Fish Oil Supplement Benefits -- and Risks? Last updated: April 2017 My respect for the health and diet reporting of the main-stream media has fallen so low that I am inclined to do the opposite of whatever they suggest. So when in the same week the New York Times runs a story panning fish oil supplements, and ABC Good Morning follows up with an anti-fish-oil-supplement segment, I'm thinking it is time to give the golden capsules another try. I regularly took fish-oil supplements for several years before I began eating my low-carb, high-fat diet. Starting out, I took one 1000mg capsule a day, and I gradually worked up to three capsules a day. At that time, I was eating the Standard American Diet, which was much higher in both carbohydrates and poly-unsaturated fatty acids … [Read more ...]
Low-carb road-trip eating
When my wife was 11 years old, she was mesmerized by Peter Tork, a member of the Monkees. Depending on whom you ask, the Monkees were either actors in a TV comedy or musicians in a rock-band. Or both. My wife would say both, and more, but her focus was always on the blond, hazel-eyed Mr. Tork. It still is. All of this explains why she and I drove to Merrillville, Indiana, yesterday to watch the Monkees (three of the four, anyway) perform at the Star Plaza Theatre. It was a stop on the group's 45th anniversary tour. Since "the guys," as Anita calls them, were in their early to mid-twenties … [Read more ...]
Beliefs can cause inflammation of the brain
How dangerous is that beef-steak? Beliefs, dogmas and habits of mind are powerful things. I'd sooner have them on my side in an argument than the puny forces of reason and evidence. Take the belief that saturated fat is the source of all evil in the modern diet. It's a deeply and widely held notion in the Western World. Somehow, we all just know that eating red meat will kill us by clogging up our arteries with its saturated fat. Doctors, nutritionists, media pundits and ordinary people have repeated the idea so often that it has taken on the aura of folk wisdom. You could hardly be blamed … [Read more ...]
What is a low carb diet?
When I say that I follow a low carbohydrate way of eating, what do I mean? When you say it, what do you mean? I suspect we might all mean something a little different -- or even a lot different -- if we were to get down to specific foods we include or avoid, or to the number of grams of carbs we consume per day. The title of my blog -- "Life After Carbs" -- implies that I don't eat any carbs at all, but of course that's not true. The title ought to be interpreted as meaning, "Life after over-coming my craving for carbohydrates and eliminating most carbs from my diet." However, that's a … [Read more ...]
Control what you can
Weight control vs. diet control No one has direct control over their body weight, percentage of body fat, or waist circumference. Indirect control, maybe, but not direct control. For example, you can't tell your body "lose five pounds" and expect it to obey. You can't wake up and decide your waist-size for the day will be 36 inches. Sure, you could decide to pull out size-36 pants, and try to squeeze into them, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to. … [Read more ...]
Berries in heavy cream
For dinner one summer night, I ate a chunk of slow-cooked roast-beef, some raw veggies, and as a treat, a bowl of halved fresh strawberries, whole fresh blueberries, and two table-spoons of heavy whipping cream. Berries are the only kind of fruit I eat anymore. (I count the avocado as a berry, one that brings its own creamy fat.) I calculate that the berry bowl contained 137 calories, 9 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, and 10 grams fat. All of the fat and the majority of the calories came from the heavy cream. … [Read more ...]
A typical day in my life after carbs
Following up on my post "What is a low carb diet?" I'm presenting here a typical day of low carbing. The day was a Saturday. Breakfast (6:30 a.m.) Most days, I'm an early riser. The sun comes up, and I'm right there with it. no-filler salmon patty (leftover) two eggs scrambled with butter two mugs of coffee, each with two teaspoons of half-and-half one multi-vitamin for men Morning Snack (10:00 a.m.) Having this mid-morning snack was a-typical. Often I make it to lunch without a snack. I ate this one because Anita and I were planning an expedition to Costco, and … [Read more ...]
Super simple low-carb pancakes
The need for super simple low-carb pancakes People new to the LCHF diet and life-style often miss their customary carb-laden comfort food. Personally, I think the best approach is to move on, embrace your new way of eating, and not try to recreate in low-carb form all the breads, pastas, and baked goods you used to enjoy. But a few exceptions may be good for your morale, and not hurt your carb count much or at all. … [Read more ...]
Weight gain, weight loss in two short periods
Last weekend, Anita and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary with a short trip and a stay in an historic bed-and-breakfast. I did my best to be true to both my wife and my diet. The B & B provided me with eggs, meat, and coffee in the morning. I ignored the platter of chocolate-chip cookies available 24 hours a day. (Anita did not.) We picked restaurants where I could put together tasty low-carb meals. All in all, things went fine, until I weighed myself the morning after our return. Did I discover that romance was an aid to weight loss? … [Read more ...]
Optimal protein (LCN 62)
Optimal protein on an LCHF diet Low Carb Nugget 62 There's a difference between minimal protein intake and optimal protein intake. The minimum daily requirement for an inactive adult is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight. You can live on that. But more is probably better, even for the sedentary. The goal is not just to survive, but to thrive, and that means eating an optimal amount of all nutrients, including protein -- not too much, and not too little. So how much protein is optimal? Show Links "More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Protein & Gluconeogenesis." Amy Berger. Tuit … [Read more ...]
Low-carb omnivores of the world, unite!
Over the months that I've been eating a low-carb diet, my views on what that diet is have evolved considerably. First, at the start, I thought my goal was simply to lose weight, and that any improvements in my health would be the result of eliminating the beach ball of blubber that was my middle. Second, I thought that eating a low-carbohydrate diet meant eating lots of meat relative to other kinds of foods. In other words, being more carnivore than omnivore. Now I see better health as my ultimate goal, and weight-loss (especially the loss of stubborn belly-fat) as one means to that end, and … [Read more ...]