Category: Food and Drink

The state of diet and nutrition reporting is horrible.

Remember the “chocolate makes you lose weight” claim that the media fell for all over the world—despite the fact it was a deliberate hoax to prove how bad the state of diet and nutrition reporting is?

Yeah. Totally happened.

Well, things haven’t improved much.

Take, for example, this piece by The Telegraph’s Saffron Alexander.

Saffron Alexander is a Food and Lifestyle reporter who posts pieces with titles like “How to choose the perfect armchair for your home” and “Chocolate, flowers, and cards: the best Valentine’s Day ideas.”

Okay, fine. Someone needs to write pieces like that. (I guess?)

But if you’re going to be writing pieces with headlines like:

Is skipping breakfast bad for us?
New study finds links with heart disease and obesity

Then you really ought to get the story right. I mean, you’re ostensibly giving people information about their health, and low-information news consumers will be making health decisions based on what you write.

So how well does this piece work?

It starts like this:

Skipping breakfast or eating late in the day could raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity according to a new study.

Pretty scary, eh kids? A study showed that?

Except it wasn’t a study.

The piece in question was a “statement” published in the American Heart Association’s Circulation. The abstract, identifying it as a statement, is here.

To be clear, a statement is not a study. To put it in journalese, a statement is basically an editorial.

It does not represent original research. No new experiments were performed. While it does refer to previous studies, it’s an opinion piece that makes recommendations.

So we’re not off to a promising start.

What next?

The study [there’s that word again–ja] from a group of American researchers suggests that the time we eat our meal is equally as important as what we eat.

Writing in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, researchers from Columbia University said both meal timing and frequency are linked to risk factors for a variety of conditions including heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, blood glucose levels, obesity, and reduced insulin sensitivity.

The researchers reviewed other current scientific studies concerning breakfast and heart disease and found that those who eat breakfast daily are less likely to have high cholesterol and blood pressure, while those who skip breakfast and instead snack and graze throughout the day are more likely to be obese, have poor nutrition, or be diagnosed with diabetes.

Okay! Hold your horses! We just hit the money quote.

The thing with all the scary health effects wasn’t just skipping breakfast.

It was skipping breakfast and then going on to “snack and graze throughout the day.”

That’s suggestive of an entirely different headline. Something like:

Snacking and Grazing Throughout the Day Will Make You Obese and Give You Diabetes, Strokes, and Heart Disease

Or perhaps the pithier:

Snacking and Grazing Throughout the Day Will Kill You

At this point, the article has basically gone off the rails, since it’s misframing the issue in terms of “skipping breakfast,” when what it should be focusing on is “snacking and grazing throughout the day.”

It does, however, go on to say a few good things. For example, it notes:

There is still some debate in the scientific community about the benefits of eating breakfast. In a 2016 study, research suggested that claims breakfast is the most important meal of the day have very little scientific basis.

That’s true. The idea that breakfast is a super-important meal is a nutritional myth.

But how does that square with the “skipping breakfast can kill you” narrative the article has been working so far? We’ve got cognitive dissonance here, folks!

The article doesn’t resolve this dissonance, though it does helpfully provide a little more on the subject:

Dr James Betts, a senior lecturer in nutrition at the University of Bath said the idea breakfast is inherently good for us may stem from marketing campaigns designed to sell us cereals, eggs and bacon, and the ‘benefits’ of eating early haven’t actually been scrutinised properly.

Bingo!

Breakfast isn’t the most important meal of the day—unless you’re a food industry marketer trying to get people to buy breakfast foods.

The article also notes:

The researchers from Columbia University writing in Circulation also found that eating late at night could lead to a greater risk of poor cardiometabolic health. In one of the studies analysed it was found that late-night snackers are more likely to be obese when compared to those who don’t eat after a certain hour.

That last phrase is very interesting. If you “don’t eat after a certain hour” then you aren’t “snacking and grazing throughout the day.”

