Ha!
Looks like Tom left town and forgot I’ve still got his Fat Head login info. He and Chareva and the girls stopped into Springfield Wednesday and Thursday to visit before continuing on to Chicago, so The Wife and I decided to have them over for dinner instead of making Mom cook for all of us.
Naturally, it was low carb. We ended up getting one of maybe four nice days for weather so far this summer, so we were able to eat outside in the Flamingo Lounge (The Wife and her sister have had a running joke going for years where they give each other flamingo-themed gifts).
The Flamingo Lounge and family.
I also got a little help in the garden from a couple of young ladies you may recognize as Tom’s lab assistants…
For openers, cheese and deer summer sausage (no crackers, thanks). The sausage is processed locally with cheese and jalapeno pepper using my last season’s success, where I happened to shoot the second-dumbest deer in the entire universe.
I knew it was dumb because it got close enough for me to shoot it. I took care of the first-dumbest deer in the entire universe a couple of years ago.
To get started, we had a Crab & Avocado Salad for which I’d begged the recipe from a restaurant I’d come across while working near San Jose a few years ago…
It’s one of those “looks fancy/very easy” things. To make 8-10 servings, fold about 1 & 1/2 pounds crab meat (I know, take out a second mortgage first) into 1 & 1/2 mashed avocados, then fold in 1 cup of whipped cream. Add another avocado that been chunked up (not mashed), fold together, spoon into 8-10 molds and refrigerate for at least a few hours. When you’re ready to serve, put some mescal or other fancy salad onto a plate, drizzle with poppy seed dressing, then unmold the crab/avocado into the center. Put a coupe of lumps of reserved crab on top then garnish with some caviar. Not a carb in sight.
The sides where steamed asparagus (recipe: get asparagus; steam)and a Two Cheese Squash Casserole. That starts with boiling 4 pounds of sliced yellow squash with a diced onion for about 8 minutes, then draining and combining with a cup of shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of fresh parsley, an 8 oz. container of sour cream, a teaspoon each of garlic salt and pepper, a couple of beaten eggs, and a cup of bread crumbs (we whizzed up about 6 pieces of low-carb bread for the whole recipe — which works out to about 2 net carbs per generous serving) and 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. That all gets spooned into a 9 x 13 baking dish and gets topped with another 1 & 1/2 cups bread crumbs and 1/2 cup Parmesan mixed with 2 Tbs of melted butter. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
The main course was grilled pork tenderloin with lime dipping sauce. A rub goes on the pork tenderloin made up of 1 Tbs salt, 1 Tbs (Splenda) brown sugar, 1/2 tsp each of chili powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper (actually, we usually make about a 5x batch of this and keep it in a shaker).
The dipping sauce is made up of a chopped jalapeno pepper, some grated lime peel, 1/4 cup of lime juice, a Tbs each of olive oil and Dijon mustard, a tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp of salt, a couple of garlic cloves and 1/4 cup of honey (we doubled the recipe because we were grilling four tenderloins, but we had plenty left over), all whizzed up in the blender.
After all of that, we decided to pass up on the fresh strawberries and peaches with cream that we’d planned for desert. We’ll cut the portion size of the crab & avocado salad down when it’s not a main course!
Everyone was happy and full but not stuffed and lethargic and there were probably less than 10 net carbs apiece for the whole meal. Oops — that’s obviously not good. For those of you who want to follow ADA guidelines, you can tweak it by spreading this over your plate:
110 grams of sugar. I mean, Heart Healthy carbs! Sure, you could’ve had a big bowl of Raisin Bran, but that would really spike your blood sugar!
If you’ve bought all of that crab meat, odds are that there will be 6 or 8 ounces left. What to do? Well, wait until The Younger Brother leaves town, then make omelets with that, a few of the asparagus stalks, and that easy Hollandaise sauce from my last post.
I better go before Tom checks his blog — see you in the comments!
Cheers,
The Older Brother
If you enjoy my posts, please consider a small donation to the Fat Head Kids GoFundMe campaign.
Everything sounds great except … I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners. History has taught me that every artificial food designed to be a healthier alternative ends up being worse than whatever it’s replacing. Splenda could be the exception, but I’m not betting on it.
Point taken. I’m not completely sold on the artificial stuff either. Splenda seems to be the most benign, but I’m not betting on it being the exception long-term, either. I think there’s definitely and argument for just using the real stuff and keeping it under control. I’m hoping that keeping the portions low will work out either way.
Cheers!
