Article Content:
NAFLD = Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)I came across this Study that basically proves that eating trans fats, sugar and fructose in excess can lead to obesity and fatty liver disease.Here is more information about Fatty Liver Disease.

———————

Article Content:
I’m thinking of being more real in front of my audience and at the same time helping my son, who is a new and talented author. He has now written two romance/mystery novels based on a true story. The second book is in the editing stages.I love reading about other people’s lives and I’m hoping my readers feel the same way. My life has been anything but easy at times. Tragedy, loss and grief have pulled me down for years at a time, but there is always hope. It is also a story about love, love lost, love found and a greater love story within the love story, which will become more apparent in the 4th novel.Stay tuned. I’m going to speak to Jonathan and find a way to share the books chapter by chapter on my blog. I am not a gifted writer, nor do I have a witty sense of humor, nor do I have mass appeal, but what I do have is a son who has all those characteristics and more; let his writing entertain you and perhaps help others out there with similar “difficult” people in their lives.This is what Jonathan says about his first novel:The truth behind the fiction “I can’t take credit for this story, since it’s older than I am. What you’re about to read is a compilation of events which actually happened, involving characters who, for the most part, are still alive today. With only minor exceptions, I wrote everything as it was described to me by the people who were there to witness the events, and not as my imagination might have dictated. The result was a surprising mix of the laughter and tears and heart-wrenching scenes which so typify real life. The more I researched and wrote, the more I realized that my imagination was almost superfluous to the process, which in this instance, I suppose, makes me more of a journalist than a novelist. That said, I didn’t go looking for this story. It was under my nose for a number of years before I actually saw it for what it was, and when I saw it, I realized that it had to be written down before it died with its characters. So read on, knowing that as you do, you’re turning through the pages of history.”

———————

Article Content:
I’ve been so sick with the flu’. Apparently, we have the Swine flu’ here in South America (government has kept it quiet), 55,000 people were hospitalized and several people died. Just when I thought after 2 weeks that things could not get any worse, my coughing fits resulted in a pulled muscle in my lower back. How can that happen? Don’t ask me! Anyway, miserable, miserable flu. My husband and son were even worse than me. They had to use asthma medication, steroids and antibiotics. As a result, blogging has not been my priority of late.Anyway, to get back on topic, being a low-carber in a high-carb world is never easy. Temptation is everywhere, but it is especially difficult to resist temptation at other people’s houses - at a party, for instance. Sometimes one is fortunate and it is something like a barbecue. Take a salad and a low-carb sugar free dessert and you know you won’t go hungry or look funny. I was invited to a birthday party last night and there was nothing to eat - high carb tortillas and pizza followed by cake and trifle. Even the beer was the high carb variety. There was diet coke and that’s about it! So, lovely party - great-tasting food (I won’t tell a lie) - as I decided to indulge in a moderate fashion (i.e. my portions were small) after my first few sips of beer. Some of you may be shocked and have thought of me as a purist, but heck, I’m as human as the next person.Still, I am a low-carber until I die and that mindset never leaves me. It is the way that I choose to eat because I’m convinced we don’t need the white flour and sugar in our diets. Besides that my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis puts me at risk for diabetes; low-carbing makes sense for me. My CRP levels are always somewhat high in the medium risk category thanks, I think, to having the autoimmune disease. My husband’s CRP levels are substantially lower, even although he indulges in high carb foods much more often than I do and has more weight on him. I don’t need to increase that inflammation in my body with high-carb junk foods on a regular basis.So, as soon as possible I get back on track and stick with my moderate low-carb diet. I usually stay under 60 grams a day, sometimes much less, sometimes a little more than 60 grams. However, that is low-carb compared to the 300 grams or more of carbohydrate that the average American or Canadian person consumes. The average individual in the States consumes about 170 lbs of sugar a year (children get fully half their calories from sugar). My family consumes a negligible amount in comparison.However, I’m sitting here feeling sore, coughing and feeling a bit sorry for myself. Being a low-carber in a high-carb world is not easy. Those of us who stick with it as a WOE are the ones who have chosen this lifestyle not simply for weight loss, but also for health reasons. Good for us!!