And you know what they call it when you don’t snack and graze throughout the day but have defined eating periods between which you fast?

Intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting has a bunch of health benefits.

The classic “three meals a day with no snacks” model of eating is a form of not-very-restrictive intermittent fasting. It has three periods of eating (that’s the not restrictive part) embedded among three periods of fasting (since no snacks).

If you really want to identify whether skipping breakfast is harmful, that’s what you’d want to test it against: three meals a day with no snacks versus lunch and dinner with no snacks.

And there are stronger forms of intermittent fasting, such as eating once a day, once every other day, once every few days, etc.

If only the studystatement by the AHA said something about intermittent fasting!

Oh, wait! It did!

Saffron Alexander just didn’t tell us about it.

Here’s what it said:

There is evidence that both alternate-day fasting and periodic fasting may be effective for weight loss, although there are no data that indicate whether the weight loss can be sustained long term.

In addition, both eating patterns may be useful for lowering triglyceride concentrations but have little or no effect on total, LDL, or HDL cholesterol concentrations.

These protocols may also be beneficial for lowering blood pressure, but a minimum weight loss of 6% may be required to see an effect.

Intermittent fasting may also be effective for decreasing fasting insulin and IR [i.e., insulin resistance, the key factor in type 2 diabetes–ja], but fasting glucose remains largely unchanged.

Future work in this area should aim to examine whether these effects still persist in longer-term (>52 weeks) randomized, controlled trials.

So, wow. Intermittent fasting seems to have notable positive health results.

How does that compare to what it said about skipping breakfast?

In summary, the limited evidence of breakfast consumption as an important factor in combined weight and cardiometabolic risk management is suggestive of a minimal impact.

There is increasing evidence that advice related to breakfast consumption does not improve weight loss, likely because of compensatory behaviors during the day.

On the other hand, breakfast consumption can contribute to a healthier eating pattern that leads to slight improvements in cardiometabolic risk profile.

Additional, longer-term studies are needed in this field because most metabolic studies have been either single-day studies or of very short duration.

Got that? They say eating breakfast likely has “a minimal impact”—scarcely justifying the scare tactics used in the article about the “dangers” of skipping it.

Further, skipping breakfast won’t help you lose weight if you don’t also fast and instead engage in “compensatory behaviors during the day”—i.e., the “snacking and grazing throughout the day” referred to earlier.

And most of the studies related to this are basically junk science because they were either “single-day studies” (!) or “of very short duration.”

So Ms. Alexander’s article essentially misreads and distorts the AHA statement.

This is not to place all the blame on Ms. Alexander. The AHA itself has a history of bad diet advice.

My impression, upon reading the statement, is that it’s a transitional document. The benefits of not using the snacking/grazing strategy are becoming clear in the scientific data, but old habits die hard, and the authors of the AHA statement haven’t yet gotten to the point of flat out endorsing intermittent fasting.

Hopefully, they’ll get there.

Before a lot more people die.

Time to take some more notes and answer some questions regarding my fasting experience.

First, I have now lost 38 lbs 47 lbs from my recent high, which means I have lost more than 100 lbs since my all-time high! Woo-hoo!

To visualize 100 lbs, I calculated how many cans of soda it takes to equal that weight. It turns out that it’s 120 cans of soda or five cases of 24 cans each.

Here’s a picture of that.

See here for my main post on intermittent fasting.

Do people with weight problems simply lack motivation or willpower?

Imagine carrying five cases of soda around all the time and being unable to set them down–ever, even for a moment—even when you’re lying on your back!

Now think about how that affects the blame-the-victim, “You just don’t have enough willpower” attitude our society encourages us to adopt regarding those who struggle with weight.

Anyone carrying that much additional weight (like I was) is suffering tremendously and will be highly motivated to get rid of it.

My problem was not lack of willpower but lack of knowing how to get the weight off.

The standard “eat less, move more” advice you hear doesn’t work (and studies show that it doesn’t). Similarly the “eat less fat, fat makes you fat” approach doesn’t work.