You WILL be contributing to the cookbook, right?
I suspect I’ll get a chance to make a few contributions. Tom and Chareva are handling all of the the science.
What a pleasant surprise! The crab avocado salad sounds and looks wonderful. I’ll be trying it next week. The squash I’ll be doing tonight, though. I can almost taste it, just reading the recipe. Good job, Older Brother. Keep your log-in handy.
Just don’t anybody tell Tom. Har! Har!
Great post.. all that’s missing is the low carb Flamingo Lounge cocktail for the grownups.
Cheers!
Actually, I was sipping on a drink consisting of Chill brand lemonade (made with Splenda), iced tea, and vodka. I call it a “Potted Palmer,” in honor of Arnold Palmer’s preferred refreshment. Although I’m not sure he’d be honored. Not exactly Paleo, I admit.
Cheers back atcha!
I think I will be using that squash casserole recipe for dinner tonight! Thanks
I’ll pass that on to The Wife. Enjoy.
Everything sounds great except … I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners. History has taught me that every artificial food designed to be a healthier alternative ends up being worse than whatever it’s replacing. Splenda could be the exception, but I’m not betting on it.
Point taken. I’m not completely sold on the artificial stuff either. Splenda seems to be the most benign, but I’m not betting on it being the exception long-term, either. I think there’s definitely and argument for just using the real stuff and keeping it under control. I’m hoping that keeping the portions low will work out either way.
Cheers!
You WILL be contributing to the cookbook, right?
I suspect I’ll get a chance to make a few contributions. Tom and Chareva are handling all of the the science.
And some people say eating low carb is boring. Hah! I’ll be referring back to this post and your other dinner one frequently for recipes–thanks!
Low carb is an adventure!
Cheers
Mesclun rather then mescal? I’d drink the mescal, though I’d avoid mescaline…
Shoot. I wasn’t sure if I spelled that right. I guess it depends on the effect you’re going for…
— The Older Brother
The casserole is delicious! I made my usual substitution of crushed pork rinds for bread crumbs, which makes for a softer au gratin crust, but otherwise, just as written. At first I thought it was a lot of cheese, but once I checked the amount of squash (4 pounds!), I wasn’t worried about the indulgence. Still, enough cheesy, creamy goodness to make that squash a delight.
That sounds pretty good. I’ll appropriate some of the oldest son’s pork rinds next time. That’s what he munches on while BBQ-ing.
– Older Brother
What a pleasant surprise! The crab avocado salad sounds and looks wonderful. I’ll be trying it next week. The squash I’ll be doing tonight, though. I can almost taste it, just reading the recipe. Good job, Older Brother. Keep your log-in handy.
Just don’t anybody tell Tom. Har! Har!
Great post.. all that’s missing is the low carb Flamingo Lounge cocktail for the grownups.
Cheers!
Actually, I was sipping on a drink consisting of Chill brand lemonade (made with Splenda), iced tea, and vodka. I call it a “Potted Palmer,” in honor of Arnold Palmer’s preferred refreshment. Although I’m not sure he’d be honored. Not exactly Paleo, I admit.
Cheers back atcha!
I bet you had some nasty, soupy farts after all of that deer meat and cheese. I’ll stick with my vegetarianism. Thanks.
We know you will. We could smell you. Phew.
It’s nice to get my own personal troll, though. Thanks for caring!
Cheers.
I think I will be using that squash casserole recipe for dinner tonight! Thanks
I’ll pass that on to The Wife. Enjoy.
And some people say eating low carb is boring. Hah! I’ll be referring back to this post and your other dinner one frequently for recipes–thanks!
Low carb is an adventure!
Cheers
Mesclun rather then mescal? I’d drink the mescal, though I’d avoid mescaline…
Shoot. I wasn’t sure if I spelled that right. I guess it depends on the effect you’re going for…
— The Older Brother
The casserole is delicious! I made my usual substitution of crushed pork rinds for bread crumbs, which makes for a softer au gratin crust, but otherwise, just as written. At first I thought it was a lot of cheese, but once I checked the amount of squash (4 pounds!), I wasn’t worried about the indulgence. Still, enough cheesy, creamy goodness to make that squash a delight.
That sounds pretty good. I’ll appropriate some of the oldest son’s pork rinds next time. That’s what he munches on while BBQ-ing.
– Older Brother
I bet you had some nasty, soupy farts after all of that deer meat and cheese. I’ll stick with my vegetarianism. Thanks.
We know you will. We could smell you. Phew.
