Do you have a clone? Oh, damn i am married! Oh well I guess you can always teach an old dog few new tricks, I hope! I will start teaching my husband tonight! Thank you for your comments on exercise, pretty clear and concise!
Peter,
I served in the US Army in Korea in the 80’s. I think you can manage to eat lo-carb. Traditional Korean cuisine has a lot of one pot type meals based on meat, fish/seafood or tofu, and plenty of herbs, seasonings/spices and vegetables. You also can get the the famous Korean barbeque. Just take it easy on the rice. and stay away from the deep fried stuff.
Mmm, Jameson. I like to make home-made eggnog with it – not the 12 year old stuff, the non-vintage blend is good enough. Pint heavy cream, 4 egg yolks, vanilla, nutmeg, sweetener, booze, shake and pour over rocks through a sieve to strain out the eggy bits. Best served in small portions, and not too close to dinner time if you have a nice meal planned.
Sounds great. I’ll have to post MD’s recipe for eggnog at some point. Her’s is good, too. Maybe this year I’ll get her try it with Jameson.
i have never tried Jameson o the rocks, but I have tried whiskey in general few times. It tasted like liquid Penicilin to me. I had a body of mine who tried to get me to like it, but I guess it never came to truition. I will give jamason a try , may be I will put some lime in it. Or may be I should just stick to frozen kept Vodka! Mostly, its wine for me lately but at times I dont mind to try what others are drinking! May be Jameson wont taste that bad!
I finally tried coconut milk, it wasnt like cow’s milk, but not bad. But I made a shake with it and it is awesome, creamy and smelled like coconut a bit. i bought an organic trader joe viriety and for some reson they only sell light organic coconut milk. i have no idea why they would dilute it with water though. May be i should try a regular undiluted one next time. Thanks for exercise comment. I cant say that was my experience but I totally see why others might not loose more weight on aerobic regimen. I know it absolutely works in my case and makes me more disciplined and accountable when it comes to what I eat. But thats me!
Dr Mike how would i convince a young innocent, naive girl who was influenced by her medical student boyfriend tto try weed. now that she likes the calming effect of it and even cites medicinal use in many countries. She asked me to name one reasons that a stessed out med student shouldnt take weed? i did cite illegality of drugs and that it might be potentially mixed with other chemicals but other than that I wasnt very convincing. Are you familiar with use of substance abuse such as weed? what are the potential dangers? she even said it helps her with weight loss which is not what I heard. But she claims by being relaxed it makes her exercise more and not freak out about school all the time. Knowing you went through medical school , how were you used to deal with stress? what is the best way to deal with stress during med school without resorting to illegal drugs, i guess thats waht i am asking? is there one good nutritional supplement that has calming effect to the degree that weed might? I am sure there has to be something out there thats more innocent ?
This is beyond my area of expertise.
Strange that you say that alcohol seems to affect you LESS because of your LC lifestyle. If you go on the LC boards, you’ll see tons of posts that say just the opposite … that if you’ve been on LC for a while and not having any alcohol, watch out when you do have it again because it’ll pack a whollop.
LOVE what you said about global warming being hogwash. You’re a man after my own heart, Dr. Mike! First Jameson’s and now global warming.
And speaking of Jameson’s. There was a tear poised to fall at the corner of my eye when I saw the picture of that lovely Jameson’s being ruined by all that ice! For shame!
And YOU! VADIM!!! Don’t you even THINK about putting lime in the Jameson’s. That, my dear fellow, would be the worst kind of sin imaginable.
And Jameson’s in eggnog? Try a good dark rum isntead.
I first had Jameson’s in Ireland at Dromoland Castle. Hubby and I were sitting at the bar talking with a great Irish bar tender and I ordered a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. He sadly shook his head and said I needed to drink Jameson’s in Ireland. OK, I’ll have a Jameson’s on the rocks. Again with the sad shake of his head. Now what? He explained I needed to drink Jameson’s as god intended … undiluted, straight from the bottle.
Now I just ask for the bottle and a straw! (kidding!)
Why is everyone so down on red meat? I love red meat. Hubby travels almost every week, and when he’s gone I have either a filet mignon, a strip steak, or even a cubed steak (all topped with Irish butter, of course … anyone else see a pattern emerging?) virtually every night. The only time I eat pork or chicken is when it’s left over from a weekend meal with hubby. I don’t even feel guilty eating filet mignon several times a week because my food bill is actually very low. I tend to not eat a whole lot when I’m concentrating on LC eating. The fat and good protein fill me up so well, I don’t get hungry as often or as much.
Funny. Yesterday we had a pot luck at work. Lots of lasagnes, mac and cheese, pasta salads, etc. I made a crustless quiche that’s a huge hit every year. It’s usually gone within 10 minutes of coming out of the oven. Here’s my recipe:
12 extra large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded cheese
1 pound ground beef (75% lean), sauted with Taco seasoning
Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. I had bowls of salsa and sour cream (full fat, of course) on the side. It was so funny watching everyone taking huge slices of the quiche but passing up the sour cream because of the fat. If they only knew what was in the quiche itself!
