Lowcarbezine! 24 October 2002
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Hey, Gang -
Here it is! I know it's a little late; it's not the first time - and while I'm promoting 500 Low Carb
Recipes, I'm not promising it won't be late again. So far I've done a radio interview - lots of fun! -
and a book signing at Sahara Mart, the local grocery I've mentioned as my best source for low carb
specialty products. If you're in the area - Bloomington, Indiana - they have autographed copies on
hand. I'm doing another book signing tonight, this one at Howard's bookstore, also in Bloomington -
but I doubt any of you will get this in time to make it. :-(
However, any public appearances or media events that I know about far enough in advance, I'll
announce here in the ezine. I'll tell you now that it looks like I'll be making some appearances in the
South - maybe Nashville, Mobile, or Birmingham - the week before Thanksgiving. Hopefully the
schedule will be firmed up in time for me to let you all know!
In the meanwhile, here's the 'zine. Read on!
Dana
All contents © Copyright 2002 Hold the Toast Press. All commercial reproduction is expressly
prohibited. If you think your friends will enjoy Lowcarbezine!, please forward them the WHOLE
ISSUE. Please, do not post articles or recipes elsewhere on the internet without permission. My
attorney tells me that I'll have to come scold you and tell you to cut it out if you do.
A lot of people have inquired about advertising. We are pleased to introduce our new
Marketing and Advertising Director, Brian Lattimer! Advertising inquiries may be directed to
advertising@holdthetoast.com
Facing the Holidays, or A Good Offense is the Best Defense!
I trust that all of you who celebrate Halloween have taken my advice (yeah, everybody takes my
advice, that'll be the day!) and made moves to defend yourself from the onslaught of candy that is
rapidly approaching. So let's look a little further down the road, shall we, and see if we can figure out
how to reach the New Year with our figures and our health intact.
- First of all, and most importantly, get it through your head that there is a huge difference
between having an Indulgence for Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas Dinner, your family's
Hanukkah celebration, Yuletide, the last night of Kwanzaa, an Eid feast, or whatever
celebration your tradition dictates, and deciding that "It's the holiday season!," and that you
therefore have license to wolf down every cookie, fruit cake, candy cane, chocolate Santa, or
glass of eggnog that appears before you between now and January 2nd. It is easy to deal with
damage control for one meal's worth of Indulgence, or even a day's worth. It is a whole
'nother thing to spend six solid weeks glutting yourself on junk. Don't do it!
- If you work in an office where temptation lurks in the break room, in the form of cookies,
candy, and other holiday treats brought in by co-workers, arm yourself. Bring low carb treats
to work! Sugar free chocolate bars, or other sugar free candy, home made sugar free cookies
or muffins - whatever it takes for you not to feel sorry for yourself.
- Remember that one taste can hurt, just the way one drink can hurt for an alcoholic. Best to
just steer clear of the sugary, starchy junk. Because if you're like me, one cookie is enough to
start the blood sugar roller coaster, and an hour and a half later you'll be tired and cranky - and
hungry and craving - and there will still be more cookies in the break room.
- When you're going to all the parties that will be happening in the next couple of months, take
something with you if at all possible. Wings. Stuffed eggs. A great, low carb dip and a
platter of veggies. Nut-and-seed mix. Stuffed mushrooms. Obviously, if it's a fancy, sit down
dinner you won't be able to do this. But at less formal parties, just say to the host or hostess,
"Gee, I'd love to bring something!" - and do. That way you're certain to have something
available to eat that you like, and that won't torpedo your diet. Of course, if it's your party
you'll serve this sort of stuff as a matter of course.
- You'll also want to be sure that there's something for you to drink. Dry wines are fine for us,
in moderation - about 2 - 4 grams per glass. A few of the light beers are also low carb enough
for us - Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite, Milwaukee's Best Light, and Amstel Light are about the
lowest carb beers around. Hard liquor is generally carb-free, but be wary of the mixers - even
tonic water is loaded with sugar. And of course, all the "alcho-pops" - hard lemonade, wine
coolers, etc - are right out. When in doubt, take wine or beer to share along with you - this is
standard practice among my circle of friends anyway.
- Of course, you don't have to drink alcohol if you don't want to, and I can tell you at least two
good reasons to abstain: One, alcohol "profoundly inhibits lipolysis" - it slows fat burning like
nobody's business. And two, it's likely to make you more susceptible to temptation. I know
that most of my potato chip indulgences - and potato chips are my kryptonite - also involve
alcohol. Both of these points being made, I admit that I drink, so I can hardly scold you if you
do! Just be aware of the drawbacks.