It’s nice to get my own personal troll, though. Thanks for caring!
Cheers.
Thanks for a great post and recipes!
Diet food …
Okay, so a LCHF diet produces better weight loss, and better improvement in metabolic indicators. You can’t stick with it! It’s so boring!!
Nicely done, Older Brother! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. Maybe we’re not bored because we have no imagination!
— The Older Brother
I loved the post! I would be very careful about the sucralose though-it is made of chlorinated sugar, which has been shown to kill beneficial bacteria in the gut and stall/prevent weight loss (if that is a goal of yours).
http://www.steviacafe.net/dangers-of-splenda (I realize this is a website for stevia support, maybe not the most objective).
http://www.splendainfo.com/dangers-of-splenda
I used to consume artificial sweeteners, thinking they would be better than sugar (because of the calories). But I felt sick after eating them, even as a teenager. Then I went back to eating sugar, but rawer forms, thinking they were healthier. Then I got educated about carbs altogether, via Fathead and other info I had been gathering over a few year span. I really like sweets, so that was an issue for me, which led me to stevia. I’m still learning to experiment with the different forms/concentrations, but am happy with it so far and am adjusting well to it mentally (no sugar to make me feel grumpy 30 minutes later!) Now I make ice cream with stevia (best to eat it right away), cookies (out of almond/coconut flours), fudge, etc.
Thank you for letting me get my 2 cents in. 🙂
All info welcome. We don’t use a lot of Splenda normally around our house as we trend more paleo during the week. I actually planted a stevia plant in the garden this year. Tom’s girls sampled it and thought it was pretty good. I’ve still got to dry some out and crush it to see how it works out.
Generally I agree that the less artificial anything, the better.
Cheers!
Thank you for mentioning the hollandaise recipe. I must have overlooked it in your previous post. I recently watched Julia Child make it (on DVD) and she stirred and stirred in a double boiler and warned about what to do if it “breaks”. I promptly filed it under “things that are way too hard to try in this lifetime”.
Will be making this tomorrow!
You can’t break (the egg curdles and separates) the easy version because you’re not dealing with the same heat. We’ve had it both ways and can’t tell the difference.
Since you’re not using the double boiler for the easy version, however, make sure the melted butter is hot. We do one stick in a measuring cup in the microwave for about one minute on 60% heat. The butter will separate a little — just stir it back together before pulsing it into the egg yolks/lemon juice/spices one third at a time.
You can blend the egg yolks and lemon juice and spices any time. Save heating/adding the butter until you’re ready to serve so the sauce is still warm. Let us know how yours turns out!
— The Older Brother
Thanks for a great post and recipes!
Diet food …
Okay, so a LCHF diet produces better weight loss, and better improvement in metabolic indicators. You can’t stick with it! It’s so boring!!
Nicely done, Older Brother! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. Maybe we’re not bored because we have no imagination!
— The Older Brother
The whole natural vs. artificial argument is moot. There are plenty of “natural” things in the world that will kill you. Arsenic. Deadly Nightshade. Radiation.
Look, I’m not saying that artificial is good or not, but just because something is artificial doesn’t make it bad by default. Without a long-term double-blind study (which will NEVER happen) we’ll never know for sure. Just because something is natural (i.e. stevia) doesn’t make it safe or healthy long term either.
Agreed. I think, however, there is something to be said for treading carefully when we’re dealing with created substances that are such recent additions to our diet. Also, portion makes the poison. I don’t think we’re using enough to have a significant metabolic effect.
Cheers.
I loved the post! I would be very careful about the sucralose though-it is made of chlorinated sugar, which has been shown to kill beneficial bacteria in the gut and stall/prevent weight loss (if that is a goal of yours).
http://www.steviacafe.net/dangers-of-splenda (I realize this is a website for stevia support, maybe not the most objective).
http://www.splendainfo.com/dangers-of-splenda
I used to consume artificial sweeteners, thinking they would be better than sugar (because of the calories). But I felt sick after eating them, even as a teenager. Then I went back to eating sugar, but rawer forms, thinking they were healthier. Then I got educated about carbs altogether, via Fathead and other info I had been gathering over a few year span. I really like sweets, so that was an issue for me, which led me to stevia. I’m still learning to experiment with the different forms/concentrations, but am happy with it so far and am adjusting well to it mentally (no sugar to make me feel grumpy 30 minutes later!) Now I make ice cream with stevia (best to eat it right away), cookies (out of almond/coconut flours), fudge, etc.
