Low Carb and Zits Anonymous 6:14 PM

The Low Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore and Friends that I participated in is up, and if you get the opportunity, please take a listen.

Since we only had a half an hour for the podcast I didn't have the opportunity to elaborate on the topic of acne as much as I would have liked, and I really didn't delve too much into my own "Low Carb Story", only enough to tell how I got started down this road to renewed health and vitality. It was probably a good thing Jimmy knows how to keep control of his topics, and rein in the guests should they start to go astray of the main conversation (not that that happened...I kept control of myself, ha ha!). Plus, it gives me material for a blog post. A win-win situation all around!

If you listen to the podcast you know that I stated I had never really had an issue with acne. It's true, I have been blessed with pretty much blemish-free skin, except for a few eruptions here and there since adolescence. Everything I have ever read from people who have had acne and gone on a low carb eating plan has indicated to me that it does indeed help with acne, and many other skin issues. But what happens if you are low carbing, or following a Paleo or Primal lifestyle and you get zits anyway? Could the diet be to blame?

A few months ago, a friend of mine, who had then recently started a Primal lifestyle, messaged me, telling me that she was experiencing acne outbreaks on her forehead, nose and chin, and asked if I thought she should cut back on the copious amounts of saturated fats she had been consuming. My gut instinct told me that it wasn't the fat, but I knew she was worried because one of the things conventional wisdom has beat into our heads over the years is that eating a fatty diet can cause acne.

I replied to her asking how much dairy she had been eating and if she had been eating any fruits that may have caused an allergic reaction. Sometimes allergies manifest themselves by way of skin outbreaks. She replied telling me she wasn't having a whole lot of dairy all the time, and that she hadn't eaten any unusual fruits that she hadn't been eating before her lifestyle change. But I had also remembered that she had mentioned in earlier conversations that she was supplementing with B vitamins, and that made me remember that sometimes when one over-supplements with B12 and/or B6 it can cause acne outbreaks of the tiny little whitehead looking bumps my friend experienced. I messaged her with the information and she also said that in addition to her B vitamin pills, she had been drinking a popular beverage that was also loaded with B vitamins. Like magic, after she stopped the supplementation, the acne disappeared.

As for the rest of my low carb story that I didn't talk about...I am thankful to have started my journey on Atkins. It lead me down the path to discover what was really good for my body, mind, and soul. I don't "do Atkins" anymore. I have discovered that a more Paleo template of eating works best for me, gravitating more toward Primal on most days. I keep experimenting all the time with what foods make me feel the best and how I react to them. Since we're all different self-experimentation is the only way to know for sure what you will thrive on. Perhaps in my next post I will explain why this lifestyle change is so important to me personally, and why I want to help spread the word that conventional wisdom about food and health needs a major overhaul.

Can You Hear Me From Way Up There? Anonymous 7:24 PM

The chasm between the Paleo community and the low carb community seems to be growing wider by the day. There has been a lot of flap about Gary Taubes giving a curt smackdown to Stephen Guyenet during the Q&A after Stephan's presentation on "Food Reward." I just watched the video of the incident, and I must say, up till the very end when Taubes made his flippant remark, it sounded like a good debate.

In the comments section of Dr. Guyenet's post about the "drama," many seem to want to equate Taubes' zeal and opinion about low carb with Ancel Keys disastrous advice that low fat diets prevented heart disease.

I think this is a big mistake, and while I don't think Gary Taubes' final statement in his response was necessary, or kind, I can see the point he was trying to make. Should Taubes take a dose of his own medicine? Perhaps, but I can't agree with everything the "big shots" in the Paleo community have come up with, either.

I've said before and I'll say again, I do not follow any particular "group." I am not Paleo, or Primal; I am not a follower of Atkins, and I had hoped that "Ancestral" might have been a good way to describe my way of eating. However...it seems that "Ancestral" is just another term for Paleo in the mind of the Paleoites. And even though, compared to the SAD, Paleo can be considered low carb by default, they rail against "low carbers" as if they were from another planet entirely, and just utterly stupid.

