Dana's Low-Carb for Life (Podcast)
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Why I'm Not a Purist
Submitted by Dana on Thu, 2011-02-03 12:12
I have, over the past many years in general, and in the past few days in particular, taken some heat for not being pure enough or restrictive enough or something enough about the diet I eat and the ingredients I use in my recipes. I was accused of something very close to a major character flaw in a discussion about sucralose, by a woman who was infuriated that I would use such an evil, evil ingredient , and that I dared to suggest that perhaps stevia was not utterly safe beyond all question. I've been taken to task for using/eating polyols. I've been told that I should only use, and only recommend, organic, grass-fed meat, and that suggesting that it's okay to eat battery eggs -- factory farmed eggs -- is just plain wrong.
Sorry to disappoint, folks, but I'm not a purist. I will readily admit that grass-fed meat is better both for one's health and for the environment than meat from CAFOs (confined animal feedlot operations.) I keep my own chickens in my backyard, and therefore regularly eat eggs that are superior to grocery store eggs, especially in the summer, when the chickens can free-range. I have no problem with people using stevia if they prefer it to sucralose; that's fine.
That said, I have grocery store meat in my freezer (and thawing in my kitchen.) Before we had chickens, I mostly bought local pastured eggs, but wasn't above buying grocery store eggs if they were super-cheap. I buy pastuerized, non-organic half-and-half, cream, and blocks of standard cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Swiss, and even - gasp! - the grated Parmesan in the green shaker, generally the house brand.
Why? The same reason many people are buying stuff they consider somewhat south of optimal these days: Money. I quite frankly can't afford to buy all $8/pound-and-up meat. I can't afford $5/gallon for raw milk, and even more for raw cream. I can't afford $12/pound raw milk, grass-fed cheese. I'd lose weight eating that stuff, all right -- because I'd have to eat less than half of what I usually do now.
Similarly, I think well of the Steviva erythritol-and-stevia blend I tried recently, and I like Lakanto, too, but quite frankly I cannot afford $18/pound for sweetener.
If you can afford this stuff, and you want to buy it, go for it! I think it's great. But my main concern has been, and remains, macronutrient balance -- fat/protein/carb. Altering this has been, far and away, my most powerful tool to lose weight and improve my health and energy. I started by swapping out brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole grain cereal, and potatoes for, yes, grocery-store meat, eggs, and cheese, and that, right there, was the most important change. Everything else I have done falls into the category of "minor tweaks" in comparison. 80% or more of the improvement to my health came from whacking the carbs out of my diet.
So, yeah, I use some sucralose. I have seen no credible evidence that it is a "neurotoxin," though people often claim it is, apparently thinking it is chemically similar to aspartame (it is not). I have seen evidence that sucralose can cause thymus shrinkage and kidney swelling in rats -- in enormous doses, far,far beyond anything I consume. ( I have also seen studies indicating that in similar ridiculous doses stevia may interfere with fertility in rats, and studies indicating it causes abdominal fat deposition in chickens. This latter may be because of the well-accepted fact that stevia increases insulin levels -- oops.) Yes, I eat non-organic vegetables and fruits, though I try to keep an eye on the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen when making those choices. And I am willing to use Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and other condiments that contain some sugar, or even HFCS, because the total quantity is too tiny to screw up my blood sugar.
I do not call for all organic or natural products in my recipes. You are, of course, more than welcome to use them! But there's an old saying that the good is the enemy of the perfect. The reverse is also true: The perfect is the enemy of the good. My main message is "Cut out the damned carbs." That's pretty much it. If I confound that with "Oh, and you have to buy all organically raised, small-farm food," I'm going to scare away more people than I help. Telling a family of five, with an obese mother and father and three kids who are growing overweight already, but who are living on $40K a year or less, that if they don't buy all boutique food their diet isn't good enough is worse than unhelpful, it is downright discouraging. Far, far better to tell them that those battery eggs are cheaper than cold cereal, and vastly more nutritious. Far better to give them a dozen things to do with 69c/pound chicken legs and thighs, $1.89/pound ground chuck, and 99c/pound pork shoulder that will feed their family without requiring that they sell the house.