- It's never a bad idea to have a protein snack before a party, especially if you're not bringing
food for some reason. It's the best way to shore up your resolve.
- If you're faced with a formal dinner party where the low carb choices are slim, just do the
best you can - eat plenty of salad and low carb vegetables, play with the noodles or potatoes
or whatever to distract others from noticing you're not actually eating them, pick the protein out
from between the carbs, that sort of thing. Hopefully you've had that protein snack in advance.
Afraid you'll be seen as rude? The etiquette writers are clear that what is rude is eagle-eying
what others eat - or don't eat.
- You could also switch over to a Carbohydrate Addict's-style mini-binge diet for one day if you
know you have a dinner party that night. Then you may eat whatever is served with a clear
conscience. If you generally eat a Basic Low Carb Diet - Atkins or Protein Power style - you
may want to cut back to Induction levels of carb intake for a couple of days afterward, to
compensate.
- Start thinking about the actual holidays now - whether you want to decarb your menu, or
have a flat-out Indulgence Day and eat your family's traditional menu. If you do decide to
Indulge, give some serious thought to which of the carb foods that will be served are truly
favorites of yours, and which you've eaten all these years out of habit. For instance, if I decide
to Indulge at my Mom's Thanksgiving dinner, I'm faced with stuffing, mashed potatoes, flour-thickened gravy, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, onions in a flour-thickened cream
sauce, homemade bread, and apple pie. Of course, I'll load up on turkey and the low carb
vegetables, particularly beans almondine. But how about the carb foods? I adore stuffing, so
I'll have a full sized portion. I like mashed potatoes, but not as much as stuffing, so I'll
probably only have a half-portion. I couldn't care less about candied sweet potatoes or
creamed onions, so why bother? I won't have them at all. I'll have a little cranberry, and I'll
put some gravy on my dinner, but not vast pools of it. And I will, most likely, have a small slice
of pie - by the time dessert rolls around, I'll be full anyway! You see how the thought process
works: Decide how much pleasure each particular carb food will bring you, and gauge your
portions accordingly. Even at an Indulgence meal, never eat a carb food that isn't exactly
what you want.
- If you'd rather decarb your holiday menus - and that's mostly what I do, anymore - we'll be
talking about ways to do that over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
$10 OFF On Your Order Of $100 Or More - at Carb Smart!
That's 10% - pretty sweet! But it gets even better. Because every bit of our huge selection of
low carb products - from protein powder to tortillas, from cookbooks to candy, is discounted
already! You can't afford not to CHECK IT OUT!
Plus, we have Dana Carpender's How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds! for
just $9.99!
While you're at the site, read our recipes, interviews, and low carb success stories, too!
If you're low carb and smart, you'll shop Carb Smart!
http://www.webbalah.net/carbsmart.html
They're Here! They're FINALLY Here!
Remember those support and discussion lists I promised you over a year ago, when Lowcarbezine!
went from a weekly to a biweekly format? Well, they're finally ready to go. We've got lists for Basic
Low Carb dieters - Atkins, Protein Power, and other ketogenic-style diets - Carbohydrate Addict's
style Mini-Binge dieters, Zone-style 30-40-30 dieters, Vegetarian low carbers, folks who are eating
glycemic index based diets, folks who are low carbing to control their diabetes or polycystic ovarian
syndrome, folks who are watching both carbs and calories, and of course, the list everyone begged for,
the low carb recipe exchange!
All of the lists are free to anyone with an email account! Keep in mind that they will increase your email
traffic, perhaps considerably - if you're not supposed to get personal email at work, you'll want to use
your home address. But we hope they'll serve as a great support and informational network for
everyone!
To get the details and sign up - you may join as many lists as interest you - just go to
http://www.holdthetoast.com/listsurvey.html
All the details are there!