I have gained a lot of knowledge and wisdom from the Paleo movement, just as I have from Primal enthusiasts AND low carbers, but I don't think any of these groups will ever agree on an optimal diet between them. And that's okay. You all keep debating, and railing against one another. I will sit back, observe, and pick the good parts out of the slop you're making by bashing one another over every little detail.

Isn't the vision to be a unified front against the decades of insane advice from the powers that be? Can't we leave the sensitivity at the door and keep the real discussion going? Admit that there is right and wrong on both sides, and move on? Or is this going to be a huge pissing match - - a challenge between Alpha Males?

Some of the Paleoites need to get over themselves and realize that just because someone considers themselves low carb doesn't mean that they are retarded, and just because we consider one of the macronutrient groups to be pretty much verboten, doesn't mean we don't see value in your criticism about certain aspects of our way of life.

And about the Paleo/Primal people being in better shape than general low carbers? Well, I will bet you a dollar to a coconut flour donut that many of those beautiful, well-built people never had a weight problem in their lives. (Jump back, I didn't say ALL!) There are people in every lifestyle who are at different stages of their journey. To judge someones eating choices by ones appearance from seeing them one time does not a valid observation make.

In addition to that, if someone who has wrecked their metabolism for the majority of their life (not someone who is still in their youth - you know, 20s and 30s) discovers a low carb/Paleo/Primal way of living helps them maintain their health and accomplish weight loss, there is nothing saying that they will ever be able to eat the occasional potato or piece of fruit without it being detrimental to their weight or well being. Gary Taubes is right about many things, and so is the low carb movement. By the same token, there is a lot of good science abounding on all sides. I just hope this dies down and the bickering and caterwauling is kept to a minimum.

I realize my thoughts are sort of disjointed and all over the place in this post, but many of these points are in response to the particular blog post I linked above. I prefer to not involve myself in the discussion on Stephen's post directly. I feel more comfortable addressing them on my homefront. So, pardon my scatteredness, please!

Guinea Pigs, Unite! (Or Not) Anonymous 9:45 AM

Obviously, doing a low carb way of eating has done a lot of good for me. I have struggled for a while to find an appropriate "label" to describe my way of living/eating, and have come to the conclusion that I am just not going to find one; at least not one that already exists. Perhaps that is not a bad thing. I have never really liked being labeled anyway, why do it now?

Recently a high profile Paleo blogger has abandoned ship, renouncing what he has touted as an optimal way of eating in favor of a more pesce-vegetarian, low fat diet with underpinnings of Chinese medical and religious philosophies (or, that's what I can gather out of it, at least). I find this all rather peculiar, since he has only fairly recently mentioned any issues he has had with the Paleo diet he has followed for 14 years, but he is obviously having some health issues (whether those issues are primarily related to what he believes they are related to is an entirely different story).

Paleo, Primal, Low Carb, Archevore, Atkins, Weston Price, Whole Food...what have I left out? All of these philosophies have contributed to the way I eat today. For the most part I shun grass grains and sugar, and most starches, though occasionally I will have some potatoes fried in lard or tallow, or some white rice. My way of eating is actually changing all the time. Changing, but not really diverting from a high fat, moderate protein, low carb model of eating. Some things I eat may or may not work for someone else. Why is that? Simply, we've all walked different roads, and the damage I have done to my body over the years with whatever toxins or "mal-nutrients" I have ingested has effected my particular genetic makeup in its own individual way. I have done a lot of damage, I am sure. I did eat low fat/low calorie for extended periods of time, and was anorexic during certain points in my life. I also ingested a bunch of processed foods and vegetable oils. Who knows what lasting effects that will have on my mortal body in the long run? Only time will tell, but right now, as I live in the present, I know that I feel better and perform better with very few carbohydrates and little processed foods.

I do believe everyone has to find their own best diet. I will not, however, ever believe that there is any good in Veg*ism, Low Fat or Low Calorie eating.

I will continue to read, research, and glean information about what could be beneficial to add and/or delete from my way of eating. I am a self-made guinea pig for my own well-being.