Once I discovered an effective means of losing weight (initially low carb, and now low carb plus intermittent fasting), I stuck to them like crazy–to the point that I know others have come to regard me as a diet disciplinarian (at least when it comes to myself). I won’t break my diet just because people are having a party or I’m in a social situation, and I’m willing to be viewed as an oddball for the sake of not impeding weight loss. Motivation and willpower are not problems.

So bear all that in mind when you see someone who has weight issues. Willpower is likely not the issue, but lack of knowledge of an effective way to get the weight off and keep it off. (Because, if you don’t have that, there’s no point.) Odds are, they would become very focused and determined if they found an effective and sustainable way to lose weight.

If you’re doing intermittent fasting, do you need to do anything extra on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?

It depends on what kind of intermittent fasting (IF) you’re doing, but you may already be fulfilling the canonical requirements for fasting on those days.

Church law allows Catholics in the Latin Rite to have one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, as well as “some food” (less than a full meal, but not any specified amount) on two other occasions.

If you’re eating that much or less, you’re fulfilling your obligation and don’t need to do anything extra (other than also observe abstinence from meat).

That said, it is a good and praiseworthy thing even for those who are doing IF to reduce their food consumption even more on those days. It’s just not legally (or morally) required.

If you’re fasting for health reasons, does that prevent you from offering it up to God?

Not any more than anything else you have a good, non-religious reason to do. St. Paul states:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ (Col. 3:23-24).

We can–and should–take any and every good thing we do and offer it up to the Lord, because it’s good and we want to do good in accord with his will.

The fact that there are non-religious reasons for doing it is part of why it’s good. Thus the non-religious reasons don’t stop us from doing it “unto the Lord” or “to the glory of God.” And they thus don’t deprive it of having a spiritual aspect that God will reward.

In fact, in the case of weight loss (or other health benefits), one may view the act of fasting as making spiritual reparations to the extent that getting into this weight/health situation was our fault–and as pure good work to the extent it was not our fault (e.g., due to being misinformed about what a “healthy diet” consists of and eating accordingly).

Having said that, if you don’t do something with a spiritual orientation–if it isn’t at least in the back of your mind by way of what theologians call a “virtual intention”–and you’re doing something for purely non-religious reasons then it won’t have a spiritual dimension and so won’t benefit you in that way.

Have you discovered any new, good books relating to this area?

Yes! I’ve been doing more research in this area, and I have two new books I can recommend:

First, there is Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code, which is focused on the science behind obesity–what causes it and how it can be successfully fought.

This is not a standard diet book, but a serious look at the science. If you’re a diet skeptic like I am and have a “show me the science” attitude, this is the book for you!

Second, there is Gary Taubes’s new book The Case Against Sugar. This is a devastating critique of the “calories are the only thing that matters” view and how our society has been severely damaged by Big Sugar and its manipulation of social policy to pump more sugar into the American diet.

Both books are also available on Kindle and Audible.

Both are highly recommended.

Good stuff, Maynard!

What if you have diabetes? Can intermittent fasting help you?

Yes! Absolutely! Here is a talk by Dr. Jason Fung on precisely that point regarding Type 2 diabetes:

I also know a many people who have Type 1 diabetes (formerly called “juvenile diabetes”), and fasting can also help them, though you have to monitor your blood sugar more carefully. Info on that here.

Are you exercising?

Yes. I use both high-intensity, interval exercise and low-intensity, endurance exercise on a regular basis.

At least once a week, I spend 60-90 minutes doing high-intensity, interval-based exercise in the form of one kind of folk dance.

Also, at least once a week I spend three hours doing low-intensity in the form of another kind of folk dance where I am on my feet the entire time.

However, here’s the deal: Despite the “eat less, move more” rhetoric that infests our cultural discourse, exercise does not help you with long-term weight loss.

