The day started off today with a mad tear by the bride to make sure the full-page ad for the Messiah was in the entertainment section of the local paper. You can see her above brandishing it proudly. She’s holding the paper as she is because she doesn’t want anyone to see her bed head.
I started off the day with a chocolate protein shake made the way all the others have been. But this time I was about half way through the shake when MD starting yelling, “What are you doing? You’ve got to take a picture.” Oh, yeah. So, what you see is what’s left of the chocolate shake.
I busied myself with a load of projects this morning while MD went off to do a couple of radio interviews for the Messiah. I thought she was going to be gone for a couple of hours – she thought she had told me she was going to be gone for most of the day. Since MD is my life-support system where food is concerned, it didn’t occur to me that I would be without someone putting food before me all day. But I soldiered on awaiting her return. While soldiering I ate a handful of mixed nuts.
As the day wore on, I ate another handful of mixed nuts like the one above. And another. Three all together throughout the late morning and early afternoon. I ate nothing else. But I did take a swig of pickle juice, which I dearly love. I have my own dedicated jar of pickles so that I don’t slurp from a jar that someone else might grab a pickle from. Since I was alone, I took my own photo.
I almost didn’t put this photo in because I’m not including photos of water, coffee, tea and any other non-caloric beverages (there were none other than these three), and pickle juice probably qualifies as being non-caloric, but since it is a good thing on a low-carb diet, I decided to include it. Why is pickle juice a good thing? Because it has a lot of sodium. Sometimes on low-carb diets, people get a little sodium depleted. Why? Because insulin makes the kidneys retain sodium, which is why people who have hyperinsulinemia retain fluid. Excess sodium causes fluid retention. When starting a low-carb diet, most people spend a lot of time in the bathroom getting rid of that excess fluid as their insulin falls, and their kidneys release the sodium. So, since I’m on a low-carb diet virtually all the time, I like to add a little sodium from time to time because I know I constantly get rid of it. And it gives me a good excuse to drink the pickle juice. Other more squeamish types drink bouillon.
When MD finally got home, she was in a sweat to get changed and get back downtown. The chorus has a final rehearsal tonight for the big event tomorrow. And, unfortunately, the Santa Barbara Christmas parade is tonight, and it goes right by the Granada theater where she will be rehearsing. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find a place to park. So, I suggested that we leave early, beat the parade crowd and grab a bite downtown. Then she would be right by the Granada, and I could come pick her up after when all the parade traffic had died down.
We ate at a great little Southern-style restaurant right next door to the Granada called Tupelo Junction. We’ve eaten there for breakfast many, many times, but never for dinner. And they have the absolute best bloody marys in town, one of which I always have when we have breakfast there. I decided to throw caution to the wind and have a bloody mary before dinner, which I’ve never done before. But I’ve never been confronted with Tupelo Junction’s bloody mary at dinnertime either. Here is is.
Their bloody marys include a crab claw and pickled green beans, both of which – to my palate – are infinitely better than and olive and lemon or whatever they usually put in bloody marys. De-frigging-liceous!
Then, for good measure, I ordered the Bloody Mary Braised Baby Back Ribs from the dinner menu. As you can see, these come with baby corn. I had them switch the corn out for some sauteed Swiss chard from the Crispy Fried Free Range Chicken entre. Just about the time our dinner came, I noticed that there was smoked bacon collard greens available on another entre that I hadn’t noticed. Although I love Swiss chard, there’s no green that I love more than collard greens. And to think I could have had them cooked with smoked bacon. Ah, well, there’s always next time.
As you can see, this is one large pile of ribs. I ate every one with my bare hands. The Swiss chard came with kernels of corn sprinkled on it, which I picked off. The bloody mary sauce on the ribs wasn’t as sweet as it looks. It was more tangy. It probably had some sugar in it, but I didn’t care because I hadn’t had more than about 10 grams of carb all day – if that. And I did eat every single one of the little fried onion rings. But I ate only half of the home-made apple sauce. It was nothing to write home about. This home made business is a real pet peeve of mine. How can restaurants call their food home made?
After dinner, MD and I went right next door to the Granada. I intended to drop her off and head home. But instead I decided to stay and watch a little of the rehearsal. And take a couple of photos of the Granada. Here you can see it looking back from the stage. It is a magnificent place.
It is an old theater from the 1920s that just underwent a $60 million renovation. The acoustics are unbelievable. If you look at the left side of the photo, you can see the box I’ll be sitting in tomorrow night. Being married to the President has it’s perks.
box
And I shot this photo of MD and group singing there little hearts out. MD is right in the middle in the front row.
The soloists that Marilyn Horn selected for this performance all have voices that are out of this world. The performance will be taped to be rebroadcast on the local classical station. I’ll get a few cuts and put them up for whose who are interested.
The official website of Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, low carb pioneers and authors of Protein Power.
Doc, you made my day! I needed to smile and you gave me a reason to do it. Its funny how MD covered her head with nespaper. Ah wome, arent they special! I smiled when I read that MD yelled at you ” what are you doing” when you started drinking your shake without taking a picture. It really put a big smile on my face that I so needed. I could just feel the moment
Granada looks just so glamorous, it reminds me of Carnegie Hall a bit! Great pictures, it really put a human touch on them. Seing MD rehearsing among many other people is such pleasure to look at. The harmony of all these folks singing together is incredible! Thank you as always!
What a great place. Beautiful.
Love the pickle juice pic. 😉
I love your blog!
Thank you.
You are such a home-made nut; I am too but isn’t pickle juice loaded with nasty preservatives and citric acid which can’t be too good for your stomach. I notice several times you had what looked like pickled peppers also. It’s difficult to find canned, jarred anything that doesn’t have preservatives. Something you care about or not?