———————

Article Content:
Not at all! Even the late Dr. Atkins said that we could come up with a “Dr. Atkins and I” diet, which means simply tailoring the diet to suit your own lifestyle, needs and your own body. I wouldn’t suggest doing this right off the bat, but down the road after trying a low-carb diet plan as written, one can tweak one’s diet to suit one best. Everybody, I maintain, is a little bit different. There is no “one size fits all” diet out there. That is another reason not to get involved too much in the diet of anyone else. “Do my own thing and only give advice when asked” is my motto. I do not try to evangelize people to low-carbing, even although I speak about it on my blog a lot - this is really a place where I preach to the converted - and, if any would-be newbies are interested, they are welcome to listen and accept or reject the message they’ll find here.There are so many different low-carb diet plans: Protein Power, Go Diet, CALP, Atkins and you name it. At the same time there are different levels of carbohydrate that suit different people. For me, personally, counting anything would be a pain. I’ve tried it, believe me, and I totally respect those who can and do count carbs. I just don’t want to be bothered with getting too scientific about it. I want to eat when hungry and not measure or count anything. Perhaps if I had lots of weight to lose that would be very different and I’d have to learn to be more disciplined. Here is a thread on lowcarbfriends to give one some idea of how people develop their own low-carb strategies that work for them personally - the “Dr. Atkins and I” diet for many of them: Low-Carbing My Way I found their comments very interesting and thought I’d share this thread with my readers, in case you’ve missed it.My best email buddy used to low-carb alongside me. We have been “diet” buddies for so long now that I forget when we connected. I met her on lowcarbfriends many years ago. What makes it fun is that we are more of less of the same stature and height and our weights are usually more or less close. Lately, Jan has discovered that she does better on a low fat, calorie-restricted diet. Her blood work profile looks better too. Incidentally, she has almost always beaten me in any diet race we’ve undertaken. She is very competitive and I’m afraid I am less so, plus, of course I have had the handy excuse that I have a thyroid autoimmune problem and am constantly developing recipes. True, however, Jan is also slightly hypothyroid, but doesn’t have the autoimmune kind of hypothyroidism. Still, what I’m saying is some people will actually not be suited to low-carbing. I think everyone is suited to cutting out white flour and sugar wherever possible, however, high fat is not for everyone. Also, Jan would mix low-carbing and high-carbing (on weekends) and I don’t think that is good for anyone on a regular basis.

———————

Article Content:
Did you know flax seed meal is high in Omega-3’s? Apparently many of us get too much Omega-6 in the diet, but flax seed can help balance that. It has been called nature’s tomoxifen. Flax seed meal should not be taken in excess (i.e. no more than 1/4 cup per day and less for some sensitive individuals (start slow)) and should always be followed by plenty of water and I mean plenty of water for safety reasons. It can be a bit of a laxative but it can also bulk up and for that reason, drink your water. Omega-3’s have the ability to reduce inflammation in the body. I’ve just recently started adding flax seed meal into my diet. A guide to cooking and baking with flax seed.Flax seed meal comes in two varieties: golden flax meal (mild tasting) and the regular kind (a bit grassy tasting). I prefer the golden flax meal but it is less readily available in stores.How I use flax:1. I love to put some plain, thick yogurt in a cereal bowl and sweeten with a couple of Splenda packets. Sprinkle with golden flax seed meal and walnuts. Walnuts are also high in Omega-3’s!2. Microwave Dry Cereal.3. I use it in the one minute muffin or one minute bread, the next minute toast. Let me see if I can dig up my latest one minute muffin experiment.Here it is - it is golden yellow in color:1 egg, fork beaten2 tbsp Carbalose flour1 tbsp golden flax meal1 tbsp DaVinci Sugar Free Banana Syrup1 tsp coconut oil1/4 tsp baking powder2 tbsp shredded Swiss or Monterey Jack cheeseIn cereal bowl, place all ingredients in order (except cheese) and whisk until fairly smooth. Fold in the cheese. Nuke about 1 minute 15 seconds. Microwave times will vary as not all microwave ovens are the same. Loosen edges, invert bowl. Slice in half and butter; toast instead, if desired.Nutritional Analysis: 1 muffin:224.7 Calories; 14.9 g protein; 16.3 g fat; 3.6 g carbs4. Fast Cheesebread.