A Delicate Balance...and Boobs Anonymous 6:36 PM

There has been a lot of discussion in the Paleo/LowCarb/Primal community about the wisdom or insanity of including potatoes in ones diet. Richard Nickoley committed obvious heresy according some of his Paleo community followers by suggesting that there was nothing wrong with eating some taters with his grass fed meats. Tom Naughton did his own little self experiment with the dreaded white potato and sweet potatoes, posting about his blood glucose reactions to the two different kinds of spuds.

I have done my own little experiments regarding potatoes, both white and sweet, though not quite as scientific as Tom, and thankfully under less scrutiny of my peers than Richard. I'm not Paleo - - don't claim to be, am not a reenactor, don't really care whether potatoes were eaten by theoretical cavemen or not, so my experiment is merely about how my body reacts to them, basically as Tom was trying to discover about his own reaction. Except mine was done without the BG readings on a glucometer. I am pretty much in tune with what is going on with my body these days, and I know from the way my heart races when I eat something that makes my BG levels go crazy high that I should avoid whatever made it happen.

The verdict? I will probably never be able to eat white potatoes ever again. Well, I won't say never, because there may be those occasions when I just want a BG rush and then to fall into a deep coma-like sleep, but we'll see. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, seem to have very little effect on my BG, much like Tom discovered.

I don't really miss potatoes anyway. I have too many other wonderful, satisfying things I include in my lifestyle of eating that worrying about whether or not I can eat a potato is of no concern. I just know it's not good for me. It may be fine for someone else, like Richard. More power to him for discovering what is good and right for him.

______________________________________

Mark Sisson posted an interesting link to Paleo Princess' post on the Paleo Alphabet. All of her alphabet points rang true for me, though I don't follow exactly the same lifestyle as she...but I found her "B" point to be most interesting, and true for myself, as well:

"B is for Boobs! Big boobs! I was never a small chested woman, but I went from a 34-C to a 34-D on a paleo diet, even though I lost twenty-eight pounds. I’m not complaining!"

 I went from a C to D cup while eating low carb/Primal. It was noticeable...so noticeable that my ex-husband asked me if I had had breast augmentation surgery. I thought, up until her post, that I was the only one who that happened to, but now I know I am not! Anyone else had the same thing happen? I wonder why it happens? Anyone have a clue? Not that I am complaining, either!

"You look tough!" Anonymous 11:33 PM

As I've stated previously, I work in a grocery store. It's a smaller, privately owned grocery that gets a fair amount of traffic through it for its size. I often have customers who come through my line who remark about the "Low Carb" sticker I wear on my name tag. There are also a fair share of male customers who are none too shy about making flirtatious overtures to me. Today a customer (a middle aged man a bit older than myself) was the first to remark about my physique, and not in a way that was a come-on.

I was scanning his groceries, lifting some heavier items out of his cart and on to the conveyor belt when he said, "Wow, your arms look...do you lift weights? They look like you lift weights..." To which I responded, "Uhm, no...not really...but I do a lot of heavy lifting while I'm working. It's really the only workout I do." And he said, "Well, you look tough!"

"Thanks," I said, sort of blushing by now, "I eat a low carb type of diet, and that has a lot to do with it."

"It's working well for you, that's for sure!" and I finished scanning his groceries and he departed. I thought it was interesting since I was wearing a form fitting long sleeved hoodie (it was a bit cold here in my part of the Midwest today), and I wondered how he could really tell what my arms looked like. It's probably a good thing they weren't bare. I'm not sure he would be so impressed, as I am not really that defined. There's definitely muscle there, though.

I had my daughter snap a quick shot of my arm this evening. It has me wondering about how they might look if I seriously started lifting.

I'm thinking about it. Obviously it's not the arm of a bodybuilder, but it's not too bad for a little 45 year old woman, huh? Those 40 pound bags of rock salt, cases of beer, and 20 to 30 pound bags of dog food that I lift all day are doing some good, I guess. But really, it's a wonderful thing that eating in an inherently low carb manner, such as eating Primal, is very sparing of muscle.

I am kind of stoked that someone noticed the guns. ;-)

So, what do you think...should I start pumping some iron, or is that overkill?

