Life After Carbs

A real person eating (mostly) real food

Eating fish makes mice fat, study claims

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Just when you thought it was safe to feed salmon fillets to your pet mouse, along comes a study entitled, "Chronic Consumption of Farmed Salmon Containing Persistent Organic Pollutants Causes Insulin Resistance and Obesity in Mice." You have to wonder how many mice are chronically dining on salmon, farmed or wild. It's more likely that if a mouse fell in the water, a salmon would eat it. That would be a better meal than most farm-raised salmon ever get. It's hard to imagine the mouse winning … [Read more...]

What comes first? The attitude or the weight?

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Seven months ago, food played a different role in my life than it does now. I used to see food as a way to relieve stress, to reward myself for a job done, or to compensate myself for a bad day.  Chips were an appropriate side dish for any trouble. Cookies were an almost universal cure. The ultimate weapon against depression was a chocolate milkshake. In a damp, drizzly November of the soul, Melville's Ishmael took to sea. I took to the supermarket, or McDonald's. My destination was less … [Read more...]

What to do when your vegan diet doesn’t work? Go “Beyond Broccoli”

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I've never been tempted to become a vegetarian, let alone a raw foods vegan, and after reading a new book by Susan Schenck, LAc, I'm glad of it. Schenck spent several years eating and promoting a raw vegan diet before realizing it was seriously compromising her health. She then curbed her carb intake and added animal-based protein. She has written about her experiences in Beyond Broccoli: Creating a Biologically Balanced  Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn't Work (247 pages, Awakening … [Read more...]

Building your own breakfast special

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Back in my carb-eating days, my favorite meal to eat out was breakfast. There were a couple reasons. First, breakfast is an affordable meal to eat out.  You can usually get a hot breakfast for a few bucks. Even in Manhattan, on the edge of the theater district, Anita and I got a breakfast special at a Greek diner that included eggs, meat, toast, two cups of coffee and a small glass of juice for five dollars each.  In mid-Michigan, breakfast specials typically start at $2.99. Second, breakfast … [Read more...]

Low-carb eating at parties and events

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Eating low-carb at parties and events can be a challenge. For example, a couple days ago, I was talking with a colleague about the menu for the annual meeting of an organization we both belong to. The plan, he told me, is Italian, which basically means pasta, bread and a salad. There will be a pasta dish with meat and a pasta dish without meat.  I do not think there will be a pasta dish without carbohydrates. In the morning, there will be coffee, juice, ice water and pastries. … [Read more...]

Fat governors, fat taxes, and me

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I've had trouble deciding on the topic for this blog post. This is a sure sign that someone is taking his blogging too seriously. When I started out, any post with the words "low carb" in it was good enough. Good enough for me, anyway, if not my readers. But in the early days, I didn't have any readers. (The way this post is going, that could come to pass again.) Enough stalling. Let's get down to picking a topic. What has been the big food, diet, weight or nutrition news of the last few … [Read more...]

Chia: yet another low-carb seed

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The stereotypical low-carb diet is heavy on meat, eggs, butter and cream. To be sure, I've eaten my share of such animal-based fare, but the most notable newcomers to my diet have been plant-based foods such as nuts and seeds. I've always eaten peanuts (which technically are not a nut), pistachios and the occasional cashew.  But on my low-carb diet, I've become a big fan of almonds, walnuts, sunflower kernels and flax seed meal. Now I have added chia seeds, the Aztec staple.  … [Read more...]

Study findings undercut soda taxes as a way of curbing obesity

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At the risk of being mistaken for a tool of soft-drink industry, or worse yet, a Libertarian, I am jumping once again into the debate over government action to curb our consumption of sugary beverages.  (Well, someone's consumption; I don't touch the stuff anymore.  I don't believe anyone should.) I stated my position a month ago, in response to calls by New York City officials for a ban on the use of food stamps to purchase soda-pop.  Another East Coast official, Mayor Michael Nutter … [Read more...]

My low-carb breakfasts

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Often after I've told a friend or acquaintance about my low-carb way of eating, and explained that I no longer wheat, corn, rice or potatoes, one of the first questions I get is, "But what do you eat for breakfast?" Breakfast seems to be the carb-lover's favorite meal. I know my own breakfasts used to be carborific. My standard morning meal was cereal, milk, orange juice and coffee. I frequently added a slice or two whole-wheat toast with jam. Some mornings, I skipped the cereal and … [Read more...]

Reduced carb diet is the best for your genes

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What is the healthiest diet? A study at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Feed your genes - NTNU) examined molecular evidence to try to answer the question. The result, according to the Norwegian biologists, is that the best diet for your genes is one-third protein, one-third fat and one-third carbohydrates. It's not exactly a low-carb diet, but it is reduced carb. Indeed, such an evenly balanced diet would represent a 50% or greater reduction in carb intake for the average … [Read more...]