Too, many people don't have access to these things, even if they have the money. I live in a lefty-trendy university town in the Midwest. I can get pastured eggs, organic vegetables, local grass-fed meat, even a cow share so I can get raw milk, all without leaving town. But for many people obtaining this stuff would mean driving a long way; it's frankly impractical. Should I tell them "Oh, sorry, too bad. Guess you'll just have to lose your toes and eyesight to diabetes?" Or should I tell them how to get 80% or more of the improvement possible with food from their very own local grocery store?
I have hopes that as the popularity of grass-fed and pasture raised meat and eggs grows, as the public demand for raw, grass-fed milk increases, these foods will become more widely available, and will come down in price. That would be wonderful for everyone. But that day is not today.
In short, I have quite enough to do trying to convince people to quit scarfing Lucky Charms and swilling Coca-Cola, trying to explain to the already-health-oriented that they've been sold a bill of goods about meat and eggs, and help families make the low carb transition without too much dislocation of their lives and budget. If you are a purist, and can afford to be a purist, I laud you -- but leave the details up to you.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I want to multiply the sentiment of this article times a zillion!
It is SUPER discouraging to read books about diet that essentially tell you that if you can't buy grass-fed, free range pheasant that was raised only listening to Mozart, then you might as well not bother, because the feed, the hormones, and the, like, bad vibes or whatever, are just going to make you sick and probably even fatter.
Obesity is a huge problem with poor people. It is tough enough to try to make good and interesting meals for a family with inexpensive meat products. Organic, free-range, grass fed, every meal, every day---literally impossible for poor people, unfathomable, really.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. I'm sure it is a great encouragement to many of us.
Thank You For Your Point Of View
I too am what you called an "incrementalist". And I've been smacked around a few times on the low carb and Atkins boards for it. But I'm in this for the long term. Years. And if I couldn't have an Atkins cookie or some kind of artificially sweetened treat on a daily basis, I wouldn't be low carb. I understand if the goal is weight loss that these artificial sweeteners can stall some people or cause physical problems like headaches in others, but for me they allow me to stay in a low carb zone for the long run.
Moderation in all things
Unfortunately we are told daily on the tube that moderation isn't possible or advisable. Thanks for the common sense! Each person has to decide for themselves what is best for them. Affordability is one of those criteria. I can't use artificial sweeteners because of my hubby's migraines. So our "sweetened" foods are very limited. But everyone has to make decisions for themselves regarding sweeteners, cost, raw, etc. I too wish I could afford to be a purist, but my "purist" would be different than another person's "purist." Common sense is so nice to see. Thanks for the post!
Wish I could be a purist
At one point I was a definite purist, and I do keep talking about it because there are still a lot of people who have no idea there is a difference. But mostly I talk about low carb and its benefits.
I wish I could use Splenda, but I can't. It would be cheaper. But it's a migraine trigger for me. I get really bad ones that last 21 days each time. I was silly enough to test my theory that Spenda's what was causing them. I lost an entire summer testing my theory! So I use Stevia, because Nutrasweet is also a trigger--short-term migraine, but a lot more debilitating.
And for me, raw milk is the only thing that holds my severe allergies at bay. I can only drink the cream now, but luckily that's where the substances that work on my allergies are. I feel badly taking the cream from my kids, though. I have to have at least 2-3 tablespoons a day for the allergy-kicking thing to work.
One thing those who'd like to eat pastured meat can try: buy a quarter of a cow from a farmer, if you can, and split it between several friends. I keep my eyes open for farmers who keep their cows on grass most of the time. And I have a list of about 9 friends that are willing to do a split. I split a quarter of a cow 4 ways (or a half 8 ways, if we have that many people wanting in). We can usually find a cow for $3-$4/lb., and the "shares" are around $80-$120, depending on the size of the cow. That amount of meat will easily fit in the standard fridge's freezer, and in many peoples' budgets. A lot easier than $2K will, anyway! Doing this around once every month or so really helps, and it's nice knowing the meat has the benefits of being pasture-fed for not much more than the price of ground round.
Amen
Really wanted to click "like", but I LOVE this, and there was no button for that!
Purist
I'm new here, just starting on my quest to try and get somewhat healthy. I love your response....most can't afford elaborate today. Thank you.
I'm not a purist either
Here is what I've been eating for the last 10 days: www.thehuglukexperiments.com It is pretty easy to be low-carb. It works well even if you aren't a purist.
stevia
I hadn't heard that stevia raises insulin levels; I've only heard good things about it. Can you tell me more -- what's your information source? I'd like to research it more. Thanks so much for all your information!