The number of calories burned in exercise is far too small, and it has the opposing effect of potentially increasing your appetite and thus the number of calories you take in.

Exercise has various health benefits, but weight loss is not one of them.

I dance because it’s fun–and for the other health benefits of exercise. But I don’t exercise for weight loss because both scientific studies and my own experience shows that it won’t help with that.

Since you’re eating only one meal per day, do you miss food and/or cooking?

A little. I love cooking, I’m good at it, and I love trying out new recipes.

The fact I’m eating only one meal per day means that I don’t have the opportunity to try out as many recipes.

The fact that the one meal I eat tends to be late (between 8-10 p.m. in my case, depending on when I get home from dances) also means I tend to go for simple recipes that don’t require a lot of complex cooking, and this deprives me of the opportunity to do new, creative things.

However, I’m far more jazzed about losing weight than I am about trying new or different recipes, so that overrides other considerations. (There’s that motivation thing again!)

If you’re doing one meal a day, when is the best time to eat it?

Probably in the morning. You’ll probably lose more weight that way, but that doesn’t work for me at the moment.

Aren’t you hungry all the time?

Absolutely not! Once your body has shifted into taking energy from your fat cells (which is what the fat cells are there for), it has an energy source, and it doesn’t need to send you the hunger signal to get you to consume more food and get more energy.

Not long ago, I spent hours on a Saturday watching YouTube cooking videos, just because I was interested in the recipes and the techniques the chefs were using to prepare them.

But despite the fact that I spent hours looking at and thinking about food, I wasn’t hungry at all!

As covered in my original post, hunger is largely a matter of habit, and if you wait a couple of days, your body will figure out that this isn’t eating time any more and will stop sending you hunger signals then.

Also, hunger isn’t a constant. When it does come, it comes in waves, and you can drink non-caloric liquids (water, coffee, tea, etc.) to fill your stomach.

My experience is that hunger isn’t strong and that it usually goes away in 20 minutes or so. (Though it may reappear 2-3 times.)

On some days, I find that I experience mild hunger in midday. I’m interpreting this as a good thing, as signalling me that my body is making the transition from using the energy from the one meal I ate the previous night into fat burning mode.

The earlier in the day this happens, the better! It means I have more time for fat burning before the next meal.

Yah-hoo!

Hope this helps! Till next time, gang!

There are different ways to make low-carb equivalents of macaroni and cheese. Some use actual low-carb macaroni noodles, but these can be hard to find, and the texture often is not the same as familiar versions of the dish.

Here is one of my favorite ways to make a low-carb version. It is extremely easy, and it uses only ingredients that you’ll find at a typical supermarket.

1. Get the ingredients

There are only three ingredients:

• Heart of palm (14 oz. can)
• 2 oz. of Velveeta (1/2 inch of the large-size blocks)
• 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk (or heavy whipping cream, or Half & Half, or just water)

2. Cut the heart of palm into bite-sized pieces (I like thin rounds, but other shapes, sizes are possible)

3. Cut the Velveeta into smaller, flat chunks so it will melt more quickly and put it in a small saucepan with 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk (or whatever liquid you are using).

4. Heat the mixture on Medium/Low heat, stirring, until the Velveeta melts (this happens pretty quickly)

 5. Gently fold the heart of palm slices into the sauce and serve!

NOTES:

• This recipe re-heats and refrigerates well (particularly nice if you like cold macaroni and cheese, as I do).
• Heart of palm has a texture that is very much like that of traditional macaroni, even though the shape is different.
• You can also use other low-carb items in place of or in addition to the heart of palm–e.g., mushrooms (button mushrooms, or pieces and stems), artichoke hearts, and tofu (though tofu is more fragile than the others, so be extra careful folding pieces of it into the sauce).
• You can make the cheese sauce other ways. Velveeta works particularly well–including better than some store-brand knockoffs of Velveeta.
• You can add various garnishes to it, including sliced, fresh basil (pictured), chives, or green onion (consider heating the white part of the sliced or chopped green onions with the sauce to make these parts softer).
• You can also add spices like black/white pepper, garlic, or mustard to the sauce or on top.
• Think about slicing up and adding other things, like tomatoes or hot dogs.
• Treat this as you would regular macaroni and cheese and add whatever you normally like to it!