Thank you for letting me get my 2 cents in. 🙂
All info welcome. We don’t use a lot of Splenda normally around our house as we trend more paleo during the week. I actually planted a stevia plant in the garden this year. Tom’s girls sampled it and thought it was pretty good. I’ve still got to dry some out and crush it to see how it works out.
Generally I agree that the less artificial anything, the better.
Cheers!
Thank you for mentioning the hollandaise recipe. I must have overlooked it in your previous post. I recently watched Julia Child make it (on DVD) and she stirred and stirred in a double boiler and warned about what to do if it “breaks”. I promptly filed it under “things that are way too hard to try in this lifetime”.
Will be making this tomorrow!
You can’t break (the egg curdles and separates) the easy version because you’re not dealing with the same heat. We’ve had it both ways and can’t tell the difference.
Since you’re not using the double boiler for the easy version, however, make sure the melted butter is hot. We do one stick in a measuring cup in the microwave for about one minute on 60% heat. The butter will separate a little — just stir it back together before pulsing it into the egg yolks/lemon juice/spices one third at a time.
You can blend the egg yolks and lemon juice and spices any time. Save heating/adding the butter until you’re ready to serve so the sauce is still warm. Let us know how yours turns out!
— The Older Brother
The whole natural vs. artificial argument is moot. There are plenty of “natural” things in the world that will kill you. Arsenic. Deadly Nightshade. Radiation.
Look, I’m not saying that artificial is good or not, but just because something is artificial doesn’t make it bad by default. Without a long-term double-blind study (which will NEVER happen) we’ll never know for sure. Just because something is natural (i.e. stevia) doesn’t make it safe or healthy long term either.
Agreed. I think, however, there is something to be said for treading carefully when we’re dealing with created substances that are such recent additions to our diet. Also, portion makes the poison. I don’t think we’re using enough to have a significant metabolic effect.
Cheers.
Oh, and local sausage in Springfield, IL? I lived in Decatur from birth to age 20, then in Champaign or Urbana until almost age 30. Maybe I should move back, just for that. Except there are high taxes — and those winters and summers (usually cooler here in Florida in the summer, to my amazement).
Boots Randolph (wrote Yakety Sax) is probably the most famous person from Decatur, the home of industrial food (corn and soy processing aplenty).
Decatur is where Tom and my family is from originally. We moved away shortly after Tom was born, but that’s where we had Christmas at Grandma’s for years.
Cheers!
Oh, and local sausage in Springfield, IL? I lived in Decatur from birth to age 20, then in Champaign or Urbana until almost age 30. Maybe I should move back, just for that. Except there are high taxes — and those winters and summers (usually cooler here in Florida in the summer, to my amazement).
Boots Randolph (wrote Yakety Sax) is probably the most famous person from Decatur, the home of industrial food (corn and soy processing aplenty).
Decatur is where Tom and my family is from originally. We moved away shortly after Tom was born, but that’s where we had Christmas at Grandma’s for years.
Cheers!
Okay, I have to ask the million dollar question, Tom: Do you or any of your family plan on indulging in wedding cake at the wedding reception? If so, it might serve as an interesting experiment in how everyone feels after having gone at least a good number of months on end on low-carb and sugar, and then suddenly getting such a massive dose of carbs and sugar does, even if it’s just one comparatively small serving.
In fact, I’d be interested in comparing how other people who contribute to the blog feel when they do occasionally have the occasional slice of pizza or a few sweets, what their individual reactions are.
We’re back, and no, I didn’t try the wedding cake. I did, however, take advantage of being in Chicago to enjoy a stuffed pizza from Giordano’s. (If you’re going to cheat, make it worth it.) I felt sluggish the next day, but didn’t care much since I spent that day driving back to Tennessee.
Did I see a beer in one of those photos!! Tisk, tisk 😉
The only drinks in the post this time was my tea, no-sugar lemonade, and vodka concoction. Not healthy, but not beer. There were one or two in my prior post, but those were my oldest son’s, who’s low-carb otherwise and works out regularly. Wish I’d known what I do now when I was his age.
I enjoy a beer once in awhile, but with knowledge and age the enjoyment just doesn’t offset the bloating from more than a couple.
Cheers!
Great post. Nice to see you back. I agree about Splenda and get the impression that North Americans have a sweeter tooth when it comes to savouries – especially salad dressings and dips.
Nina
Probably. A commenter on one of Tom’s earlier posts noted that we they came to the US, everything tasted sweeter.