———————

Article Content:
Very real as most low-carbers who are honest about their struggles will reveal. If there are some carbs you have consumed recently, cravings for more can come and bite one in the you know where at any time of the day - even after a substantial low-carb meal! Sometimes that craving is so great that one succumbs. Now that is not the end of the world - enjoy whatever it is if you must - and get back to a strict LC meal soonest possible. Having tasted the naughty no-no sometimes gives us back our resolve to get back on track, because of the undesirable side effects and sometimes simply because the craving is satisfied and that is the end of that. For me, it’s not salty things like chips I crave when I’ve had carbs creep into my diet - it is sweet things. That is why it is actually not such a bad idea for me to have something baked in the freezer or a frozen candy treat or whatever for just such an occasion.Cravings are sometimes super-strong and it is an iron will that is required to say, “No!” Giving in means losing the edge on weight loss for a day or two or more, but never ever give up or have a defeatist attitude, where now you have failed and in your mind, therefore, can have free license to eat carbs every meal every day until all the weight you have lost is back again. This kind of attitude is very, very common, but so self-destructive. Love yourself much more than that! Find some carby-tasting replacements to satisfy those cravings and then stick with your WOE. Your body will thank you and later your mind will too when you feel and look fantastic!How long before the cravings subside? Basically it takes about 3 days on a strict low-carb diet for the carbs to be out of your system and for the cravings to subside.Here are people confessing their Carb Sins.Chromium and L-glutamine can help with bad cravings for carbohydrate.

———————

Article Content:
The IF Life Report by Mike O’Donnell who found out the secret to easy weight loss which if adhered to is a no brainer. You don’t have to count anything and you can be more liberal with food choices. It is important that the eating window is long enough that one can have at least two meals and perhaps a snack otherwise calories would go much too low and that could backfire on one in the long term.Eating less happens naturally when one has a long period of time without eating. Not only that, no insulin is produced (no fat is stored) during the non-eating hours and that is when the body has to dip into the fat stores to provide energy. Insulin is the fat storing hormone.The typical rate of weight loss is l lb per week. That does not seem like much, but it quickly adds up over time. How much better is that than standing still or gaining or having to constantly think about food and weight loss. This way of life is very liberating and low-carbing fits well into it as well. In fact, low-carbing will make sure cravings don’t hit during the non-eating hours.Is this easy? Yes, it is once you get into the groove, however, it may be difficult to find the right schedule in the beginning, especially if you have a family to cook for and to feed. Chances are you need to create a schedule around that. It is complicated for me, because my family likes dinner late in the afternoon and I am a breakfast person these days. It’s really difficult for me to skip breakfast and it even affects my mood, so I’m still trying to figure this out. I did it for a while and sure enough I lost 1 lb a week - great! Then something happens and messes up the schedule - usually having to cook outside my eating window and then I cave, or visiting friends’ houses for dinner. Sooo, I have to learn to skip breakfast in order to do this. A cup of tea or two does help to tide one over. Apparently, one can change the window to suit one’s day - i.e. IFing is flexible. Still if one’s window is already closed then that is a problem.Even although skipping breakfast goes against every nutritionist’s advice out there, I would still lose weight when I did IF with a window from about 11 am to 5 pm (6 hour window -18 hours of fasting). I sometimes used to throw in an almost 24 hour period of not eating and that made doubly sure that I lost the 1 lb. I have a thyroid autoimmune problem, so most people won’t have my difficulty in losing weight.Just as a matter of interest, I was not always a breakfast person. When I was in my twenties and a working girl, I always gave breakfast a skip due to time constraints and wanting more mirror time (I was more than a little insecure about my looks at that time, plus I battled a bit of acne - which incidentally never ever came back after going low-carb). I was thin - really quite slender (narrow hips and slender legs with a small waist), but still had breasts (always had those). I ate a small sesame seed and honey snack candy thingie that I bought regularly at lunch time and walked around the downtown of the city of Cape Town. Supper time I ate a big meal and by that time I was usually starving. I drank sugar coke (sugar not high fructose corn syrup was used in coke in South Africa) and often had things like spaghetti or lasagna and bread and butter and jam. So, really not a healthy diet by low-carb standards, but I was skinny and healthy and young. However, it is kind of strange to look back and realize that I was actually doing the IF life without ever knowing it and it allowed me to keep my best figure ever! Interesting!Listen to people who have successfully incorporated the IF Life. It’s very motivating: People talking about IF

