Naturally Low-Carbing
Recently Jimmy posted a piece about another blogger, Duncan Margetts, who blogs about dieting and wrote specifically about all the low-carb processed foods that for a while were really flooding the shelves only to be taken off a little later.
This is one of the subjects that I think distinguishes Atkins from the plan that I'm on, Protein Power. I do think that Atkins and Atkins followers like Jimmy rightfully warn against eating too many of these highly processed carb-imitation foods. Protein Power really emphasizes eating a diet that is close to what is hypothesized as what our ancestors ate tens and hundreds of thousands of years ago. It does not say you can't eat such things as protein bars or that you can only eat organic produce, wild game, etc., but it does suggest that there are different "approaches" to eating within a low-carb plan and that you should pick the one that will work best for you, while also suggesting that the optimal diet (a diet even the authors admit they don't adhere to themselves for the most part) is one that has no processed foods, only organic produce, wild fish, wild game and/or grass-fed/free-range meat and poultry. Obviously not everyone can manage a diet that is 100% natural. Often the less processed a food is, the more expensive it can be, so this becomes a factor. Convenience is another factor, and taste certainly is yet another.
I wouldn't condemn anyone for choosing to use these processed food products, but I think it's a sensitive topic because many of these products, like the low-fat ones before them, were simply market-driven concoctions based on the big upswell in perceived demand of low-carb taking off a year or two ago. For those who were unwilling to learn about low-carb, why it works, and how to do it right, these products became staples of a kind. Especially sweets with all their sugar alcahols which were initially being claimed as zero net carbs. Many people were eating these on a regular basis and having difficulty losing weight without realizing that at least some of the carbs in these sugar alcahols are absorbed by most people. They then decided that low carb "doesn't work" - for them anyway. In other words, I think the availability of these products, while they definitely help add a little veriety occasionally to those who are serious and knowledgeable about low-carbing, have done a lot of harm to low-carbing. This isn't intentional, of course. It's not necessarily all the fault of the companies that make them, as they were just trying to fulfill the perceived demand. It was rather the people who saw the headlines that low-carbing was now "ok" and a "new" phenomenon who jumped on the bandwagon without reading the books, or at least not much of them and just assuming that they could eat unlimited amounts of anything that said "low-carb" on it.
The fact is that Duncan, while being a bit hyperbolic, does have a good point when he compares low-carb dieters eating a lot of these products like a heroine addict getting methadone treatments. I think we can all agree that for many people sugar can be an addictive substance. When you try to fool the body into believing its eating sugar, whether that's with a sugar substitute like Splenda, sugar alcohols, or even the completely natural Stevia, you are still keeping that taste for the real thing alive and well. When I started low-carbing and Splenda was not available or hard to find, I decided to just stop using any sugar OR sugar substitute in my morning coffee. While initially it was difficult to do, the lack of anything sweet woke up my taste buds to the natural sweetness in foods. Almonds started tasting sweet to me and the mixed berries that I once couldn't eat without some kind of sweetener added became sweet enough on their own. So I think for some people who are highly addicted to sweets and starches, it's probably most wise to avoid these products altoghether. Keeping a pseudo-addiction going by trying to replicate the thing you're addicted to with something that may not be as harmful isn't really dealing with the addiction, right? Then again, if you're addicted, does it matter? If you're addicted, won't you really always be addicted? I guess this is kind of the same debate over alcoholism. AA and similar approaches here in the U.S. make the point that not having any drink is the safest thing to avoid the "slippery slope" that will end in binging and backsliding. But other countries take a much less moralistic view and view alcoholism (and other addictions) as a clinical syndrome. Instead of forbidding anything they let those with this condition ration themselves a moderate amount of alcohol per week (so they can drink a half a glass or so at a meal each day, or they can save it up if they will be having a party that week). This is viewed as a condition where the person simply can't determine on their own when enough is enough, so putting strict official guidelines in terms of how much they can drink during a given period of time helps them to control this. Of course the effectiveness of either strategy will be debated for a long time and its likely that no one strategy will work for everyone. In any case, the point is that I do think that while sugar may not cause the same problems to society as do drugs and alcohol, there is a parallel here.
If I could, I would eat a 100% natural diet, but I think it's almost impossible unless you live on a farm and can personally vouch for everything. You never know what is and isn't natural, even it's labeled as such. There was an article in the New York Times recently which showed that most of the salmon being sold at various food stores in New York and labeled as "wild" were in fact farm-raised. So really you never know. I think the most important thing is to help your local farmers and ranchers be more profitable against the large factory farms. You can do this by purchasing from these smaller more natural-oriented providers whenever possible. Farmers markets are available almost everywhere and Community Sponsored Agriculture is growing.
