Atkins Diet

smag16 · Dec 1, 2002

By th' way, there are many sugar substitutes besides what is in the grocery stores. Nature Sweet ( maltitol) and DiabetiSweet (Isomalt and A-K) act like sugar in recipes. The DiabetiSweet tastes sweeter than Nature Sweet. There are also many other sweeteners on the net. These sweeteners do not have Aspartame in them...nor do they leave an after-taste.

There are many brands of SF flavored syrups in stores and on the net. Check out Natures Flavors and DaVinci ...they are sweetened with sucralose...the real sweetener in Splenda.

Almond flour and whey protien is used in place of wheat flour...

Soy tastes yuck!!!

Our foods MUST taste, look, and have the "mouth feel" of the carbs that we previously were addicted to and craved...

Some examles of foods we eat all SF and very Low Carb...Lemon pie, Coconut cake, Brownies, NY Style Cheescake, Ice Cream, Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, Angel Food cake, Muffins of all types, Jello Cake, Neapolitan Cake, so many desserts that there is no way to list them all), all kinds of LC breads, BBq sauces, salad dressings, candies, lots of recipes involving CHOCOLATE!!!!

There are so many recipes that are LC that you are never bored with your food. See tshores post....

You can do this ....it's a healthy "change for life"!!! It isn't a "DIET"...it a "Way of Eating" for a life time! There is no way we will ever go back to "carby foods"!!!

I am 60 and feel like I am 16!!!!!! HONEST!!! Friends are amazed at how young I now look and my energy!! Most of all, they are stunned by the changes in my DH who now acts like he is 30 again!!!! (Statins and low Fat nearly killed him!!! He was the reason for all my indepth research that led me into studying molecular biology!! That is where I learned about what carbs can do to your body ..ie. health!)

baseline · Dec 1, 2002

How about we start a low carb recipie thread? I am no chef....but I do cook alot of my own meals.....and would love to hear good lo carb recipies..........!

smag16 · Dec 1, 2002

You can find all the low carb recipes here that you would ever want...it's FREE!! http://pub96.ezboard.com/blowcarbbuddies

No advertizing!!! They just help to support folks who want to stay low carb for whatever reason. We experiment alot and then post our recipes to share with other who might like to try them. There are many such sites on the web.

You are NOT stuck with meat, eggs and cheese AT ALL!!!

Don't go by what you have heard...read and learn for yourself!!!

tonchitoRN · Dec 1, 2002

i knew a nurse who tried the diet because she wanted to lose weight before getting married. she turned into a real b***h. she became very irritable and difficult to get along with. she had to stop after a few days because it was just not healthy for her. after she stopped she got back to her more pleasant self. [23]

baseline · Dec 1, 2002

Ah... the carbohydrate withdrawl........I did the same thing when I quit smoking..... This is discussed in the book! LOL. ( Baseline be quiet ..... you're getting boring with that darn BOOK)

Thanks for the link!!!!!! :-)

tshores · Dec 1, 2002

Agnus, you can use maltitol or a mix of boxed Splenda and maltitol in your cheesecake (same amount, cup for cup), and you'll never know the difference. I use Steel's crystal or syrup maltitol in baking and ice cream, and their powdered maltitol is a perfect substitute for powdered sugar. Wonderful stuff. But you can buy the Hauser's maltitol on their website, too. You can make peanut brittle, fudge, etc. with it, too.

Carb withdrawal is normal--most of us are addicted to a high carb diet--which increases our blood sugar and insulin levels, causing all sorts of chemical reactions in our bodies. And we get cranky and feeling out of sorts without the high level of carbs (notice I did not say NO carbs). Same way you do if you quit smoking; doesn't mean cigarettes are good for you just cause you get nicer and feel more calm when you start smoking again. And if you do the RESEARCH, you'll learn all about the chemical stuff.

If you're planning on going on a low carb diet, you should do the research first, plan for your cravings by having low carb stuff on hand to substitute--my craving was sweets--so I found some delicious sweet recipes, made them up and froze them in individual servings--made it so much easier. Since then, I've found so many good recipes in such variety, I do not miss the sugar and flour laden stuff. The nurses at work love my baked goods made with nut flours and so does my family. You can't tell there's no flour and sugar in them.

