Lowcarbezine! 18 July 2001
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Hey, Gang --
You'll notice that this is a short issue, not at all in my usual lengthy
style. There is a good reason for this -- I leave to go on vacation on
Friday morning, and I still have a frightening amount of work and
packing to get done! So you're getting one main article, an
announcement (about which we are *very* proud), and, of course,
recipes! I trust you'll find this shorter issue is still worth the
price. ;-)
Many of you have written to me in the past couple of weeks, expressing
your sympathy for the loss of my dog, Maggie. Your kindness is deeply
warming, and very much appreciated. You guys are a source of great and
constant joy to me. :-)
Read on!
Dana
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All contents copyright 2001 by Hold the Toast Press. All commercial
reproduction and/or use is expressly prohibited. As always, feel free
to forward Lowcarbezine! to any family or friends you feel might enjoy
it, provided that you forward it in its entirety.
If Lowcarbezine! has been forwarded to you and you enjoy it, you can
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UNSUBSCRIBING: Should you wish to unsubscribe, instructions for doing
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Lowcarbezine! welcomes reader input! If you have a question, a recipe,
a product review, a low carb success story, send it on in!!
mailto:dana@holdthetoast.com All submissions become the property of
Hold the Toast Press. If you don't want us to print your letter, just
let us know, and we won't! However, please note -- although I really
do read all my email my very own self, I get a *lot* of mail --
generally over 200 posts a day (not all of them about Lowcarbezine!), so
I can't promise to answer every post personally. Or I'll never get the
next book written!
We are currently restructuring our ad rates.
If you need a website designed or hosted, please check out the info on
Webbalah at the bottom of this newsletter! (Hey, *my* website looks
good, right?)
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Questions! I Get Questions!
Reader Carol McDonald asks:
My questions:
1. How many carbs can I have (in the form of whole wheat pasta, bread,
oatmeal, etc.) per day -- not per serving? These carbs basically have
much fiber, which is so important to a healthy lifestyle.
2. In your book, you state we should ALWAYS have protein with a carb.
I have also read Somers' book and feel she, too, has a good approach on
the low-carb lifestyle. However, she says you should NEVER have protein
and carbs together. (Is this just a way to keep fat out of a diet when
eating protein and carbs?)
3. If I keep carbs out of my diet, is there any circumstance under
which fat will be absorbed by my fat cells?
Thank you,
Carol McDonald
Okay, Carol, I'll take those questions one at a time.
1) I cannot tell you -- or anyone -- how many grams of carbohydrate you
should be eating in a day, or at a single meal. Degrees of carbohydrate
intolerance vary a *lot*; some people can get by with 25 or 30 grams per
meal while others have to cut back to five grams -- or even less! For
that matter, there are some lucky folks who can lose weight and improve
their health simply by eating low impact, minimally processed carbs
instead of white flour, sugar, and other patent rubbish.
However, a majority of low carbers don't eat whole wheat bread, whole
wheat pasta, or oatmeal at all; certainly Atkins and Protein Power folks
don't. Be aware that these are not the only sources of fiber. They are
not even the best sources of fiber -- vegetables are. I have *long*
urged all low carb dieters to eat plenty of low carbohydrate vegetables!
If you do want to eat some of these grain foods, you'll simply have to
experiment to discover exactly where *your* critical carb level is, and
how much of these foods you can tolerate -- see the chapter on The
Careful Carb Diet for guidelines on how to incorporate these foods into
your diet.
However, I personally remain unconvinced that grains in any form are
necessary in the human diet. Whole grains have a good name at least in
part because they are so much *less* damaging than refined grains,
*because* of the fiber, which slows the absorption of carbohydrate into
the blood stream, dampening blood sugar spikes and insulin surges -- and
also because they have vitamins and minerals which refined carbs do
not. However, there is *no* nutrient of which I am aware that you can
get from whole grains that you can't get from lower carb foods. For
those of us who gain even when eating the least damaging grain foods --
and I am one! -- this is a better idea.