If you are just starting a low-carb diet, of course, this is an aspect that may be a bit beyond where you are at. You may say that you want to lose your weight before doing anything else. That's fair, but I would urge people on any diet or on no diet to consider looking at this important aspect of what kind of food they are eating. You may not be able to get rid of all highly processed foods, but it's a good goal to limit them as much as possible. You have to be realistic do what will work for you, of course, but that doesn't mean that you can't make an effort to slowly reduce some of the highly-processed foods you eat and replace them with some more natural equivalents.
It is a pleasure to read a blog that is informative yet unopinionated on
the low carb life style.
Hi there Levi,
Hi Levi,
I heard about your blog through Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low-Carb blog.
Figured I'd pay you a visit. I like what I read here. As a food/diet writer
who's put his experiences on paper and into a book titled 'Diet King',I
know what food addiction is all about. It's horrendous, to say the least. I
think an addiction to sugar is the worst kind of addiction to have. Period.
Sure, heroin and cocaine may kill you faster, but it's all about time--if
you abuse your body with sugar to satisfy those monster cravings, you'll
wind up killing yourself eventually--it'll just take longer for either the
diabetes (and its complications), the heart disease, or the obesity to
destroy you. And the sad part is, (in my humble opinion, now--I'm not a
doctor or a scientist) we face sugar in many different forms every single
day, so there's really no way out of this mess. Low carb diets? Yes, sure,
they'll temporarily ameliorate the problem and perhaps if you can get past
whatever plan you've chosen's 'initial phase' or 'phase one', you'll have
escaped the sugar monster for awhile. But that's during the diet. No one
ever prepares us for maintenance. It's like looking into an abyss when
we've arrived at our 'goal weight'. And I haven't even addressed the issue
of fruit here. What are we supposed to do, avoid fruit, the anti-oxidant
darling of the media, for the rest of our lives? Some of these delicious
fruits pack a mighty sugar sweet punch that could send some of us spiraling
back to square one--especially my favorite--grapes! Am I ranting here?
Sorry if I sound that way. This problem needs to be treated just like
cigarettes and alcohol are--you had a good poing about the alcohol and
drugs, Levi--perhaps sugar needs to be treated like the dangerously
powerful substance it really is--the difference is, however, unlike alcohol
and cigarettes and hard drugs, sugar is everywhere--its cloak is its
benigness (this that a real word? I don't know, either...). You see, you
can walk into a Whole Foods Market where you'll pay double to buy clean,
fresh vegetables and meats, and wind up buying an all-natural "whole,
unprocessed sugar-cane sweetened" soda, thinking it's so much better than
the colas you get in the regular supermarkets. Hmm...what the hell have
they done to us? I fear they've wreaked havoc on the greater population of
us--it's not normal to be a slave to such sweetness and the ridiculous
cravings that abound. It's not fair to have to live life worrying about
carbohydrate intake and sugar-grams. But this is what we're faced
with--we're on our own because they've really managed to screw up the food
supply with all this sugar or its evil cousin, 'high-fructose corn syrup'.
And now the media is licking its lips in delight, declaring 'low carb is
dead'? Don't they realize this was our last hope? Or do they not want us to
get better? Do I sound like a conspiracy nut? Maybe. But it begs the
question--how did so many of us fall victim to sugar/white
flour/carbohydrate addiction, to the point where we can't even trust
ourselves with fruit, the very thing nature wants us to have?
Nice to meet you.
Adam Wilk, author, 'Diet King'
Levi, Thank you for your summary of the unadvertised problems with
sugar-addiction solutions so many are looking for. An OCCASIONAL fall off
the Protein Power wagon may be healthier in the long run than a continual
barrage of sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Protein Power (PP) is not rocket
science, but, unfortunately, so many are looking for a SIMPLE silver bullet
and will not (or cannot) try adhering to the more
complex/tougher-to-implement PP LIFESTYLE.
Well, guys, I don't know what to say! I wasn't expecting quite so many
comments so quickly on this entry, but thanks!
Hi Levi,
I have begun to give up my diet Dr. Peppers for unsweetened tea. Reading
your comments convinces me I ought to just get rid of the diet pop
altogehter. I do love honey, so perhaps this winter I will begin having
hot tea with a drop or two of honey. Sounds natural to me.
Hey Don, I don't know if they have Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods,
but they are at least cheaper than Wholefoods for a lot of things. You
could also look for organic farms in your area, as they often have deals
where you can buy lamb or beef in bulk and get it for a fairly reasonable
price.