Lost a total of 45 pounds--which is what I wanted to lose--and though a lot of it was water at first ( as it is even with a low fat or other diet), I can't believe you'd think it all was water--and I've kept it off for nearly two years without feeling deprived and hungry.

smag16 · Dec 1, 2002

After the first 3 weeks I didn't feel the cravings for carbs as much..as time has gone on, I seldom ever feel them! I don't feel the need to eat them any more as I have my LC goodies. YEP!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2002

smag16 - you said "Did 2 years of research 14-16 hours a day.." and I'm very impressed with that. You must be rich and not have to work. LOL

Thanks for info. That makes sense. When I first became a vegetarian I was eating all the wrong foods, low fat yes, but white pasta and high glycemic foods. I feel much better adding more protein and getting rid of anything white. Where I differ is that I changed from white to whole grain. And I added more protein and healthy fats like olive oil and flax and nuts.

I definately absolutely feel much better when I avoid meat (subbing soy products like tofu and tempeh), and high glycemic foods, and lots of colorful fruits and veggie.

I think we are only now beginning to realize how rises and falls in insulin and blood glucose levels affect us.

My question is do you think they are backing up from the idea that saturated fat and high cholesterol foods cause coronary artery disease and that it's high glycemic foods? Still having trouble with a hamburger patty being healthier than a carrot. LOL

smag16 · Dec 2, 2002

You don't have to be 'rich" to not work..just thrifty!! It also helps to chose a husband who not only adores you to destraction but who can afford you as his wife!! Like getting 3 wishes in life...chose well!!!

I am also 60 years old and have been around the block a few times and have seen things you can't imagine...have been poor as a church mouse when I was young too!!

Education is the name of the game. Who educates you is what's important too!

And remember the more you learn the faster you learn!! Formal classes eventually become too slow and you get burdened down with busy work...I had a life to save...my lover's!! My lover of nearly 30 years!!!!! Isn't that why we became nurses to begin with? To HELP folks!?

Now as to your question...plain speak... animal fat is what you are designed to burn as fuel...the carbs from veg. such as the very dark colored ones are great for your brain. You get carbs from nuts too. Remember this isn't a carb FREE way of eating.

In addition to lo carb...

We don't use veg.oils...only grapeseed oil and first cold pressed olive oil laced with BHT that I add. I also add it to my butter. It is a very strong antioxidant...has other wonderful qualities too..

And, YES, the steak is better than the hamburger and the steak is better than the carrots! (Yes ... with the FAT!) Why not have BOTH?!?!?! Remember all that research I did and do! Heamiron is not good for you ... comes form all those broken up red blood cells in the ground meat also the fat is exposed to air and it will oxidize before you even consume it.

Check out the smoking points of various oils and fats..when they are heated they oxidize!

Now think of the temp of your body...think how the already oxidized oils are further oxidizd. All veg. oils are heated to produce them..they are oxidized to some degree when you consume them...then they stay at 98.6 in your body. Ever have a bottle of veg. oil go rancid and get really sticky if left out in the heat for a week or two. That's what is going on in your body. It isn't the lipid panels at all... it if the fats are oxidized or not!! If they aren't oxidized they won't stick and they won't stick if the arterial walls aren't irritated by the high insulin from all the carbs.

Now as for the "thinking" to change.. I doubt it seriously! Who educates the doctors? What is their bottom line? WHY?

Who will lose money if the "thinking" changes? Ever look at all the carbs in the grocery store... all the various oils? Read the labels of all the lo fat foods... check out the carb counts. Why is CVD increasing...type 2 diabetes....obesity? Remember in the first grade when you learned that carb convert to sugars? We knew this little tid bit in the 40s and 50s!! Too much sugar and it gets stored as FAT!! Fat doesn't make fat unless the sugar is there....

check out these words...glycosylated haemoglobin, glycosylation,

glycation. The reactions of sugar protiens wth long chain fatty acids are what I am currently studying...not much work has been done in this area!

I cannot tell you of the many cardiologists that roll their eyes at me to my face..I have taken them 6"high stacks of the research papers to read..they all say the same thing to me as I am blown off.."I don't have time to read THAT!!" They have time to listen to that drug salesman....

I have not only had to bring DH back from the edge of death as the Cardiologists gave up on him..but to reverse the adverse effects of three years of statin use which killed of mitrochondria in his brain and muscle tissue (the heart is a muscle too) causing amnesia, personality changes for the worse, emotional lability, lethargic, insomina, nocturia, cognitive deficits, depression, anxiety, confusion, and dropping his testosterone levels to that of an 11 year boy. (And consider that he was an air traffic controller at the time and was working in a huge airport! I was worried sick about him! ) And these same cardiologists tell me that there were no side effects to statins he was taking. Also consider that the 3 arteries that the doc's couldn't do anything for closed up while he was on the statins and very low fat diet!!

