Low-Carb Cooking Tips
Tuesday June 17, 2008
With almost any change we make to improve our diets, many of us bump up against the fact that it usually requires more food preparation. To some, it can turn into a relaxing hobby, but when you have to get a meal on the table at the end of the day, it might not feel that way! I have lots of tips for easy low-carb cooking, much of which can be done ahead of time. Check out these Low-Carb Cooking Tips.
Photo © Karen Struthers
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Comments
I’m curious why you would try and convince people that low carb diets are healthy? I’m sure you know just about everything I could tell you about how the body burns carbs. Why are you still spreading this propaganda?
Hi, Eric -
I’m happy to satisfy your curiosity. This whole site is devoted to helping people who’s bodies don’t process sugars well. Your body may deal with loads of carbs just fine, but for others of us, it causes everything from high triglyerides to high blood pressure, to the more obvious one: high blood glucose. (Remember that all carbohydrates turn to sugars in our bodies.)
Do we NEED lots of carbs to be healthy? We certainly do not. Strictly speaking (and unlike proteins and fats) we don’t require ANY dietary carbohydrate, and this is according to the National Academy of Sciences (see http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10490&page=275).
That is not to say that there isn’t any value in some foods which contain carbohydrate. You’ll see by my Low-Carb Pyramid that I recommend lots of vegetables, low-sugar fruit, nuts, and other foods which contain some carbohydrate. But there is comparatively little nutritional value in, for example, most starches, which are basically long strings of glucose.
The research on the safety of carbohydrate restriction is GROWING rather than the other way around. The more it is studied (often by people who are trying to prove it’s a bad idea), the more potential benefits are found.
Can there be an “unhealthy” low-carb diet? Of course! We can always make bad food choices, eating a lot of junk. But that’s true with low-fat/high-carb diets as well. This site is devoted to helping people regain or maintain their health by eating a healthy diet that doesn’t raise blood glucose and cause other problems.
Eric,
As a type 2 diabetic, who had high blood pressure & a bad lipid panel ( doc wanted me on statins) Low Carb is the best thing to have happened to me, lipid panel is wonderful (HDL 107) and bp is down to normal range, doc says I might be able to get off the meds. And my diabetes is under control, last 4 A1C’s were 5.3
Gracie
Erik,
As another type 2 diabetic, I can tell you that not only is a low carb diet healthy, it is the ONLY way I can eat and control my diabetes. I have been eating low carb for over 5 years and now have my weight, lipid levels, and blood sugar in normal, nondiabetic ranges due entirely to eating low carb (not meds).
Have you heard of Gary Taubes’ book, “Good Calories, Bad Calories?” If you want to know the science behind eating low carb, read it thoroughly. You’ll be amazed at the difference between the truth and what we hear from the media and many “health professionals!”
If you really want to know what Laura’s site has done for people, come on over to the forum and see! She doesn’t need to convince us of anything; we are living proof that a low carb lifestyle is healthy!
Hi Erik! I just want to support what the diabetic people shared. I am a health care professional who works with two MDs (one is a cardiologist) and our purpose is to reverse chronic degenerative diseases. Our goal is to heal people with nutrition, exercise and If stress-management. We have seen over 300 clients and the most remarkable health improvements we see are in our insulin resistant and type 2 diabetics.
If someone has a high triglyceride level it can be significantly reveresed within 2 months! Triglycerides and Non-HDL lipoproteins are the greatest risk factors for coronary artery disease. Both can be reversed by a simple change in diet, even without exercise and stress-management!
Our basic diet consists of 75% fibrous vegetables and 25% protein. Of course, with protein we get fat, we are not fat-phobic and encourage consuming WHOLE foods including dairy. The foods that are eliminated are sugars, starches, grains, pasta, rice, cereals, breads and alcohol. The more refined a food, the greater the need to avoid eating it.
Hi Erik,
I am not a diabetic like others here but routine blood work showed I had slightly elevated blood sugar and cholesterol. As an experiment, I ate low carb. Six months later I had completely normal blood work.
I thought sure eating eggs every day would raise my cholesterol. I was as surprised as anyone to find out it actually was lowered.
Don’t always believe what you read. Try for yourself and see.
Kari