I kept walking by the buffet table, wanting something to munch on. After having a slice of my own quiche with lots of sour cream and salsa, nothing else appealed to me.
I’d also like to add that it’s now been about 3 weeks with VERY little alcohol and very LC. When I started, my size 16 slacks were pretty tight. Then they were loose, so I started wearing my size 14 slacks (yes, I have entire wardrobes in sizes 16, 14, 12, and 10). Yesterday I noticed that my new size 14 slacks were loose.
What better motivation to stick to the LC lifestyle (and no booze) than that!
When I’m out and about I drink my Jameson on the rocks. Why? I don’t know. When I’m at home sipping, I drink it neat.
Crustless quiche sounds grand. We’ll have to give it a try.
Congrats on the loosening slacks. Nothing motivates like success.
Carlos, thanks for the feedback. Meat-based meals will work just fine.
You asked why the general public thinks you can’t eat fruits and veggies on a LC diet. It’s because they look at the Induction phase of Atkins (which is the only LC diet in the mind of the public), where you can’t eat those things except for the odd lettuce leaf, and they think that’s the whole LC diet.
When I look at what you eat, I envy you. When one is diabetic, one can’t eat huge amounts of meat, as about half of the protein gets converted to sugar. Same with fruit. I can tolerate up to a cup of raspberries with very little effect, but a couple of slices of apple can send my blood sugar up 20 or 30 points.
OTOH, I think I’m eating more food in a day than you are as I tend to snack on almonds a lot, and I’m smaller. So your photos are inspiring. Thanks.
Caleb,
I just have to comment on the diet for a healthy planet thing… I have a PhD in environmental biology and although I am not convinced global warming is bunk, I can tell you for absolute certain that a lot of the hysteria associated with global warming is PURE bunk. (And I believe the political solutions being touted to global warming are also pure bunk and decidely harmful.)
Most of the criticisms of eating meat are criticisms of the modern feedlot system, not meat eating as it could or should be. Even Michael Pollan (I am SO tired of hearing people wax on about how wonderful his ideas are) is disappointingly deluded on this point and somehow thinks meat would become more expensive if it were all grassfed. (I suspect his conclusion is not rationally but emotionally based, because he thinks it is a problem that some of us are eating so much as 8 oz. steak per day. Oh, the horror.)
Let’s look at the facts. The tiny country of New Zealand provides enough grass fed lamb to feed itself and much of the rest of the western world that eats lamb. 70% of its land is devoted to farming. Lamb from Australia and NZ runs around $5-6 per pound. By the way, New Zealand is FREE of farming subsidies and the farmers there are much better off for it. As far as the United States goes, you can get a whole side of grass fed beef for about $5.00 per pound in bulk with a range of everything from hamburger to prime steaks. That’s a very good price considering grocery store prices. I can get grass fed buffalo roasts in Costco for $5 per pound. Funny how this grassfed system is economically sustainable all on its own with no subsidies when massive amounts of subsidies are poured into the feedlot system (under the form of grain subsidies and pollution control money for feedlots).
Now consider, as Dr. Eades notes from another commenter above, that all kinds of marginal grassland could be used to feed livestock. Hell, every backyard in America could theoretically be used to grow a vegetable garden and feed the inhabitants for an entire year. Surely not everyone wants their lawn turned into a garden but the fact remains that it would actually be profitable to rent your yard to someone who wants to garden it and a good profit could be made off of such gardening. From my own personal experience i know that a 7500 sq. ft. garden can probably yield around $2000 in produce in one summer… if you don’t end up just giving the stuff away.
Anyway, it is a complete myth that we somehow don’t have enough land to grow food, or meat, for everyone. It’s absurd. If the commodity crop subsidies were eliminated, farming would eventually largely return to pastured livestock, cheap grains would not be dumped on the world market, and poorer foreign nations would also see a return to more natural systems of farming and they would be healthier for it, too, not to mention less reliant on the west.
I’m sure Eades will address this in greater detail, Caleb, but I just wanted to add my voice to the objections of these simplistic pseudoscientific arguments. It goes without saying, as said above, that asking people to subsist on a diet that promotes ill health, a grain-based agricultural system that poisons the entire Gulf of Mexico and makes shrimp fishing there impossible (not to mention our rivers), is UNsustainable.
Brilliant comment, Monica. Thanks for submitting.
And it’s not as if this anti-meat nonsense is on the margins of our society. Five years ago I would have laughed if someone had told me that farting cows would be taxed to prevent global warming. Yet that is becoming reality today under EPA and USDA policy. I kid you not.
See here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081205/ap_on_bi_ge/farm_scene_cow_tax_2
And here:
http://sparkasynapse.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-on-epa-tyranny.html
Watch the price of your food soar.