CVD "ain't" pretty...nowhere... nohow!! Well, he doesn't have it any more ..eating great amouts of animal fat and dropping all his prescriptions! He only takes the suppliments that I give to him to keep the fats from oxidizing! And wouldn't go back to low fat for the world!! Carbs make you feel bad! They make you retain water and for CHF that's not good either.

It's the CARBS! It's the veg. oils getting oxidized. Not the animal fats!!

The independent scientists know this...their papers are published and out there for you to read. They are dry and boring...and they take time to learn and understand...but they are there for the reading! I read them...lots of them!!

It saved my DH ... my best friend, fishing buddy, and lover! I got him back!! He hated switching from Pepsi to Dite Rite (no aspertame) now he likes them, but he got over his addiction to Pepsies...the sugar.

" Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening, Sugar at supper time!"

luvbeinganurse · Dec 2, 2002

smag16, could you please explain this a little more? Thanks.

"Very strong antioxidants are the key to this entire problem."

(Inquiring minds want to know, ha!) :)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2002

Wow smag16 what a great story! Are all people alike? Is high carb a killer regardless? Or are different bodies different.

I have never been overweight (a few pounds maybe, but basically lean most of my life), have eaten primarily vegetarian the last ten years. I am not low fat, but eat veggie oils and scant animal fat. I eat scant white flour or sweets. My labs look flawless. Am I doomed? I'm encouraged by Dr. Ornish, whose proved scientifically that one could reverse coronary artery disease with low fat vegetarian food. (But his diet is way to low fat for me, plus I don't have CAD that I know of).

I have seen some very unhealthy low fat diets (i.e. I can eat low fat chips, fat free cookies and brownies, etc.)

But you have proved, one can reverse heart disease without regard to fat, but low carb.

I know that sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening is bad. So is white anything, but still confused. sigh.

smag16 · Dec 2, 2002

I wrote it.. you reason it out! Read..do some research.. you're smart..you can do it.

BHT is a very strong antioxidant. Research ...read all you can on it...also learn the pathways through the liver.

Here are just a few research sites that are good...

http://highwire.stanford.edu/ http://www.gsdl.com/ http://www.bioscience.org/

Try Northernlight search engine.

Once you get one paper, read the references used in its basis and call those up. A great site is Harrison's Principals of Internal Medicine, chapter 247 which explains atherogenesis.

Also try National Library of Medicine, Medline, Pubmed, and individual universities.

Some of the papers have to be bought, but if your hospital subscribes to them or your doc will allow you to have his/her pass word if he subscribes, you are on your way to knowledge!

Don't take my word for any of this!! Read and study for yourself!

As my research progressed and I learned so much, I could no longer continue in my profession as an RN for moral reasons...how could I give a patient statins or serve them a low fat diet knowing what I knew it would do to them.

As for lipid numbers, the doc's cannot know what the right levels are when they don't know what causes atherosclerosis. The average doc' says that cholesterol is sticky and, if it gets high, it just sticks to the walls. All they know is that: as the levels rise, vascular disease rises; that plaque contains cholesterol, which must then be the cause.

A good question to ask is, why do newborns have "fatty streaks" (precursor condition to aortic plaque), in their aortas. He'll be dumbfounded. (Ref: Harrison's on Line) The newborn does not have high cholesterol, but it seems we condition them for heart disease. How does this happen thru the placental barrier? The answer is, "what does momma eat?". All this means that the "EXPERTS" chart a line showing lipids vs cardiovascular disease, and when they see an upward bend, that's the point where it's bad, and less is better.....Great science!!! More like witchcraft.

By th' way, soy is so full of estrogens that they will drop your testosterone levels big time! Also know that if a man's cholesterol isn't high enough that he can't make testosterone (along with many other endocrine hormones)....read about it!!

Like I said ...Don't take my word for it.

Draw your own conclusions from what you study in molecular biolobgy and chemistry...study anthropology, archeology. Pay particular attention to the condition of the teeth and bones..what did folks used to die from?

Ask yourself questions and answer them...

Things like ...when did sugar come into high usage?

What was the sweetener before that?

When did big amounts of grains become part of the diet for those people? WHY?

What did Daniel Boone eat? Why? Where was he most of the time? How long did he live?

When was veg. oil invented? What was the first veg. oil?

From what did folks die before it was invented? Why?

See what I am trying to get you to do? Studying algebra is good for your brain... it trains you to think.. to reason!! Think outside the box for a while!

Blessings!!!