Most artificial sweeteners
Most artificial sweeteners raise insulin levels some, as does protein. They just don't raise levels as much as sucrose. One rat study I found:
"Stevioside acts directly on pancreatic cells to secrete insulin: Actions independent of cyclic adenosine monophosphate and adenosine triphosphate—sensitivie K+-channel activity" from the journal Metabolism, Vol. 49, Issue 2, Feb 2000, pages 208-214
Also there was a human study, they found that Stevia actually causes less insulin secretion than with Aspartame, and that both Stevia and Aspartame caused the participants to consume less food than those who had sucrose (table sugar).
"Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels" from the journal Appetite, Volume 55, Issue 1, Aug 2010, pages 37-43
Stevia has apparently been used for a very long time in South America, with no known problems. However I found this in one journal:
"The FDA, in the mid-1980s, labeled stevia as an “unsafe food additive,” and in 1999, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the World Health Organization and the Scientific Committee for Food of the European Union determined that stevia was unacceptable as a sweetener." --from "A doctor's guide to sweeteners" in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, Vol 2, Issue 2, Spring 2003, pages 80-86
Now why they did that, who knows. Maybe the people who make Aspartame and all didn't want anyone getting in on their game LOL. Studies can be made to show anything, that it's safe or it isn't safe. I think Aspartame, Splenda and Stevia are probably safe in the amounts that are typically consumed. Mainly because so little is required to mimic the sweetness of sugar. I don't think sucrose is safe at the rate it's consumed, but people think because it's "natural" that it's fine, that 'it's been consumed for "hundreds of years" so what's the problem?' What they miss is that in great quantities (I read somewhere the average American consumes 150 pounds of sugar a year) it is a danger to health. Hundreds of years ago sugar was very expensive and most people consumed very little.
Dose is everything
Yep. As I keep pointing out, the first rule of toxicology is "Dose is everything." If you ate 1 teaspoon of sugar a week, I'm willing to bet it would do you no harm. If you ate sugar to equal the sweetening power of the sucralose fed to rats in the FDA studies, you'd have screaming high triglycerides in a week, and probably collapse from blood sugar derangement not long afterward. Hell, you would probably be hurt if 15,000 teaspoons of sugar per day were dropped on your head.
Best I can figure out, if you ate half the sugar that the average American does, you'd still be getting ten times the sugar your ancestors ate in 1800. So what's "moderation?"
A step back from perfect
I have become obsessed with the low carb Paleo lifestyle. I am always looking for new advice on recipes and fitness.
Dana, I loved that you addressed my dilemma. As we progress into the low carb lifestyle, there is pressure to create the perfect diet. I know that I feel it when I go to the grocery store. Grass Fed beef, pastured eggs and butter, coconut aminos, raw dairy products, and fresh wild caught fish are what I strive to eat. Last month our grocery bill was over $800.00. We cannot keep up this kind of spending on food. Lately I have even considered buying a SousVide in order to perfect my meat dishes.
As I supplement with plenty of Omega 3 fish oil, I am beginning to think that you are right and I can buy regular beef and dairy. Your article helped me take a step back from the brink. :)
Why I'm Not a Purist
Dana,
It was downright thrilling to read this post! I am so glad you took this stand. The only thing I will not buy is veal- mostly because it's so expensive and also because of the way veal is produced. I cannot afford a meat which is $11.99 a pound here!
I do try to buy food produced in the US, simply because buying imported food goes one more step towards forcing our own farmers out of business!
Today, for example, one of our local grocers is having a one day sale- 10# bags of chicken leg quarters for $3.90- limit two. You'd better believe I will be there to get my twenty pounds of chicken farm leg quarters. (NOT FREE RANGE CHICKENS) I'll do that once and then return this evening for another twenty pounds. Forty pounds of chicken goes a long way for us! My freezer was the best investment I ever made. They have five pound rolls of ground beef for $5.99- that'll come home (3 of them) to be separated and put in the freezer. My neighbor says ground beef has too much fat, but isn't it nice that I'm not worried about animal fat!! Anyway, you get the picture.
As for being purist about sweeteners, I buy the store brand which is cheaper. I use so little, that I think I would have to live to be three hundred for it to be any harm to me!