2) I do, indeed, feel that if you are planning to eat even a low impact
carb you should combine it with a protein and some fat -- i.e., eat it
in the context of a meal. This is because there is quite a lot of
evidence that combining a carbohydrate with fats and proteins lowers its
blood sugar impact even further -- you're less likely to get a big blood
sugar spike, with the subsequent blood sugar crash, hunger, and
cravings.
I have not yet read Somers book, but I know that the most common
argument against eating carbs and proteins together is that proteins are
digested in the stomach, in an acidic medium, while carbohydrates are
digested in the small intestine, in an alkaline medium, meaning that you
may not completely digest either one. There have been arguments over
the years that this lack of digestion will cause fat to be deposited,
but personally I can't see this for mud. It is only those foods which
you *do* digest and absorb which will affect your blood sugar and
insulin levels, provide calories, and put fat on you. However, if you
have a tendency to indigestion and heartburn, you might want to forego
the carb foods entirely.
3) Yes, indeed, you can still put fat in your fat cells without eating
any carbs. Contrary to popular myth (and I've talked about this
before), you cannot eat absolutely unlimited quantities of low carb
foods and still lose weight. Why? Because you do release *some*
insulin in response to eating protein, you just don't release the huge
*flood* of insulin produced by eating a lot of carbs. Further, when you
eat protein your body tends to release glucagon -- the opposite hormone
from insulin, which lets fat out of storage to be burned as fuel -- in
about the same amount. However, if you overeat on protein foods, your
body will convert some of the protein into glucose, and you'll get
something of an insulin spike -- and store fat.
A low carb diet does not mean you can eat unlimited calories. It does,
however, generally mean you can eat *more* calories than you would on a
diet high in carbs -- enough to be full, satisfied, and energetic -- and
still lose weight.
Hope this helps!
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SALE!! We're slashing prices on BOTH Ross Sugar Free Chocolate Bars by
the case AND Carbolite Sugar Free Chocolate Bars!! It's Low Carb
Chocolate Heaven!
Plus plenty of other low carb goodies at sale prices! CHECK IT OUT NOW!!!
http://www.lowcarbgrocery.com
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Synergy Diet had such an overwhelming response to our brownies that we
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Many new products are coming soon! Call us toll free 1-877-877-1558 or
visit http://synergydiet.com/
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FINALLY, Dana Tells You What's Up With The New Book!
I've gotten a *ton* of email over the months asking me when the cookbook
was going to be out. I was thinking that I would self-publish the new
book, like I did _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_,
and I was hoping to have it out by Christmas season this year.
However, things don't always go the way you'd expect.
Almost a year ago, I got a query from a publisher, wondering if I'd
consider selling _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_
to them. Took several months for us to actually talk, but the upshot is
that they do, indeed, want to buy the book -- but they want me to revise
it (I've been wanting to do this anyway), and expand it.
So here's what's happening: I am, indeed, selling the existing book to
Fair Winds Press, in Gloucester Massachusetts. I will be revising it a
bit, and expanding it by quite a lot -- including all those recipes
you've been wanting! The newer, bigger, better book will hit the market
in September 2002 under the name _Low Carb For Life: How I Gave Up My
Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_
I'm very much looking forward to working with Fair Winds; I like my
editor very much. (And I'm not just saying that because she subscribes
to this newsletter -- Hi, Holly!) I'm also looking forward to getting
some of the weight of the publishing business off my shoulders -- every
hour I don't have to spend packing and shipping books is an hour I can
be doing research, or developing recipes, or writing.
So that's the deal! And in the meanwhile, you'll keep finding recipes
right here.
Hey, guys, I'm a published "arthur"!
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Reader Review of _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_
A diet book without a hidden agenda - what a concept!,
Dana Carpender's 'How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds'
is one of the best books on diet and nutrition I've ever read -- and
I've read a lot of them. Carpender manages to accomplish a rare feat in
such books by being both credible and thoroughly engaging.
The book contains fairly comprehensive information about the connection
between insulin and obesity, and how a low-carb or carb-controlled diet
can help. All of the popular related diets are summarized. Most authors
of diet books (understandably) have the ultimate goal of persuading the
reader to choose their diet over a competing diet. In contrast,
Carpender does not endorse one kind of low-carb diet over another,
rather, acknowledges that every individual has to be the ultimate
decision-maker about what works best for his or her body and lifestyle.
