Support and ideas for those on low-carb diet

May I join you too?
It was browsing through this thread that got me started and so far I'm very happy with my change of eating habits - I will not use the word 'dieting'!!

Just reviving the thread to welcome Wilma!

And breakfast cereal indeed.

And breakfast cereals.

Sorry - very interesting article. I did rather think that may be the case. I know sugar was pushed hugely by the big corporations.

DBH is now fully converted to eating fewer carbs, as he is not able to exercise as much while he is at home. He eats as much as he used to, just not bread, rice or pasta, and has been astonished to see that he can maintain his weight at where he needs it to be. We do eat carby veg more often now that it is getting colder, more beans and lentils etc.

Last night we had gammon steaks topped with a cheesy spinach nest, with a poached egg popped in it. Tonight we are having a Sicilian spicy lentil sauce but on courgetti rather than spaghetti.

We both feel much healthier, and were surprised by how faintly sick we felt when out for my birthday lunch last weekend. My sister and family were all tucking into HUGE plates of roast beef with giant Yorkshires and lots of roasted potatoes, parsnips and whole big carrots! We on the other hand, all chose mullet with prawn sauce and pureed veg, served with lightly steamed courgette, French beans and mangetouts. We have become lightweights. However, I thought afterwards, at least we ate it all so there was no waste. I doubt we could have managed the platefuls they were consuming.

Certainly there needs to be some clarification about the role of cholesterol. We have been really amazed about how cholesterol levels have dropped on low carb, moderate fat.
Zoe Harcombe had some interesting things to say about it recently.
www.zoeharcombe.com/2015/10/national-cholesterol-month/

Perhaps even more interesting than the 'ins and outs' of low carbing- is the fact that a huge % of research is funded by the big food corps- which, when you analise who owns who- is about a dozen, which is quite scary. A friend posted a diagram on my FB some time ago, that illustrated that so well. And these few have a massive power over the Government and decision making- and again and again, manage to hide, distort or divert information. Remember when the findings of the 'red meat' report and then the sugar the Black report, in the 80s, from top of head) were just smothered? Had they been taken seriously then, we might not be facing the massive diabetes and cholesterol epidemics we do now. But then the big pharmas wouldn't be able to make so much money peddling medicines- hey ho.

Read your link with interest Mamie - as we know Dr Unwin I always follow his research with interest and he's my SiL and BiL's GP.

It makes so much sense that I can't believe the slow uptake, except of course as GJ mentions, those with vested interests. Or perhaps those who think this is Atkins - which it is not.

My carbs come from fruit, usually berries, (only for breakfast) and those contained naturally in vegetables (though we don't count potatoes as vegetables, they're on our high carb list). Initially we stuck to low carb veg, mainly brassicas, onions and salads, etc.. but now we include a full range, even root vegetables like carrots, beetroot and those sweeter vegetables such as tomatoes, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes and even occasionally peas. On the odd occasion we do have potatoes, but not pasta, or rice, or bread.

I have a glass of wine or two if I am out, or we have guests, and if someone has gone to the effort of cooking us a meal, or basking a cake, we will eat whatever they put in front of us with pleasure and return to our own régime when we can.

Thanks GJ, I had seen that one as I follow Dr Aseem Malhotra on Twitter. The article that Anya linked to about the GP Dr David Unwin and the work done in his practice was fascinating and I found this one interesting too.
healthinsightuk.org/2015/09/29/time-for-diabetes-uk-to-unplug-ears-and-respond-to-chorus-of-disapproval-demanding-u-turn/
We are still enjoying the way of eating and have added in very small portions of carbs a couple of times a week so that we maintain the same weight now. I couldn't quite persuade my doctor to take me off the BP tablets completely but I am now down to half of one tablet to see what happens over the next three months!
I absolutely agree about the need for full disclosure of conflicts of interest in studies.

Just read a really interesting article in the September BMJ Mamie, so thought I'd share. If you'd like a copy of the full article, I could get DH to scan and send to you.

Title is: How dietary guidelines are out of step with science.

Which basicall says that those guidelines are produced with little scientific evidence back up, and with scientific evidence existing, as per low carb diets, deliberately ignored. Why, obviously because of conflict of interests and research being funded by big food producers. What a surprise!

Quote from the article:

Low carbohydrate diets

Another important topic that was insufficiently reviewed is the efficacy of low carb diets (...) no systematic review of the literature from past 5 years. The report says this was because, after conducting 'exploratory searches' (for which NO detail is provided) of the literture since 2000, the committee could find 'only limited evidence on low carb diets and health, particulalry derived from US based populations.

(...) yet many studies of carb restriction have been published in peer review journals since 2000, nearly all of which were on US populations. These include nine pilot studies, 11 case studies, 19 observational studies, and at least 74 randomised controlles trials, 32 of which lasted 6 months or over. End of quote.

So why? The article concludes:

It may be time to ask our authorities to conven an unbiased and balanced panel of scientists to undertake a comprehensive review, in order that the dietary guidelines are more transparent, with better disclosure of the conflict of interest, and that the rigorous scientific evidence is reliably used to rpoduce the best possible nutrition policy.

Nina Teicholz

and I personally add and insist on NOT LINKED AND FUNDED BY BY FOOD CORPORATIONS.

Fabulous, I love lobster.
We are on our way home from hols so it will be steak and salad in a Courtepaille.
Did quite well with food on hols, my chickpea biscuits were good for filling a little hole after a vigorous swim in the (rather cold) Mediterranean.

