For the sake of argument, let's say that a granola bar by itself is "wholesome." Is it still wholesome after you dip it in fudge? Traditional fudge is made with sugar, milk and butter. I don't see butter and milk listed in the ingredients of the Keebler Granola Fudge Bars, but among the listed ingredients are sugar, brown sugar syrup, corn syrup, and hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils. If the granola bars are truly wholesome to start with, as Keebler claims in its ad … [Read more...]
Junk food smack-down: pork rinds vs. potato chips
Pork rinds (also called pork skins or chicharrones) are another food I never ate before going low-carb. I considered including them in my "Great foods" series, but decided they aren't in the same nutritional class as foods like almonds, avocados and salmon. Still, pork rinds do fill a need many low-carbers have for a crunchy, salty snack that isn't a nut. Pork rinds are a specialty item in comparison to potato chips. The local market where I do most of my shopping carries two brands of … [Read more...]
Great foods for a low-carb diet (part 2): seeds
Maybe it's a stretch to call seeds "great food." Also, a reader new to low-carbing might get the impression that low-carb is a diet for the birds. That impression would be wrong unless we're talking about birds of prey! Seeds are at least a useful food, packing plenty of nutrition into a tiny space, and I have added a couple of seed products to my diet since going low-carb: sunflower kernels and flax seed meal. As you can see from the above, neither photographs well. Roasted sunflower … [Read more...]
Great foods for a low-carb diet (part 1): almonds, avocados, macadamias
If you're like me (which you probably aren't, but let's pretend), you may find your food tastes expanding as you adapt to a low carb way of eating. Over the last few months, I have added several foods to my dietary repertoire, and I have eaten more of some other great foods than I ever did in the past. In general, I eat more whole foods now than processed/ packaged foods. Nuts, seeds, berries and fish are classes of foods that I always liked, but eat significantly more of on my low-carb … [Read more...]
Mind-sets
I call this site "Life after Carbs" because, of course, there were carbs in my diet at one time -- bucket-loads of carbs, for years on end -- and I'm sure that's true for everyone reading this. In our culture, and in the vast majority of cultures around the world, you don't start out eating a low-carb diet. Even the Inuit have flour and sugar, and diabetes and heart-disease. Like most Americans of my generation, I once believed that carbs were my friend and that saturated fat was my enemy. … [Read more...]