Diabetes
Coddled eggs
Moving house can turn up old memories attached to unused items too good to throw out, for which opportunistic gifting can make two parties happy. I dropped in and found my friend Jan contemplating a pair of egg coddlers that her mother had given her. They were in their original blue Royal Worcester divided box, the instructions still attached on a perforated card, meant to be torn off and saved for future reference, such as when they are regifted to a coddler newbie.
Eggs, cholesterol and diabetes
After many months away from the website, I’m back with some thoughts on eggs. I confess, I eat eggs almost every day for breakfast, one with its yolk, and some “just whites”. There’s a lot of research on eggs, partly because there is an organized egg industry that is interested in selling more eggs. In their favour, eggs are a traditional food, easy to cook in interesting recipes, and much maligned by the anti-cholesterol campaign. Here’s some of what I found.
Nopales: cactus with blood glucose benefits
Nopales are the fleshy pads of the prickly pear cactus. Nopales are eaten all day in Mexico: had them in scrambled eggs, and also as a breakfast side - delicious little stir-fry with onion and tomato, and probably lard. They appear in salads and stews, at all-inclusive resort buffets where they hold well in steam trays, and in fine dining that is serving up local and traditional foods.
Low-carb diet: Weight loss and lower blood pressure
A recently published study found low-carb ketogenic diet resulted in lower blood pressure than a weight loss regime using orlistat plus a low-fat diet (less than 30% of calories from fat). Orlistat is marketed as Xenical or Alli. It prevents the body from absorbing fat that was eaten. The study subjects were overweight (mean Body Mass Index of 39.3) with a mean age of 52. Although both groups lost about 10% in a year (20-25 lb.), the low-carb group showed better blood pressure results.
Crema and Creme Fraiche
I can’t remember how I first learned about Mexican “crema” - it’s thick and creamy - a bit like sour cream, but not so sour, and much richer. My interpretation of the Spanish on the Lala crema is that it’s made from acidified pasteurized cow’s milk, stabilizer and salt. The Lala plastic tub claims 25% butterfat, and low carbs (2g per 100g/3.5 oz serving). Crema brings everything to a higher level. It makes me glad that I’m on a low carb diet. At home, I looked for something similar.
My experiment with 16g of carbs:
How bad can it be?
It was a hot, sunny summer in Vancouver. Home gardens flourished, and my neighbours grape crop is prolific, purple concords so fat they are pressed tightly against each other like swollen toes in a too-tight shoe. In the pre-diabetes era, I used to make grape jam, a thick, sweet-tart reminder of summer, but since January 2009, haven’t been eating fruit, except the odd berry, and certainly no jam. I tried some grapes the other day, freshly cut, and still attached to their length of vine. I enjoyed every one, and then measured my blood glucose, a half hour after eating them. Yikes!
Low-carb moment of truth:
How’s that cholesterol level?
In January, my doctor said that my LDL (low density lipid) levels were too high - a known risk for heart and cardiovascular disease. He suggested statin medication. I immediately countered by asking for a reprieve - I wanted to try drastically cutting my carbs to see if my blood lipids fell. I had read the autobiographical stories of Dr. Richard K. Bernstein (Type 1 diabetes) and Dr. Jay Wortman (Type 2 diabetes), how their cholesterol dropped with their blood glucose on ultra low carb diets. Right after that doctor’s visit, eight months ago, I eliminated all sugars including honey, molasses and maple syrup. I no longer ate grains in any form - no more whole wheat flatbreads on the BBQ, pasta, cookies, brownies, flour, organic brown rice, barley soup, oatmeal. No more corn including cornmeal, polenta, cob corn or cornstarch. I stopped eating legumes and pulses including dosa, dal, black bean chile, humus, edamame (fresh soy beans) and puy lentil salad. I ate more protein and a lot more fat, nuts, avocado, eggs (whites and whole), and whipping cream, so much so that Doug dubs it the whipped cream diet. I could see from daily finger pricks that my blood sugar was down. Instead of morning numbers in the range of 6.5 to 7.5 mmol/L (117 to 135 mg/dL), I was generally in the mid-5s to mid-6s (99 to117 mg/dL) . Thus, it was not surprising that my A1C was down a little from 6.4% to 6.2%, closer to the 4.5 to 6.0% range which is considered normal. What I was really worried about was my cholesterol while eating all that fat, much of it saturated. Well, after 8 months of low carb living, the results are in.
Truth or Fiction:
Rice is a traditional Japanese food
I always assumed that my ancestors were rice-eaters, and that rice was naturally good for me. We ate mashed potatoes with our turkey at Christmas - a dutiful interpretation of the mainstream holiday. A few hours later, mom clicked on the ricecooker. Over time, Mom gave up, and eventually, we could skip the mashed potatoes and go straight to the Japanese rice and gravy - the best part of those celebratory days. It made sense - Japanese have eaten rice pretty much forever, right? Only recently have I wondered, exactly when “forever” began. In grade school, we learned that agriculture began near the Euphrates River, transforming hunter-gatherers into farmers around 10,000 years ago. What was happening in Japan, where my ancient ancestors were figuring it out? Turns out that rice was a latecomer to the table of my progenitors.
Low-carb cheese crisps
I always loved the crunchy overbaked cheese on top of a casserole or pizza, with a concentrated cheese flavour and toughened texture. This little snack is the essence of that crunchy cheese experience, minus most of the fat - a surprising amount I found.
A New Leaf for 2009 - an ultra-low carb diet
I am not one for making New Years Resolutions, but this year, I’ve found myself embarking on a new diet. It was a recent blood test that sent me searching for a new path. My low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was high, at almost 4.5. For someone with diabetes, the lab report and College of Family Physicians of Canada recommend it stay below 2.0, to reduce the risk of heart disease.
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