Want to learn how to make this? Sign up at www.UltimateLowCarb.com by Friday and get the recipe by email this weekend!

The meats are ground beef, sausage, and turkey; the cheeses are ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan; and if you'll look close, you'll see that the noodles are sliced turkey breast, which is what makes this low carb!

Naturally low carb; here made with 'Lil Smokies and turkey bacon–not because turkey bacon is healthier but just because it's got a lot of meat and I had it on hand.

These are a standard part of Christmas dinner in England.

I love rice. But it's high in carbs, so naturally I've wanted a low-carb substitute for it.

I've tried a number of things. For example, grading and cooking cauliflower. Texture-wise, that's not a bad substitute, but it tastes like cauliflower and not rice. Even when fried with oils and spices that you would use making fried rice, it still has that cauliflower taste in there somewhere.

I've thought for a long time that low carb pasta makers ought to make low carb orzo, which could be used as a rice substitute, but thus far I haven't found that–at least with Western-style low carb pasta.

I have found basically that with Eastern-style low-carb pasta.

Recently I tried a rice substitute made from shirataki, which is the root of a plant in Asia. It's the same material as shirataki noodles, just in a different shape.

I ordered a box of "Miracle Rice" from Amazon, and here's what an individual package looks like (click to embiggen):

As soon as I got the stuff, I realized I've seen it repeatedly in Asian markets. It's just that since the label wasn't in English I wasn't sure that what I was looking at was shirataki or that it was meant as a rice substitute. 

Here's what it looks like out of the package:

In this picture I was rinsing it (something you're supposed to do with a lot of even regular rice), prior to blanching it, which is all the cooking this type needs. It's already soft, but the blanching removes shirataki aroma and makes it smell and taste neutral. Same as with shirataki noodles.

And here it is all blanched:

Next I made a stir-fry with beef and vegetables so as to make beef fried rice. Here's the stir-fry in progress. As it was cooking, I thought, "This looks and smells so good, all I need to do is add my final spices and soy sauce and I'd have a great stir fry even without the rice. Mmmmm!"

And here's the final product: low carb beef fried rice made with shirataki rice:

So how was it?

It was quite good!

It was certainly the best low carb rice substitute I've had thus far–and by far.

The mouth feel is quite similar to that of regular rice. It's not unduly rubbery or anything. You can bite through an individual grain of this the way you can an individual grain of regular rice. The neutral taste does not stand out against the flavors and seasonings added to it, again like regular rice.

One point of difference is that this stuff is not as sticky as regular Asian rice, and so it is not easy to eat with chopsticks (assuming you're used to eating rice with chopsticks). However, I have an idea about how to fix that (more on that in the future).

I'm interested to try it in other rice applications soon, such as risotto, in a casserole, etc. Or in place of barley in soup (Mmmm. Vegetable beef soup. A childhood favorite.)

I'll let you know how it goes!

In the meantime . . . 

YOU CAN ORDER SOME OF THE SHIRATAKI MIRACLE RICE FOR YOURSELF HERE!

Yesterday I put up a photo of some shakshouka that I made myself. Although I adjusted the recipe somewhat (as every cook does), here's the recipe I based mine on, in both video and printable form:

PRINTABLE VERSION HERE.

Recently on Facebook I mentioned that I was making shakshouka, which is a middle eastern way of preparing eggs. Basically you use tomatoes, onion, red and green bell peppers, spices–and, of course, eggs, which in this case are cooked directly in a mixture you make of the other ingredients. It has very much a southwestern taste even though it's a middle eastern dish.

Whatever its appearance may be, wow does it smell and taste good! (Video recipe to follow.)