This is incredibly refreshing - especially for us cynics who have tried
it all and are tired of authors and doctors who claim to have the magic
bullet that works for everyone. Carpender even does what no doctor who
wants to sell only their books and products would do - encourages
experimenting with mixing plans and creating hybrid programs customized
to one's lifestyle and body.
Also, Carpender comes across as honest and passionate, and provides a
good bibliography if readers wish to research the topic further. This is
a good book for anyone interested in low-carb or carb-controlled eating,
and would also make an excellent gift for those who don't like boring
diet books, are convinced that low-carb is unhealthy, or are searching
for an alternative to the high-carb/low-fat diet that does not work for
everyone.
Sara from Salt Lake City, UT
Wow! I just *love* people who call me "both credible and engaging"!
And yes, passionate would describe me pretty well... Thanks, Sara.
You can read this and 24 other reader reviews of _How I Gave Up My Low
Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_ at Amazon :
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966883101/lowcarbohysoluti --
and of course, you can also order the book!
If you'd like to read the first chapter of the book for FREE, plus find
a bunch of other useful low carb info, visit:
http://www.holdthetoast.com . You can also see my smiling face and my
before-and-afters.
Or, for that matter, you can visit
http://www.webbalah.net/carbsmart.html , and order
_How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds_ from Carb Smart,
where it's at a discount. Low Carb Grocery has it at a discount, too --
http://www.lowcarbgrocery.com . Low Carb Pharmacy has it, too --
http://www.lowcarbpharmacy.com .
If you'd like to buy the book from a bookstore, you'll probably have to
special order it. If you're in the USA, this shouldn't be a problem --
just tell them that you want to order _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and
Lost Forty Pounds!_ by Dana Carpender, and that the ISBN is
0-9668831-0-1. You could also tell them that they can order it through
Baker and Taylor; one of the country's biggest book wholesalers. We do
ship to Canadian bookstores.
If you're outside of the US, your best bet is to order from Amazon.com.
We can ship internationally from here at Hold the Toast, too, but we're
not set up for it big-time like Amazon is. If you're a book wholesaler
outside the US and interested in carrying _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet
and Lost Forty Pounds!_, we'd love to hear from you!
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Doing My Bit To Support Local Business
This will be utterly irrelevant to anyone who doesn't live in my area --
the vicinity of Bloomington, Indiana. However, it will be of *great*
interest to those of you who *do* live nearby:
Sahara Mart, at the corner of 2nd Street and Walnut Street, in
Bloomington, Indiana, is the best local source for low carb specialty
products. They have some terrific stuff -- a wide selection of low carb
protein bars and shake mixes, both Pure De-Lite and Carbolite sugar free
chocolate bars, Better Bakery bagels and breads, Cheeter's Diet Treats
crackers, and the new Cheeter's low carb brownies, Atkin's Bake Mix -- a
whole treasure trove of hard to find stuff. They also sell a great line
of gourmet groceries, from olive oil to imported teas; and they have a
good selection of nutritional supplements.
I shop at Sahara Mart often myself, and noticed when I was there
recently that the street is torn up in front of the store, hurting their
business considerably. They're nice folks, and deserve the patronage,
so I thought I'd let all of you locals who weren't aware of their low
carb line know that you need to go shop there! You can get into their
parking lot from Walnut Street.
Sahara Mart doesn't do a lot of mail order business, but says that they
can ship, if you need them to. So if there's an item you've been having
a hard time finding, you can give them a call at 812-333-0502.
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IF YOU'RE LOW CARB AND SMART, YOU'LL SHOP CARB SMART!
ProSlim Pasta, now in stock and ON SALE! Order between now and July
31st, and get FREE SHIPPING on all orders of $100 or more!
Plus we have Dana Carpender's _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost
Forty Pounds!_ for just $9.99!!
Also -- our own articles, reviews, and much more! CHECK IT OUT NOW!
http://www.webbalah.net/carbsmart.html
Dana Says: Check out the Carbohydrate Labeling FAQ. Very useful!
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That's it for this week! See you in two weeks!
Dana W. Carpender
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