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 ...]
Sardines: low-carb, high-fat lunch in a tin
A tin of sardines makes a quick, easy, nutritious and portable low-carb lunch or snack. It's another food item that I seldom, or never, ate before going low-carb, a hard-to-explain list that includes salmon, almonds, macadamia nuts, and fresh avocado. Lately, I've been buying Season Brand Sardines in five-tin packs at Costco. (For the record, I receive no consideration from either of those companies, but may from Amazon.com, which sells several brands of sardines, including the Season Skinless and Boneless Sardines in Olive Oil, 3.75-Ounce Tins.) Aside from reliable quality and a decent price … [Read more ...]
Walnuts in a healthy low-carb diet
Walnuts are a good low-carb food. Like peanuts and almonds, walnuts provide protein, fat and fiber with relatively few net-carbs per serving. For instance, a quarter cup of walnuts has two grams of net-carbs (four grams of total carbohydrates minus two grams of fiber). Taste and Cost Some people find walnuts bitter. I admit I prefer the taste of roasted almonds and peanuts, and seldom eat walnuts as a stand-alone snack. The big drawback to walnuts is cost. Many consumers only encounter walnuts in one-cup bags in the supermarket's baking aisle, and that isn't a good way to buy them if you … [Read more ...]
Low carb lunch: a lettuce-wrapped burger
I tried a lettuce-wrapped burger for lunch today. Nothing fancy -- just a pan-broiled patty of ground chuck with mustard and pickle enclosed in large leaves of ice-berg. Who needs bread or buns? Well, a lot of people think they do. I used to be one of them. Before I reduced my carb-intake, I ate bread nearly every day, and often twice a day. The main purpose of bread in my life was to make sandwiches. Yes, I occasionally toasted a slice or two for breakfast, usually coating it with jam but not that demon butter, and every few weeks I might dip a few slices in egg to make French Toast. … [Read more ...]
No-filler salmon patties
Before I started eating low-carb, salmon was a minor part of my diet. If I ate salmon at all, it was in the form of a grilled or broiled salmon steak, usually in a restaurant. I never purchased or prepared canned salmon. But that has changed. Now I look for sales on canned salmon, and try to always have a few cans in the pantry. Canned salmon is usually wild-caught fish, which has a better reputation for purity than farm-raised fish. It's typically sold in 14.75 ounce cans, each of which provide 630 calories, 84 grams of protein, and significant calcium and Omega-3 fat. Salmon is … [Read more ...]
Chowing down low-carb style at Red Robin
I try to be a food-snob, I really do, but it seldom works for long. Despite years of education, and my wife's best attempts to refine me, I remain a regular guy with regular guy tastes -- such as, for instance, the Bacon Cheeseburger at our local Red Robin. (For the record, I get nothing from that restaurant chain except the food I pay for.) Red Robin calls this a "Gourmet" burger. I'm not sure what criteria a gourmet burger has to meet, or even if I care. It's a good sandwich -- a hefty low-carb meal you can hold in your hand. However, I recommend the two-handed approach. It's safer that … [Read more ...]
Announcing The Low Carb Nugget
Are you sitting down? Good. I have stunning news. You can now listen to me go on about low-carb, high-fat eating and related issues on my very own podcast, The Low Carb Nugget. Yes, I'm charging madly into the 21st Century, and you can charge with me. In fact, it would be good if you got a little out in front. Three days a week, you can experience the voice that thrilled countless college students over a span of 30 years, often to the point that they passed out in class from sheer bliss. Or something. Some mornings, the whole back row was out. It's been said that my delivery could … [Read more ...]
The mystery of weight loss (LCN 64)
Looking for patterns in weight loss and consumption Low Carb Nugget 64 The main lesson of my diet so far is that weight loss is a complex and perplexing topic. It's one of the great mysteries of life. But if a method is working for you, stick with it. … [Read more ...]
Why we cheat on an LCHF diet (LCN 59)
Cheating on an LCHF diet Low Carb Nugget 59 A little cheating may be helpful. True, you can't cheat with a sweet or carby treat every day, even if you do it mindfully. You won't get in or stay in ketosis that way. But a rare, planned indulgence is acceptable if it keeps you eating LCHF for the long-run. … [Read more ...]
Low-carb snacks to keep the munchies at bay
Yes, there are great low-carb snacks -- quite a few of them, in fact -- but standard munchables such as potato chips and corn chips aren't among them. No, neither are little powdered donuts. Admittedly, anyone trying to lose weight, via a low-carb diet or otherwise, ought to avoid snacking as much as possible. The whole idea is to encourage your body to burn its fat, and constantly eating is poor strategy in that regard. However, if you're like me (that is, human), you like to eat and eat often. In my first year of eating a low-carb, high-fat diet, I snacked my way to a 50+ pound weight … [Read more ...]
Mindful eating: slow down and smell the pork chop
On Episode 6 of The Low Carb Nugget podcast, Jim examines the conflict between "grabbing a bite" and "mindful eating." There's an expression in American English, an idiom, "to grab a bite." Some variations include "grab a bite to eat," "grab something to eat" or just "get a bite." I haven't done extensive research on this idiom, but what I have done suggests it is, indeed, of American origin. That makes sense. The idiom perfectly suits the American mind-set. It turns getting a meal into a quick, decisive action -- quick and a little violent, even. It suggests a busy life-style, a full … [Read more ...]