I’ve gotten in the habit of checking food labels and I don’t think they package anything in America without high fructose corn syrup in it along with some soy or canola oil just for good measure.
— The Older Brother
Okay, I have to ask the million dollar question, Tom: Do you or any of your family plan on indulging in wedding cake at the wedding reception? If so, it might serve as an interesting experiment in how everyone feels after having gone at least a good number of months on end on low-carb and sugar, and then suddenly getting such a massive dose of carbs and sugar does, even if it’s just one comparatively small serving.
In fact, I’d be interested in comparing how other people who contribute to the blog feel when they do occasionally have the occasional slice of pizza or a few sweets, what their individual reactions are.
We’re back, and no, I didn’t try the wedding cake. I did, however, take advantage of being in Chicago to enjoy a stuffed pizza from Giordano’s. (If you’re going to cheat, make it worth it.) I felt sluggish the next day, but didn’t care much since I spent that day driving back to Tennessee.
Oh man, is there really gonna be a cookbook? Maybe you can “just” keep photographing your meals and give us the recipes for them. WOW they look fantastic. How were we ever convinced that low fat was the way to go?!?
Thanks for this.
Tom casually mentioned the idea of a kids cookbook in one of his posts a few months ago, and his blog lit up with folks demanding that he write it. I believe the current thinking is oriented towards parents and kids that will be entertaining and educational like Fat Head, with an emphasis on nutrition for kids. And recipes. I’ll probably try to weasel in a few contributions.
It sounds like an awesome but time-consuming project for him and Chareva, so keep reminding him — but be patient!
Cheers.
Did I see a beer in one of those photos!! Tisk, tisk 😉
The only drinks in the post this time was my tea, no-sugar lemonade, and vodka concoction. Not healthy, but not beer. There were one or two in my prior post, but those were my oldest son’s, who’s low-carb otherwise and works out regularly. Wish I’d known what I do now when I was his age.
I enjoy a beer once in awhile, but with knowledge and age the enjoyment just doesn’t offset the bloating from more than a couple.
Cheers!
Great post. Nice to see you back. I agree about Splenda and get the impression that North Americans have a sweeter tooth when it comes to savouries – especially salad dressings and dips.
Nina
Probably. A commenter on one of Tom’s earlier posts noted that we they came to the US, everything tasted sweeter.
I’ve gotten in the habit of checking food labels and I don’t think they package anything in America without high fructose corn syrup in it along with some soy or canola oil just for good measure.
— The Older Brother
Oh man, is there really gonna be a cookbook? Maybe you can “just” keep photographing your meals and give us the recipes for them. WOW they look fantastic. How were we ever convinced that low fat was the way to go?!?
Thanks for this.
Tom casually mentioned the idea of a kids cookbook in one of his posts a few months ago, and his blog lit up with folks demanding that he write it. I believe the current thinking is oriented towards parents and kids that will be entertaining and educational like Fat Head, with an emphasis on nutrition for kids. And recipes. I’ll probably try to weasel in a few contributions.
It sounds like an awesome but time-consuming project for him and Chareva, so keep reminding him — but be patient!
Cheers.
I don’t quite understand the posts that say that artificial sweeteners are or can be worse than sugar. So far no artificial sweetener has been proven to do worse than what we know sugar to do. It would take quite a bit of nasty findings for me to be convinced that Splenda will have a worse affect on my body than sugar.
I believe the concern is that they haven’t been around long enough to have any major effects manifest themselves yet. I’m sympathetic to the point, and we haven’t seemed to come up with a “free lunch” so far.
Splenda seems fairly benign at this time, but Tom’s and my mom gets an immediate headache whenever she ingests aspartame (she avoids it, but has gotten surprised a few times when it was a “mystery ingredient”).
Moderation and remaining aware of one’s own reactions seem to be a reasonable approach to new products without much history.
Cheers.
@Tracker, Stevia has been around–and consumed–for thousand(s) of years in parts of South America as part of their tradition, at least in it’s natural leaf form. Now I realize that doesn’t necessarily make it safe–wheat’s been around longer and look what it’s done for us. However, in moderation I would (and do) choose it over sugar in all forms or Splenda, aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners. There is some evidence that Stevia might even have some benefits–Mark Sisson has a post about it in his blog: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/ I think caution, skepticism, and moderation is always wise, but I’m more skeptical of artificial sweeteners than I am of Stevia–just because of it’s track record.
to the person commenting about steviaokay here it is:
splenda is better than suagr, butsteiva is better than splenda. say that 10 times fast. i dare you. lol
Where’s the post with the Hollandaise sauce recipe? I can’t find it, and I really want to try it!