Great low carb choice here for breakfast. Fresh apricots (yes know they've got sugars but nearly always have fruit in morning - but no other time) and cream. Then a lovely selection of 'cold cuts' and a recent decent cup of coffee.
Going to try the local lobsters at lunchtime

I'd quite like that!

The farinata looks great JR. Will try that.
We have just arrived in the south for our hols, had a dip in the Med and followed it with my chickpea flour biscuits and cheese for lunch.
Last night we ate in a chain hotel (really cheap) restaurant and had beef brochettes with courgette gratin and ratatouille (bit deja vue lately but still). The waitress noticed we hadn't eaten the potato or bread and when we explained why she made us a special dessert plate of cheese, green salad and prunes.

thanks janerowena - have checked out your recipe but alas it's not the one I'm after. I had never thought of putting apples in ratatouille - must have a go too.

I don't have it, sadly, but I use gram flour a lot, for a sort of flatbread with herbs, mainly, and in place of a proportion of GF flour to give it some colour. The bread I make is called farinata, does that sound familiar?

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/15905/farinata.aspx

I wouldn't use the rosemary in such quantity unless you really like it, but what made me think of it is that I know this bread is also made with various seeds in other parts of the world. Definitely best eaten fresh, but it freezes well. I'm quite intrigued as to the Jamie recipe now!

We are still eating our way through the spaghetti squashes Anya and tonight I tried a different method. I didn't use any water in the pan when I roasted them, and I roasted them for an hour and a half. There was far less water, but some discoloration where they had caught a little. It didn't affect the flavour though, no burnt taste. There seemed to be less squash though. I shall try no water for one and a quarter hours next time.

Tomorrow we will have red cabbage and apple baked with pork chops on top. You know it's going to be winter soon when you start making recipes like that and the lettuce doesn't get picked as often.

I have been putting a few windfall apples in the ratatouille (I make ten pints at a time) - it's wonderful, it gives it a real depth. I wish I had thought of it before.

Am trying to go wheat free for a while and found an interesting recipe from Jamie Oliver using gram flour and lots of seeds I think, in the Sunday Times magazine of 23rd August. I tore out the recipe, and have only just managed to buy the gram flour. Now ………. I can't find the recipe! Any chance any one still has that magazine please? If so, could you maybe pm me, or maybe put the recipe on this thread. I think it was for a kind of bread, but may have been more of a tray bake, like flap jacks.

I had never heard of gram flour, but am keen to experiment. I feel SO much better not eating wheat and carbs; more energy, less arthritic pain, sleep so much better.

Stuffed bakes courgettes tonight - I bake the courgettes first so that I don't get wet and watery and still crunchy cases for the fillings. DBH started to complain that he would never eat such a huge meal, until I reminded him that there were no carbs whatsoever in it, then he finished the lot. It really wasn't all that big, I had just put them on smaller plates!

I made courgette and rocket soup - delicious, with chicken stock and a little yoghourt, but as DBH said looking slightly concerned, before he tasted it, 'I think Shrek would like it'.

They did like it but I was left to finish off the remnants for my lunch. As we had a couple of tbsps. of spaghetti squash left, I added it to the soup. I was just taking my first mouthful when DBH walked in.

'You do know you have just created every child's fantasy for Halloween, don't you? Snot soup!'

Thanks Jane I can see where I went wrong - no draining or reheating. My microwave blew up a couple of months ago with a spectacular flash and bang and a nasty burning smell and I haven't bothered to replace it yet, so the oven sounds good to me.

I'll try again tonight. I have to get this right as we're inundated with lovely big spaghetti squashes! We've interplanted them between the sweet corn and that seems to work for both.

Use when at least 6" long, preferable more. Two large 8 or 9" ones do three of us easily.

Prepare well in advance. Cut right down through from top to bottom, remove seeds from centre (but really they are actually quite nice if some are left in) place on a baking sheet with a little water added, it sort of steams it a bit. Bake for roughly 45mins at perhaps 180C - a bit imprecise I am afraid. Remove, leave to cool a little, then take a fork and, holding a half in one hand (they should be a bit floppy) make downwards strokes with the fork, the flesh will come away in narrow spaghettini-type strips. When you can't get any more out with the fork, use a spoon to scoop out the remaining fibres.

Drain it well for quite a while. I mix in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, then reheat - I use a microwave, maybe steaming it you don't use one. Althugh I think I have heated it in an oven before now. It's slightly sweet, lovely.

It really does need the draining and reheating, then even maybe a bit more draining. Maybe the reheated in the oven method would suit you more, as it would dry it out a bit, just make sure you add a little oil first.

My rare treat is a small vanilla ice cream or a bowl of porridge with Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.

I tried eating scones on a day out just over a year ago and spent the rest of the afternoon crippled with stomach cramps. I haven't dared touch them since.

I haven't grown spaghetti squash for a few years but I'm sure they were OK baked in the oven. It was a long time ago though.

I'll PM her Mamie

Your point about occasional treats is very valid. Next Wednesday I'm taking GS1 out for his 9th birthday treat - home made scones, with clotted cream and jam. That's what he's asked for.

There a lovely cafe in Moreton in Marsh that make delicious ones, so we'll keep him company and have one too.

Actually it's about the only thing I can bake with any success but I've thrown most of my flour out, and anyway it's a day out in the Cotswolds. .