Low Carb vs. Low Calorie, Low Fat Anonymous 7:06 PM

I can't tell you the number of times I have heard, "Well, if you just watch your calories and fat you'll lose weight!"  I know, I know, it has been what we've been told for decades now, "Eat less, exercise more...it's all about calories in vs. calories out!"

When I tell others about low carb eating I am often met with comments that include, "I lost all my weight just watching my calories and exercising. It's what works best for me." I can't help but wonder when I hear things like that how long it will be before that person goes face down in the feed bag, because you know, if you've ever lost weight like that yourself, that what is really happening is you're starving. If you have followed a low calorie, low fat diet for any length of time you may have lost weight, but you have also robbed your body of important nutrients, and it may shock you to know that much of the weight you've lost may not necessarily be all fat (or even mostly fat); a low calorie, low fat diet makes it so your body consumes its lean tissue, too. That includes one of the most important of the organs of your body - - the heart.

So, what is the advantage of losing weight and maintaining that weight with low carb eating vs. low fat, low calorie eating?

1. You keep your muscle mass when you eat low carb.
2. You don't really have to count anything on low carb once you learn what foods you can eat.
3. You don't ever have to be hungry.
4. You don't have to exercise until you fall over from exhaustion.
5. You keep your brain healthier and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's Disease.
6. You don't feel like you have to take a nap after lunch.
7. Bacon. Real Bacon.
8. If you have suffered from acid reflux it will disappear.
9. If you are diabetic you may be able to reduce your medication intake (with doctors supervision), or completely eliminate the need for it.
10. If you take anti-depressants, you may find you don't need those anymore, either.
11. Butter. Real Butter.
12. Low carb eating lowers blood pressure.
13. A low carb diet lowers triglycerides.
14. Did I mention Bacon? ;-)

And really, this way of eating goes beyond weight loss. The weight loss is a happy side-effect. This is really about good health.

Food Reward Anonymous 10:26 AM

or, Eating Bland Food To Cure Your Gluttony

Stephan Guyenet has published a series of posts hypothesizing a link between good tasting foods and obesity. That's really an oversimplification, but the basic gist.

Read the series of posts following these links:

Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part I
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part II
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part III
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part IV
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part V
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part VI
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part VII
Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part VIII
Simple Food: Thoughts on Practicality

Yes, there is a lot there, and if you're brave enough to take a gander (or at least skim through) do not miss the comments to these posts.

Of all the commenters I find myself agreeing with ItsTheWooo2 more times than not. I remember her from many years back in a low carb forum I frequented. She's very outspoken, sometimes brash, but usually accurate in her assessments. She takes a lot of crap from her detractors, but remains undeterred in her quest to educate others on what she has found to be true. More power to her, I say. I wish she blogged, but a quick Google of her online persona gives plenty of reading material and a good take on her stance where low carb eating is concerned. Here is a link to her story.

I have found a lot of valuable information on Stephan's blog in the past. I just happen to think he's barking up the wrong tree on this one.

And yeah, I am thinking of starting an ItsTheWooo2 fan club.

I am not thinking of starting any fan clubs any time soon for CarbSane. She has a blog I refuse to link to, but if you're that curious you can find it. A more pseudo-intellectual person one will never find. She's just so off base with her assertions, it's not funny. It's not funny, either, that Stephan Guyenet seems to be in agreement with her about certain things. It certainly gives one pause. I try to keep an open mind when I am reading and researching, but I am beginning to have problems doing that when I read either one of them anymore.

The Case of the Disappearing Eyebrows Anonymous 6:43 PM

or, Could I Possibly Be Hypothyroid?

Yesterday as I was sitting outside chatting with my daughter and her friend, my daughter cocked her head and said, "You need to start using eyebrow pencil. Your eyebrows are gone on the ends."

I had been noticing them thinning over the years, even before I started low carb (so don't even start to tell me low carb caused this issue, I won't ever believe that). My mother, and her mother before her, had thyroid issues, and were on medications (Synthroid) for Hypothyroidism. I had read somewhere that the thinning of the outer ends of the eyebrows can be a sign of Hypothyroidism. I guess that would explain why it was never odd for me to see my mom and grandmother draw their eyebrows on with eyebrow pencil my whole life.

What I should do is go to the doctor and have him order tests. The only problem with this being I have no health insurance, and no extra money to pay out of pocket for a doctors visit and lab work, nor for prescriptions.

For now I am going to work under the assumption that I am more than likely Hypothyroid, and research and learn what I can do without prescribed thyroid hormone replacement medications.

I have done a few Google searches, and skimmed some symptoms, treatments, foods to avoid, and some supplements that are recommended to help with this condition.