The price tag for the whole global warming fiasco will be incalculable.
Kathy, that crustless quiche sounds wonderful. How many servings? I mean would eating the whole thing be too greedy?
Any particular cheese to use?
Copied that recipe going to try it soon.
Kathy, thank you for warning me not to put lime into Jamason! I wont do it, dont want to upset the delicate balance of the fine whiskey, lol. I still dont know if I ll like it though.
Miriam, somehow I don’t think one person could eat that whole quiche in one sitting — it’s 12 eggs, 1 pound of ground beef, and 2 cups of cheese, after all. Eat as much as you like. This weekend I’m going to make up the same amount, but put it into the large-size muffin tins(gotta use them for something, since I don’t make muffins anymore). I’m hoping it will all fit into 12 large muffins. Then maybe eat 1 “muffin” at a sitting. OK, maybe 2. When I made it for work the other day, I used an very large rectangular baking dish (larger than the 13 x 9 size). The quiche ended up being maybe 2 inches thick. Made as “muffins,” I’m sure they’d be much thicker and would take longer to bake.
I used a Mexican blend of cheese. I think it’s cheddar and colby with some Mexican spices.
Be sure to use a cooking spray on the pan or tin before filling with the egg mixture.
Vadim, you may have 1 sip of Jameson’s. If you don’t like it, leave the rest for Dr. Mike and me!
A rancher’s wife on Jimmy Moore’s board explained that ALL American beef is almost completely grass-fed anyway because it’s cheaper to do so — it’s only finished with grain the last couple of weeks to add extra fat and remove the taste the meat gets when not grain-finished.
Ranchers are apparently greatly amused that confused yuppies are willing to pay a huge premium for beef that skips the most expensive part of growing them!
I admit an ignorance to the actual raising of grass-fed vs grass-fed, grain-finished beef. I probably should look into it a little more closely.
Gretchen:
“When one is diabetic, one can’t eat huge amounts of meat, as about half of the protein gets converted to sugar.”
Dr Eades could you please comment on the above. This issue keeps coming up as does the claim that eating protein stimulates the secretion of insulin, therefor protein is essentially the same as carbohydrate implying there is no valid reason to reduce carbohydrate consumption.
I have come across research that found that protein is not converted to sugar. As for protein stimulating insulin secretion, this is true. But as you have pointed out protein also stimulates the secretion of glucagon (which carbohydrate does not) and it is the insulin:glucagon ratio that counts.
When I have taken blood glucose readings at half hour intervals after eating protein my BG actually decreases. I am not suggesting that consuming protein in excess of what s needed is a good thing. However, I am concerned that the claim that half of protein is converted to sugar is influencing diabetics on LC diets to eat far less protein than they require.
On a related vein is the statement I keep coming across the advice that diabetics should keep the consumption of fat, especially saturated fat, low because fat causes insulin resistance and even type II diabetes. With this advice guess what diabetics will increase.
Kathy from Maine: I have tried rum in eggnog, and prefer Irish whiskey in it (Canadian whiskey might be good too, haven’t tried that, and maybe a mild bourbon, but I don’t think Scotch would work, certainly not the Isleys). However, I do prefer rum in avocado nog. If you’ve never had that, it’s avocado, coconut milk, rum, vanilla, nutmeg, sweetener. Blend (adding enough water to make it drinkable), serve on ice. It’s more refreshing than eggnog so I make it in the summer too.
Sounds good, but I don’t know if I could take to eggnog (or avocado nog) in the summer.
MD makes hers (it seems) with a brandy and whiskey combination. I’m going to get her to use Jameson this year.
Hey
Very new to the idea of LC (or watching what I eat at all). In your article above you said you left the peanuts in the bowl. Your explanation was that your wife is allergic. Fair enough. This made me curious however. I looked up the carbohydrate content of peanuts on my supermarket website and it seems they have 8g of carbs per 100g and 10g of fibre per 100g. Negative carbs? 0 carbs? What would you reckon the carb content of peanuts be?
When asked questions like this, I always turn to the USDA database of foods, which is the database that virtually everyone writing nutritional programs or writing nutritional content books uses. It is the source. It is free.
The total carb content of an ounce of dry roasted, salted peanuts is 6.1 gm. The fiber content is 2.3 gm per ounce, leaving a net of 3.8 gm net carb per ounce. You could eat about 3 ounces of peanuts and stay within your 10 net carb range, but you would be throwing back just about 500 calories.
ME: And I ordered the burger without a bun.
I have been doing this for some time mainly because the pasty burger buns no longer appeal to me. Lately I have started politely asking for a price reduction based on the idea that it takes less preparation time and is less costly to serve the burger ingredients loose on a plate than to assemble them in a bun. I don’t push the issue. But some restaurants have actually agreed with me and reduced the price of the burger. I can’t see any downside in asking.