Quote of the Day
"We tend to accept compromises which are not compulsory. For instance, the medical definition of
good health is the absence of disease. And that definition is flexible enough so that an insurance
company will accept you as healthy if you have nothing more than a little sinus trouble with postnasal
drip, six colds per year, indigestion, heartburn, flatulence, constipation, dry hair, a couple of allergies
(so long as they don't give you asthma), decayed teeth, periodontal disease, irritability, fatigability,
insomnia, and difficulty in concentrating. Which means that the popular definition of health is any state
of well-being that allows you to walk on the street without falling flat on your face - if the wind is
blowing in the right direction." - Dr. Carlton Fredericks, Dr. Carlton Fredericks' New and Complete
Nutrition Handbook: Your Key to Good Health
Dr. Fredericks is a hero of mine; he wrote in the middle of the Twentieth Century, and yet I find much
of his stuff is still cutting-edge. As for this great quote, I see this attitude all the time, don't you? I
vividly remember chatting with a gentleman from my husband's lodge, who asserted he was in pretty
darned good health - you know, except for the fact that he was a good seventy pounds overweight,
diabetic, asthmatic, and had undergone a bypass operation the year before...
I prefer instead another definition of health, this one from Funk and Wagnall's Dictionary: "...an optimal
state of functioning of the organism - never achieved."
Well, maybe not, but it's always good to have something to shoot for!
The Reviews Are Coming In!
I've started getting reader feedback about 500 Low-Carb Recipes. Here's what one reader had to
say:
Love this book! Even though I own several low carb cookbooks, I can tell this one will be one of my
two favorites (the other is Jennifer Eloff's 'Splendid Low-Carbing'). It is at a bargain price at Amazon
right now, too.
I knew there would be 500 recipes, but didn't expect such a large cookbook. The variety is great!
Although I am not a big bread eater, after three years of low-carbing I have missed an occasional piece
of toast. Lots of low-carb loaves have been tossed to the dog, who didn't care much for
them, either. The loaf of oatmeal molasses bread that I made from this book is a winner!
Thanks for a terrific book.
Jenita (Missouri)
Thank you, Jenita. That oatmeal molasses bread is my decarbed version of the bread that won my
mother first prize at every fair she entered it in! So glad you like the book! (Now try the chocolate
chip cookies!)
To order 500 Low-Carb Recipes from Amazon:
United States: Amazon.com
Canada: Amazon.ca
And to order How I Gave Up My LowFat Diet - and Lost Forty Pounds:
United States: Amazon.Com
Canada: Amazon.Ca
Vitamins 101
Continuing right along, it's time for us to talk about vitamin B5. You may not have heard of B5,
because it's rarely called B5 - it generally goes by the name pantothenic acid or panthenol. If you
think you recognize that latter name from your shampoo label, you're right. Panthenol is often added to
shampoo, although I confess that I don't know what it's supposed to do for your hair. So let's talk
about what panthenol can do for your body, instead.
Here are some good things to know about panthenol, or B5:
- Like the rest of the B vitamin complex, panthenol is water soluble, so it's hard to overdose.
- The RDA of panthenol is 10 mgs. a day for adults. However, doses of up to a gram (1000
mgs.) have been used without problems - there are no known toxic effects. Still, like all the B
vitamins, it's important to get panthenol with the rest of the B complex.
- Pantothenic acid is essential for the proper functioning of the adrenal glands. For this reason,
making sure that you're getting enough panthenol is a good way to arm your body against
stress. It's also important to help you cope with allergies, and to help you to deal with shock
and wound healing.
- Because of its effect on the adrenal glands, pantothenic acid is important for fighting
hypoglycemia. You see, adrenal hormones are needed to access fat for fuel. If you don't have
enough, you're glucose-dependant, and more likely to have blood sugar crashes.
- Your body can't use either fat or sugar for fuel without panthenol, so if you don't have enough,
you're going to be tired.
- In order to make antibodies to fight disease, your body needs enough panthenol.
- If you have enough healthy bacteria in your gut - the kind that come from yogurt and buttermilk
- they'll actually make some panthenol for you. Pretty cool to have your own personal vitamin
factory, huh? For those of you who aren't aware: In The GO-Diet, Dr. Jack Goldberg states
that despite the 12 grams of carb per cup listed on the label of plain yogurt and cultured
buttermilk, most of that lactose (milk sugar) has actually been converted to lactic acid by the
bacteria, giving these foods their characteristic tangy taste. He says to count only 4 grams per
cup. Remember, though, the sweetened kind is far higher! Sweeten your own yogurt with
Splenda, stevia, or maybe best of all, stevia/FOS blend. (I think The GO-Diet is very much
worth reading. It's an approach to low carbing that emphasizes monounsaturated fats and
cultured dairy products. Especially if you're one of the minority who has seen an increase in
their cholesterol since going low carb, I'd recommend reading this book.
- Heat can destroy pantothenic acid, so cooking at high temperatures or for a long time will result
in lower levels of the vitamin.