———————

Article Content:
The IF Life FAQ’sPlease don’t think of IFing as starving. It’s not meant to be done that way. There will be a caloric deficit, but not a huge one, as one only loses 1 to 2 lbs a week maximum.

———————

Article Content:
HOMEMADE ALMOND AND PEANUT BUTTERThis is an easy, perhaps cheaper way to make nut butters. Not only that, it is guaranteed that your nut butter contains only good ingredients!8 oz sliced almonds, toasted (250 g) OR roasted peanuts (with or without salt)2 tbsp light-tasting olive oil(25 mL)1/4 tsp salt, or to taste (1 mL)To toast almonds: In dry nonstick pan, stir fry almonds over medium heat until browning. Watch carefully as they can burn very quickly.In food processor with sharp blade, process almonds or peanuts until ground as finely as possible. While continuing to process, gradually add olive oil through the feeder until completely incorporated. Add salt and process again. Refrigerate in a sealed container or use in your favorite recipes.Helpful Hints: The amount of olive oil to use will vary but use enough to get a good consistency. Start with 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil.Yield: 1 cup (250 mL)1 tbsp almond/peanut butter96.9/97.3 calories3.0/3.7 g protein8.9/8.7 g fat1.1/1.7 g carbs

———————

Article Content:


The US’s Food and Drug Agency is reevaluating the safety of a popular chemical additive called triclosan, based on recent studies that seem to indicate it causes endocrine disruption in the body and leads to the emergence of drug-resistant “super” bacteria. According to reports, the FDA has allegedly been working for over 38 years to establish rules for the use of triclosan but has not completed the assignment. Throughout this time the agency has continued to approve its usage, including a 1997 decision to allow its use in Colgate Total toothpaste, but is now reevaluating that decision.

You may not know the name, but you will certainly have come across Triclosan as it is commonly found in liquid antibacterial hand soaps and sanitizers, dishwashing detergents, shaving gels, toothpastes, clothing and even children’s toys. It was originally designed as a surgical scrub for people in the medical field, but is now used in pesticides and a variety of different consumer products to ward off pathogens.

This may be more than you need to know, but its use is so common in that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traces of triclosan can be found in the urine of about 75 percent of the population.

Triclosan is used because it is believed to be a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent, however other than as a treatment for gingivitis in toothpaste, there is no evidence that it provides any benefits in other consumer product applications. A 2005 advisory panel to the FDA agreed, noting that there is no evidence that antibacterial soaps with triclosan work any better than plain soap and water.

I am not suggesting you panic, but if you are using antibacterial hand gels on a daily basis then a simple precaution would be to go back to the good old-fashioned bar of soap as a sensible precaution.




———————