My brother and I jointly tend a 50 x 50 foot garden plot at his house in the country during the gardening season, and split the produce. We eat fresh frozen vegetables all winter for the cost of seeds and a little fertilizer ( and labor.) We compost and put this on the garden, also. My brother goes around town in his truck in the leaf-raking season, picking up bags of leaves, which are spread and tilled into the garden for the winter. More fertilizer! I have pecan trees and we try our best to beat the squirrels to the nuts. Then we have giant all afternoon shelling parties and store baggies of nuts for use all year round.
I manage to live comfortably on Social Security (cannot work due to tending of two 90-year old parents.) I do not feel deprived at all. And I eat well.
I use coupons when I can, but mostly the only coupons available are cheese. I wait till it's on sale and then use coupons. I recently got four bricks of cheese at .50/ brick with the BOGO sale plus coupons.
I talk till I'm blue in the face to people who say eating low carb is too expensive. And then I look at their grocery carts- boxes of cereal at $4 each, expensive prepared foods, snacks etc. (And sadly, I look at their chubby couch potato children.) I have finally decided to shut my mouth about it and just do my own lovely low carb eating, and let the results continue to speak for themselves.
So, hats of to you, and thanks for spreading the word to people!
Bravo!
You are saying what I've been meaning to say for a while now. I'm often read the riot act on my blog for recommending a product that uses Splenda, or a recipe that uses Splenda. Same for soy. I'm not crazy about soy and try to avoid it when I can, but for me a little isn't anything that's gonna keep me up at night. Like you, even something with minute amounts of sugar doesn't bother me most of the time. Another issue that gets under my skin is the topic of sweets. Some people believe you should never have anything sweet again and let your tastes change. Please folks, don't tell that to a new low-carber. They might need that little bit of sugar-free jell-o or even Russell Stover candy to get them through the rough patches. If they walk into this thinking they can never have these things again, they'll likely walk right back out. We all have to do what works for us. In a ideal world we would all have grass fed organic everything, but reality doesn't work that way. We have to work with what we've got, be it little or small. Like many, my food budget is small. We spend a crazy amount as it is feeding 4 people, 2 of those growing teens. There is just no way I could spend more for better quality right now. Well I could, but it's hard to cook grass fed beef when you are living on the streets or have your electric shut off. Call me crazy, but I'm all about priorities. ;)
Amen to that!
While I certainly enjoy high-end items like grass-fed meat, I definitely can't afford to buy them all the time. I tire of the "holier than thou" types who want to push their agendas on everyone. Gimme a break! Is it not obvious that people should be free to choose what type of meat, eggs, cheese or whatever based on what is best for THEM! People can and should make their own choices and don't need know-it-all types shoving their personal preferences on the rest of us. These folks are no different than the vegetarians who constantly chide us for eating red meat and pork rinds.
I agree completely
My husband and I *have* gone the grass-fed/pastured/raw/organic route - because we know it's best for us, but we can also afford it. Our adult children cannot - I wouldn't have, either, at their ages. I settle for feeding them the good stuff when they come to visit and reminding them that just because they can't purchase and freeze half a grass-finished cow and an entire pastured hog or buy all their produce locally and seasonally doesn't mean they can't eat well - shop the perimeter of the grocery store and don't buy ANYTHING in a box. Ever.
Hopefully one day they'll listen. LOL
Grass fed
I keep hoping to come up with the cash to buy a whole side of grass-fed beef at one time. I have the freezer space, it's just coming up with a chunk of cash like that that's rough. Would like to do it with local pastured pork, too, but pork doesn't freeze nearly as well as beef.
Oh yes!
Yes!! Thank you!!
Right on!
You know what? Thank you for this post. The #1 thing that turns most people off about low carb, or paleo, or any kind of low carbish diet is WHAT THEY CANNOT EAT.
Focus on WHAT YOU CAN.
Sure. I agree that battery raised chicken is crap. There is no denying it. What if that is the only alternative? Take milk, so many people rail on about how pasteurized milk is the devil.
Be my guest, TRY and find some here in Quebec.
Instead, I agree, the focus should be on cutting the crap out of our lives, and focusing on where our meat is raised is missing the mark in the first place.
