Our Low-Carb Lifestyle!

Our Low-Carb Lifestyle!

Photographs © Nina Courtney Wagaman

FAQ

Where can I buy low-carb foods?
No special low-carb foods are needed. You can find nearly everything at a supermarket or grocery store in the meat, cheese, dairy and produce departments, or at your local farmer’s market. No special nutritional supplements, protein drinks, pills or vitamins are necessary. Commercial low-carb products defeat the purpose of this way of life, which should be as natural as possible.
How many eggs are safe to eat?
Eggs are a nearly perfect food. They provide a complete balance of nutrition: amino acids, protein, cholesterol, and vitamins. In Circulation 2008, the Physicians’ Health Study revealed that as the number of eggs eaten went higher, the lower total cholesterol fell. Eat lots of eggs. They’re good for you! We each enjoy at least three eggs per day, sometimes four.
Is red meat okay to eat?
Red meats (beef, lamb, bison, etc.) are more than okay, but we would buy meat from naturally raised or wild animals. If you can’t find it locally, there are many sources on the web for grass-fed beef, lamb, goat, pig– even elk and deer. Foods of animal origin are the only reliable source of the essential nutrient, Vitamin B12, which is not found in anything which grows out of the ground.
What about Vitamin C?
Many people believe that vitamin C is available only in fruit and plants. This is not true. Beef or lamb’s liver has three times as much vitamin C as apples or pears, even after cooking. All meats contain small amounts. Our requirement for vitamin C is actually very low unless we eat cereals, which don’t contain any. Grains also deplete our bodies of this essential vitamin. A medium red bell pepper has about 152 mg of vitamin C. It contains almost twice as much as a small orange, which has 83 mg of C. The orange has 18 g of carbs, the pepper less than half at only 7 grams!
How can all that saturated fat be healthy?
As a species, we have eaten animal fats for the whole of our existence. Until the invention of agriculture, heart disease was nonexistent. Animal fats and tropical oils such as coconut oil, which is 92% saturated, were the only fats we ate. The bottom line is, you are made of saturated fat, as are all animals. Every cell in your body needs it. When you eat saturated fats, whether of animal or plant origin, your body doesn’t have to manufacture it to build and maintain itself. When your body makes fats, it makes the “bad” kind– small. dense LDLs. Saturated fats have no double-bonds and cannot be oxidized inappropriately by oxygen. All of their molecular bonds are filled, hence they do not create toxic free radicals, for which you are advised to take antioxidants. Saturated fats are completely stable, harmless and healthful.
So what’s wrong with fruit?
We all love fruit, don’t we? We are told to eat “five a day”. So what’s wrong with fruit? One word– fructose. Pure fructose is found in fresh fruit, fruit juice, preserves, table sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, and in “healthy” foods like honey, agave syrup and many vegetables. Fructose is harmful for several reasons, not the least of which is its effect on raising uric acid levels. A monosaccharide that must be metabolized by the liver, unbound fructose can interfere with the heart’s use of vital minerals such as magnesium, copper and chromium; it contributes to insulin resistance, which is the principle characteristic of Type-2 diabetes; and it has been found to inhibit the action of white blood cells in the immune system. If you do eat some fruit, consume small portions only occasionally. Choose low-sugar fruit like blueberries, blackberries, strawberries or cranberries (unsweetened, of course). If we eat fruit, we always serve it with a fat like heavy cream or cheese.

Special occasions call for
special low-carb desserts!

If we do not learn from the past,

we are in the infancy of knowledge.

Cicero

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