Cold Weather Low Carb Comfort Anonymous 4:43 PM

It is cold and snowy here in the Midwest, and only due to get colder, and snowier. When I awoke this morning I was chilled and craving fat and chocolate. What better way to sate the craving, and warm ones bones, than with some low carb hot cocoa!

It's so rich and creamy. Very satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, it was breakfast for me today. It filled me for hours!

Lisa's Low Carb Hot Cocoa

1 T Powdered Cocoa (not Dutch processed)

2 T Sweetener of your choice, equal to 2 T of sugar (I use 4 packets Truvia)

4 oz. Heavy Cream

2 oz. Water

Mix the cocoa and sweetener with a couple Tablespoons of heavy cream in a mug (there will be lumps of cocoa still. These will dissolve when heated) When mixed add the rest of the cream and water. Heat for approximately 2 minutes in microwave. Stir, and enjoy! For those of you who would rather not use a microwave you may heat on low to medium low heat on the stove in a saucepan.

Last night I made some awesome Pulled Chicken Barbecue (another recipe for another post), and saved the broth to make some Egg Drop Soup.

The broth seems to be very rich in protein and other good for you stuff as evidenced by how gelatinous it was out of the container. I also left some good chicken fat in the broth.

I'm not sure how much broth was there, as I didn't measure it, but made everything by sight. I added some green onion and ginger as the broth warmed:

Next, I beat a couple of eggs, and when the broth started just to boil I slowly poured the eggs into the broth while stirring. I also added some salt at this point. Some like to add soy sauce, but personally I avoid soy products, so I left that out.

And voilà! Nice, warm, low carb Egg Drop Soup!

Me, Before and After Low Carb Anonymous 9:12 PM

For the naysayers that claim low carb doesn’t work and is unhealthy…

The photo on the right is of me yesterday (02-01-2010). I cut off my head in the larger shot because I had no makeup on and I’m vain! The small inset photo proves it’s me (just don’t enlarge it too much, okay?).

The photo on the left is of me and my elementary school chum, Paul, about 3 years ago. It was Paul who had suggested I give low carb a shot, as he had lost a significant amount of weight himself doing Atkins. I had been depressed for some time, and had also been on several rounds of Prednisolone for inflammation in my lungs (I suffered from chronic asthmatic bronchitis). The combination of being ill and taking the steroid treatments did nothing good for my weight. Getting fatter and fatter did nothing good for my depression. I craved carbohydrates constantly. I had hypoglycemia so bad that in the afternoons after lunch I had to lie down for a nap because I could not stay conscious.

To make a long story short, I took Paul’s suggestion to heart and started Atkins the day after that photo was taken. I don’t really know what my starting weight was (I could not bring myself to step on a scale), but I estimate I was close to 190 pounds, and I am only 5’ 2”.

I lost a significant amount of weight in only 2 weeks, and after that the fat came off more slowly, but it was steady and I never gained. Not too long into things I started to incorporate some dietary ideas from Protein Power as well (Dr's Eades' plan). As time wore on I started feeling better and better, and the weight loss became an afterthought as I basked in the feeling of good health and a boosted immune system. I no longer had to use a bronchodialator as I had on almost a daily basis for years. I could be in a house full of sick people and not get sick myself. For me, that was simply amazing.

I transitioned at some point to a more Primal way of eating, and still eat that way to this day.

I eat meat and saturated fat on a daily basis, and also nuts, berries, and the occasional glass of wine. Sometimes I have heavy cream on those berries I mentioned, and I am fond of cheese and the darkest of chocolates. I do eat some fibrous vegetables, but not always. I have no problems with constipation as a result of not eating a lot of fiber…my diet is high in fat and it takes care of things quite nicely, thank you. I am never hungry, and sometimes I go for long periods of time without eating and without any hunger pangs or effect on my blood glucose.

I have no idea what I weigh now as I quit weighing myself a long time ago, and just judge by the way my clothes fit and the way I look. I don’t really care about that number on the scale. I just know I’m not fat anymore.

I am not skin and bones. I still have the womanly curves that I am supposed to have, and I’m glad for that. I can sprint and play like I could as a young child. I am 45 years old and have never felt better.