Perhaps getting rid of the crackers, cakes, etc. is the way to go FIRST, then down the road we can look at maybe improving our food first. BABY steps.
I know people who get on my
I know people who get on my case for using Splenda instead of "natural" sugar. My answer as a diabetic is, "I can eat sugar, which I know will kill me or I can eat
splenda, which maybe, one day, might kill me."
Natural
I have exactly zero patience with the "it's natural" argument. It's just plain stupid. Many of the most toxic substances on Earth are natural -- rattlesnake venom, Death Angel mushrooms, botulism toxin, ricin, tobacco, heroin, cocaine. Cholera is natural. So are typhoid and plague. The "it's natural" argument is completely intellectually vacant. There are moments I have to restrain myself from openly mocking people who push it on me.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
And did I mention...Thank you!!! Please don't ever change. I like real people I can relate to. I love that you tell it like it is and don't try to make people feel like s**t if they can't afford the best possible food choices. I live on a small fixed income and if I want to eat low carb, which I do, I have to buy the stuff in the stores, on sale even! Your list is almost identical to the things I have to buy, right down to the green cans (OMG!). I do try to eat organic items whenever I can, but they don't have a lot of sales on those things. I will probably never be able to afford grass fed/pastured anything and it's a shame that most of the bloggers around these days only talk about grass fed/organic/free range etc etc as if we all can just run out and buy everything we want all the time.
It's discouraging enough to have the knowledge about all the best options for my health without having my nose rubbed in it because I can't afford these things. As it is I spend about 15% (often more) of my meager income at Netrition/Puritan/Swanson and a few other places for specialty items and supplements. Everything else has to be as cheap as I can find it. 15% may be even more than the richer folks spend, percentage-wise but believe me, I don't end up with any "disposable" income left over after I buy food either. It's just what I have to do to eat low carb. I used to be able to fill myself up on carby junk and spend almost nothing. Those days are gone.
I also agree about the 'Stevia vs everything else' shouting match that's going on right now. It's only been pushed at low carbers for a short time but it's already absolutely everywhere. People talk about it like it's the new wonder drug and, of course, nothing else is acceptable any more. I don't care for it. I know there were a couple articles that got spread around the web about sucralose and those keep being quoted as if they were actual facts instead of the unproven speculative junk that they are. I haven't been able to find any credible studies to support any of the scare rumors. Reminds me of the scare tactics used to denigrate Saccharin years ago. No one was told that mice/rats were fed incredibly huge amounts of the stuff to produce the desired results. And do people actually think that rats are just small furry humans anyway?? In a few years someone will start spreading rumors about Stevia too...probably around the time a new product comes out that everyone can hail as the new all natural answer!
I think the ideal world that you describe (and I would love to live in) will never happen as long as the mega food companies, the pharmaceutical companies and the chemical companies continue to be in charge of our food supply and the information we're given. I sign petitions and political action pieces all the time and always come away saddened by the futility of it all, but I'll keep doing it anyway till my last breath. If only our politicians really cared about the people they are supposed to serve, then maybe our food supply wouldn't be in such a mess. The advice that gets crammed down our throats from the people who are supposed to have our best interests at heart keeps passing for the truth and people keep being misled by those they trust. I'm glad there are a few people like you who can be the voice of reason and sanity in an insane world.
Don't let the crazies get you down, you are needed and appreciated.
This turned out longer than I expected but once again, thank you Dana! Sue
Nothing better to do
The food police can go suck a factory farm egg. ;-)
By the way, I discovered Sobe LifeWater this week. Sweetened with stevia and erythritol, it's quite good (Fuji Apple Pear is my favorite)...and more importantly, I found them on sale at Kroger this week for 75 cents...less than half the normal price. I bought about 40 of 'em. Goes down good!
Amen!
Well said. Ugh..people are so annoying at times.
I suppose some people just have to go all out/whole hog (no carbs!) when they start something new.
Going Whole Hog
We all know that there are two kinds of people in this world... or rather, a million different iterations of two kinds of people. One of those iterations is "Whole hog" people versus "incrementalists." Whole hog people, if they're doing something new, want to jump in with both feet, and do every little thing they can possibly do, while incrementalists want to try one or two modest changes, see how they work, and then try another change or two. Neither way is superior, it's just a matter of personal style. The problem arises when people are sure their way is the only correct way.