Of the symptoms, the bolded ones that follow in the list are the ones I have:

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism include: (From this site)

Early symptoms

Poor muscle tone (muscle hypotonia)
Fatigue
Cold intolerance, increased sensitivity to cold
Depression
Muscle cramps and joint pain
Arthritis
Goiter
Thin, brittle fingernails
Thin, brittle hair
Paleness
Dry, itchy skin (from time to time)
Weight gain and water retention.
Bradycardia (low heart rate: less than sixty beats per minute)
Constipation

Late symptoms

Slow speech and a hoarse, breaking voice. Deepening of the voice can also be noticed.
Dry puffy skin, especially on the face
Thinning of the outer third of the eyebrows. (Sign of Hertoghe)
Abnormal menstrual cycles (had those until an endometrial ablation several years ago)
Low basal body temperature

On another site I also found other symptoms that are less common but still associated with hypothyroidism that I have including premature graying of the hair, migraines, and increased need for sleep.

I don't think I even need a test to tell me the signs point to hypothyroidism.

The bummer part is that many foods I love to eat are on the list of foods that can be associated with decreasing thyroid function:

Foods that depress thyroid activity are broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, spinach, turnips, soy, beans, and mustard greens.

I don't eat soy, or beans, and I don't like kale and turnips, so those aren't an issue. I absolutely adore Brussels sprouts, and really like broccoli and cauliflower. It looks like I am going to have to eliminate those from my diet for a while, though, to see if it helps.

Oh, and another thing that is associated with Hypothyroidism is carpal tunnel syndrome. I have had issues with that for years.

So I am reading that coconut oil can help (I am out at the moment), and Dana Carpender has stated that tyrosine, selenium, and iodine may be effective to improve thyroid function.

If anyone has any input on this subject, I am all ears.

I Just Wish We Still Had Milkmen Anonymous 2:04 PM

I have run across several articles and posts recently that talk about “hiding” things like vegetables and liver in certain recipes so kids will eat them. Having three children of my own, I realize that some kids are pickier than others, and they all have their particular (and sometime peculiar) likes and dislikes. I guess I am fortunate that all of my children love vegetables and liver, although I can’t help but think that they like these foods because they were exposed to them fairly early in life, with no prejudice, and no one making “yuck” faces at them while they were trying something new (that I may not have liked). I made sure, too, that they tried a variety of new foods whenever the opportunity presented itself.

I can’t say, though, that they always ate food that was good and wholesome. It wasn’t until my oldest was an adult that I (re)discovered what “good and wholesome” food was, and found out that it wasn’t what I had been led to believe for so long.

This topic has made me think back, not just to my kids eating habits growing up, but to my own as a child, and how things changed from my infancy through my adulthood.

I was born in 1964 (I am not ashamed, I look and feel good for my age!), ten years before McGovern’s committee fouled up U.S. nutrition. Before that fateful year of 1974, “we the people” were unafraid of lard and tallow, and eggs were incredible and edible and nutritious. My grandmother often fed me egg yolks for my “baby food.” We had real butter and whole milk (though even then it was pasteurized, although not illegal to buy or sell raw milk). I remember the skin on roasted chicken or turkey being the best, and more times than not I would sneak some skin while the bird was resting before it was carved. We kept a jar of bacon grease in the Frigidaire®, ready to be used for frying eggs, or anything else that required grease with a high smoke point. Meals were made at home, for the most part. “TV Dinners” that were invented in the 1950s were available, but a frozen “pre-fab” dinner was not the norm; those were only occasionally consumed, perhaps once every few months. Soda pops were a treat, not a staple beverage. Pies, cakes, and other baked treats were usually reserved for holidays and special occasions, not an after-every-meal necessity.

I remember my mother telling me when she was young that she would eat butter by the stick, and await the arrival of the milkman so she could drink the cream off the top of the bottle.

Yes, Virginia, there was a time when good, wholesome food was celebrated and eaten without guilt or remorse.

My children didn’t have that advantage, because by the time they were born all of the good food had been demonized, and I bought it, hook, line and sinker. I still have two at home, though, and we’ve established the fact that saturated fat is good for them, and the processed, high carb, sugary stuff is not food. They love liver and onions, heavy cream, real butter, and their veggies. I don’t hide anything, but I don’t hold it against those who do…we have to get our children eating the good stuff somehow, and I know that with the way things stand in our world today it is not an easy task.

I am curious: what are the favorite foods from your childhood that you remember with fondness? Do you remember being drawn to “good, whole foods” as a child, and do you think the era you grew up in had anything to do with your preferences?