- You need more panthenol if you drink a lot, consume a lot of caffeine, or take estrogen,
sleeping pills, or sulfa drugs.
- Some people find that hefty doses of pantothenic acid - in the 1000 mgs. per day range - help
with arthritis, presumably because of its beneficial effect on the adrenal glands.
- The best low carb sources of panthenol are meat, especially organ meats like liver, kidney, and
heart; chicken, nuts, and green vegetables.
Shameless Self Promotion
I don't know about your public library, but mine has a policy of purchasing virtually any book
requested by a patron. Don't you think your public library needs a copy of 500 Low-Carb Recipes?
And maybe even a copy of How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds? And just
think, you'll get to read them for free! (Of course, I'm figuring that having borrowed them from the
library, you'll love them so much you'll want to buy your very own copies to keep. Clearly my ego
hasn't lost any weight...)
Low Carb Christmas Shopping!
It's almost November! For many of us, that means it's time to start shopping in earnest. Do you have
any low carb dieters on your list? For the next few issues, I'll be suggesting possible gifts for the low
carber. Who knows? If you drop enough hints, some of these might end up under your tree.
- You knew I was going to suggest it, so I may as well get it over with: my new cookbook, 500
Low-Carb Recipes, would make a great Christmas gift for any low carber on your list.
However, do not give anyone my first book, How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost
Forty Pounds!, unless they've begged you for it repeatedly. It's one thing to give someone a
present that says, "I support your efforts to diet and improve your health." It's quite another to
give someone a present that says, "You're looking mighty pudgy these days - do something
about yourself!" Not in the Christmas spirit!
- There are other good low carb cookbooks out there, of course! Diana Lee, of Baking Low
Carb and Bread and Breakfast: Baking Low Carb II, has a new book out called Low Carb
Ice Cream, Drinks, and Desserts: Baking Low Carb III. I have a copy of this, although I
haven't tried the recipes yet; look for a review in the near future. In the meanwhile, I can tell
you that I've never tried a recipe from one of Di's books that I didn't like!
- Just because your recipient is on a low carb diet doesn't mean you can't give a gift of food!
How about baking a loaf of bread or a batch of cookies from one of the books above?
- If you're more the grab-a-credit-card-and-the-phone-and-get-the-shopping-done type, you
can still shop for a low carber! One of my most appreciated Christmas gifts came from my
Aunt Cat and Uncle Bill, who live in Vermont - they sent a big block of extra sharp Vermont
Cheddar, and a hardwood cheeseboard shaped like the state of Vermont, from the Vermont
Life catalogue. Check out all those food catalogues appearing in your mailbox. In between the
candy, the fancy cakes, and the cookies, you'll find mixed nuts, whole smoked turkeys and
hams, fine cheeses, even filets mignon and smoked salmon - all gifts that a low carber will
appreciate!
- You can also check out the gift baskets at Carb Smart; they do a really nice job with these.
http://www.webbalah.net/carbsmart.html Check it out - they have a wonderful variety!
- Have a low carb fashion maven on your list who simply is never going to be rail-slim? How
about a subscription to Grace magazine? The successor to the late, much-lamented Mode,
Grace is a slick, glossy, high fashion magazine for women size 12 and up. And very cheering it
is, too, to see all those not-skinny models looking fabulous in wonderful clothes! Check out
http://www.gracestyle.com for subscription info.
More suggestions in future issues!
Cooking Low Carb!
This was one of those recipes you just come up with out of what's in the house at the time - and it
turned out so well, I'd be willing to go buy the ingredients to make it!
Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can tomatoes with green chilies, divided
1 egg
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup pork rind crumbs
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt or Vegesal
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 big, nicely shaped green peppers
In a large bowl combine the ground beef, onion, garlic, ½ cup of the tomatoes with chilies, the egg, half
and half, pork rind crumbs, and seasonings. Using clean hands, combine very well. Cut your peppers
in half from top to bottom, and scoop out the seeds and core. Form the meat mixture into 6 equal balls,
and press each into a pepper half, mashing it down a little to fill the peppers. Arrange peppers in a
baking pan as you stuff them. Spoon the remaining tomatoes over the top, and bake at 350 for 75 - 90
minutes. This makes 6 servings from 1 pound of ground beef, which is pretty impressive! Filling, too.
Each serving has 9 grams of carbohydrate, with 2 grams of fiber, for a usable carb total of 7 grams. 52
grams of protein.
That's it for this issue! See you next issue!
Dana
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To request a full-text version of this issue by e-mail, just send a message to:
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