Great post, Older Brother. None of us will tell Tom anything. Keep on posting when he’s not here. We need our Naughton Brothers fix!
Someday when my sister publishes her book and becomes a millionaire, I will have to try out that crab salad. For now, that squash two-cheese casserole looks yummy.
If you go with smaller portions, I don’t think there’s any reason you couldn’t get away with just one 16 oz container of crab (we got so full on a recipe made with 1 & 1/2 containers for nine people that we passed on desert).
Get a couple of friends to chip in and you’ll be ‘putting on the Ritz’ at McDonald’s prices!
— The Older Brother
Hey, I finally found the Hollandaise sauce recipe! I CAN too search with the best of them.
Glad you found it. I have to futz around a little when I’m trying to find old posts, too. For anyone still looking, the easy Hollandaise is at http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/05/04/2848
Cheers!
I use small amounts of sugar occasionally, but otherwise I stick to stevia or xylitol. Xylitol — in the form of candies and chewing gum (be sure it’s strictly xylitol in the gum, not xylitol plus sorbitol) — really does work for getting rid of dental problems. At least it did for me.
I don’t quite understand the posts that say that artificial sweeteners are or can be worse than sugar. So far no artificial sweetener has been proven to do worse than what we know sugar to do. It would take quite a bit of nasty findings for me to be convinced that Splenda will have a worse affect on my body than sugar.
I believe the concern is that they haven’t been around long enough to have any major effects manifest themselves yet. I’m sympathetic to the point, and we haven’t seemed to come up with a “free lunch” so far.
Splenda seems fairly benign at this time, but Tom’s and my mom gets an immediate headache whenever she ingests aspartame (she avoids it, but has gotten surprised a few times when it was a “mystery ingredient”).
Moderation and remaining aware of one’s own reactions seem to be a reasonable approach to new products without much history.
Cheers.
@Tracker, Stevia has been around–and consumed–for thousand(s) of years in parts of South America as part of their tradition, at least in it’s natural leaf form. Now I realize that doesn’t necessarily make it safe–wheat’s been around longer and look what it’s done for us. However, in moderation I would (and do) choose it over sugar in all forms or Splenda, aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners. There is some evidence that Stevia might even have some benefits–Mark Sisson has a post about it in his blog: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/ I think caution, skepticism, and moderation is always wise, but I’m more skeptical of artificial sweeteners than I am of Stevia–just because of it’s track record.
to the person commenting about steviaokay here it is:
splenda is better than suagr, butsteiva is better than splenda. say that 10 times fast. i dare you. lol
I haven’t seen enough credible evidence that sucralose is dangerous to get myself worked up about it. By credible I mean proven instances of “Sucralose caused X; here’s the data,” and preferably not about how rats responded to it (stevia has been linked to infertility in rats, btw). For example, if Splenda really does destroy the flora of a person’s intestines, wouldn’t there be actual evidence of this? Wouldn’t people who regularly consume it have some symptoms? And, to what extent is the alleged disruption? Would eating an occasional serving of good yogurt take care of it? The U.S. banned cyclamates because they were so harmful, but kept saccharin on the grocery store shelves. Canada, though, still sells cyclamates. Perhaps the hysteria was generated by the sugar industry because cyclamates were infinitely better than saccharin? Saccharin was also indicted as a cancer-causing agent (in rats), but that so-called evidence has been reevaluated and found to wanting. Obviously, if a substance causes a person problems, they shouldn’t consume it. But just because a substance DOES cause a person problems doesn’t mean that it’s “dangerous”; if I eat oats, I’ll have a gout attack. Are oats “dangerous”? To me they certainly are!
Here are some interesting posts by Dr. Eades:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/sugar-and-sweeteners/splenda-misinformation/
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/another-take-on-the-splenda-nonsense/
When The Wife and I started down the Fat Head path, we knew aspartame was questionable and since we jumped in with the Eades’ “Six Week Cure to the Middle-Aged Middle,” we didn’t worry too much about Splenda.
I think as most of us kick the carb habit, the amount of sweeteners we use drops so low that the “natural” or “laboratory” question tends to become moot in the absence of n=1 bad reactions.
Cheers.
Where’s the post with the Hollandaise sauce recipe? I can’t find it, and I really want to try it!
Great post, Older Brother. None of us will tell Tom anything. Keep on posting when he’s not here. We need our Naughton Brothers fix!