Life After Carbs

A real person eating (mostly) real food

This week’s nuggets: July 25-29, 2017

By

It's all about food in these three podcast episodes: macadamia nuts, avocados, and other low-carb goodies. Subscribe to the Low Carb Nugget through any of the following services: Apple Podcasts Google Play Music Stitcher TuneIn (With the Amazon Echo, use the command, “Alexa, play The Low Carb Nugget Podcast on TuneIn.”) … [Read more...]

Fiber makes Brussels sprouts low-carb

By

Brussels sprouts, those cute little mini-cabbages named after a Belgium city, are one of the higher carb vegetables that I regularly eat. One cup of plain cooked Brussels sprouts will set you back about 11 grams of carbohydrates, and 4 grams of protein. All that, and you only get 55 or 56 calories of energy.  That means a lot of us will be inclined to eat more than a cup. I probably eat between a cup-and-a-half and two cups at a time. As with other green vegetables, there is little fat … [Read more...]

Mindful eating: slow down and smell the pork chop

By

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 … [Read more...]

Recent studies are the cream in my coffee

By

First, there came a big meta-analysis of thousands of scientific papers on the effects of caffeine on humans, which found that 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day (that is, a total of 400 mg of caffeine) probably won't hurt you. Unless you're pregnant, in which case you should drink less -- 2 or 3 cups  a day (300 mg of caffeine). If you're a kid, you shouldn't be drinking coffee at all, or any other highly caffeinated beverages. Given that I'm not (A) a child nor (B) with child, this study confirms … [Read more...]

Cauliflower: the better mashed potato

By

You can do a lot of things with "cabbage flower" on a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet: steam it, roast it, mash it, rice it, or just eat it raw. Of course, one drawback to raw veggies, including cauliflower, is that they're harder to fatten up that way. But a good, fatty dip will do the trick. I've never had cauliflower deep-fried or baked, but I suppose those are possibilities, too. I'm not sure what you'd bread it in, though -- crumbled pork rinds, perhaps? Oh -- you can also eat cauliflower … [Read more...]

A day in my low-carb life: May 2017

By

It's been a while since I recounted a day of low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) eating. Granted, only an LCHF beginner would find such a post interesting and/or useful, and even that may be wishful thinking on my part, but taking a close look at what I'm doing diet-wise is a major purpose for the blog -- at least from my point of view. If nothing else, writing down what I'm eating makes me pay attention to the process. So here goes. … [Read more...]

Green beans: low-carb and familiar

By

Green beans (a.k.a. snap beans or string beans) are a familiar vegetable, and reasonably low-carb and nutritious. I find it hard to get excited about them, though. Like most people in the American mid-lands, I've been eating green beans my whole life. As a kid, I ate a lot of canned veggies -- including corn, spinach, peas, lima beans, and, yes, green beans. Today, the only canned vegetable I eat at home is spinach. However, I often encounter canned green beans at restaurants. I go ahead and … [Read more...]

Is broccoli low-carb? Compared to what?

By

Is broccoli low-carb? It depends . . . I haven't written many posts about vegetables over the years. Nuts, yes. Seeds, yes. Even fruits (avocado, blueberries, strawberries and tomatoes). Once in a while, I've put up a photo of a plate with, say, a few green beans and a big juicy steak. But the focus has not been on the beans. The lack of focus on veggies may give readers the false impression that I don't eat many. In fact, I do veggies. Not just lettuce, either, but real, honest-to-gosh, … [Read more...]

Great foods for a low-carb diet (part 6): pecans

By

The pecan: a low-carb, high-fat powerhouse Move over almonds, get outta here walnuts. When it comes to being a truly great low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) nut, the humble pecan has you both beat. On the key criterion of net-carbs (total carbs minus fiber), a single quarter-cup serving of pecans has only one. That's right. Naturally low-carb pecans (raw) have just one net-carb per serving (4 grams carbs - 3 grams fiber). That's a good start, but not the whole story. Almonds are also … [Read more...]