This post also brings to light how difficult it is to be spontaneous while low carbing. You can’t reach for the peanut butter and bread anymore. I try to stay away from the nuts, cheese, salami. Oh if only men could be like good wives… kind of endearing how although you seem like quite the renaissance man, you are pretty helpless in the kitchen.
I don’t care about the preservatives a lot in pickle juice because I don’t make a steady diet of it. I take a swig every now and then when the impulse strikes me. And pickles, for the most part, don’t have a lot of preservatives – that’s what the salt is for.
I’m not really all that helpless in the kitchen. After all, I was the co-star in a PBS cooking show, so I had to perform. And I did so masterly. Problem is that MD is so much better than I at it all, so she has taken over the kitchen at home. She does everything because it is much more efficient that way. And since my contributions have been marginalized at our house, I don’t even know where anything is. So I couldn’t really cook here without a lot of exploratory effort even if I wanted to.
Every once in awhile I get an overwhelming craving for pickle juice. I thought I was just weird. Thanks for making me feel just a little more normal!
Boy oh boy does that Bloody Mary look good! Yum, smack, drool!
I’m sure you don’t mean to, but sometimes you crack me up! You can’t cook for yourself and you take a picture of yourself drinking pickle juice. (Ok, maybe I’m just easily amused.)
I wish I could be at the concert tonight – I love choral music. Have a good time!
The Bloody Mary was good, exceptionally good. I took my own photo drinking pickle juice because I promised to photograph anything with any calories, and since pickle juice may contain a calorie or two, I had to abide by my promise.
My weakness is olive brine. Yum and yuck at the same time.
I also have a habit of eating the bones of chicken like a scavenging animal, lol. I think the bones and the grizzle bits are the best part, silly normal people leave them behind for bland breast meat.
I eat about 2+ ounces of nuts per day. I suppose that’s why – everything I eat I have to prepare myself lol.
I’m really enjoying thise Dr Eades thanks for posting.
Hmmm. Olive brine. There’s one I hadn’t thought of. I’ll probably pass on the chicken bones, though.
BTW not to be a jerk but each handful of nuts looks like it has at least 10 carbs in it, since there is quite a lot of dried fruit. If you had two, plus a drink, you probably had closer to 30 carbs prior to dinner (assuming each handful was about 12 carbs and the drink was probably about 5).
I would have eaten the same way you did at dinner so it is a moot point. Dinner probably wasn’t more than 20 carbs anyway which is well acceptable.
Actually, that photo was kind of deceptive. There is a little dried fruit mixed in with the bag of nuts, but not very much. It so happened that that one handful I photographed on that day had a disproportionate amount of the fruit. The next handful had no fruit at all; it was more like the handful I photographed for this post. And, remember, I’m not trying to lose – I’m just maintaining. My carb allotment to maintain is a lot more than 50 gm per day. But, I think I subconsciously stick to around 50 gm per day anyway.
I saw some cranberries and raisins among those nuts. Did you eat them too? I know they taste good, but they are also loaded with sugar, especially cranberries!
Yep. See the answer to ItsTheWoo’s comment above.
Hi – Interesting to see how you coped with an unplanned eating day. Thanks for that! About to sing in a Messiah here myself soon. Cheers Annie
Good luck on your performance. I’m sure I’ll have photos of MD’s up tonight or tomorrow.
Uh hmm… Doc!
“So I couldn’t really cook her without a lot of exploratory effort even if I wanted to.”
All fixed. Thanks for the heads up. I would really have to make an exploratory effort to cook her, and I would have to catch her first.
Hi Doc,
Thanks so much for the tip on sodium. I no longer put salt on my meals, even though I don’t believe in the current anti-salt dogma. It’s now just out of habit. But my eyes were opened last Thursday night. It was the occasion of my eldest son’s Year 10 formal ball (“prom” in your lingo). So we and good many other parents — like all good, responsible parents everywhere — repaired to the local pub next door for a catch-up, meal and drinks. Both my wife and I had large meals, and I was careful in my choice and didn’t touch the pommes frites. Yet we both lost a massive amount of weight. Yes, it must have been the extra salt that goes into pub grub? Some sort of perverse reaction where the body retains fluid to keep the salt?? Hmmmm……
And a couple of nights before, there was the school’s Advent evening (younger son in that one, so couldn’t pike) and the choir did Hallejah. But, and here’s where I reveal myself as an old fart, was disappointed no one stood for the chorus. (I forgot.) When I was a kid, we ALWAYS were made to stand for the H. chorus. (And I’m Jewish!)
Last silly entry: Back to my old obsession, the DG Web shop. On the 1st anniversary of the site they have started putting albums up in FLAC format. This file format is lossless compression, so the music is bit-perfect CD quality. iTunes doesn’t support FLAC, so I use Winamp (also available for OS X). Stunningly good results. I’ve so far downloaded Mahler’s 10th (Derryck Cooke’s completion) and Va Va Voom Girl Anna Netrebko’s Opera Gala, with lots of the good old warhorses like “Au font du temple saint” from the Pearlfishers. Stuff like that. The files are twice as big as the mp3s but it’s worth it. Only a buck more. Only 50 albums so far, and a lot of them are conducted by Herbie von K, which every man and his dog already has, but some good other stuff. The Mahler is wonderful and the best recording of this posthumous piece so far. I wish I hadn’t been so fast downloading Anne-Sophie Mutter’s latest (Bach and Gubaidulina) in mp3, when I could now have done it in FLAC. Damn. (Sofia Gubaidulina, BTW, is one of the greatest living composers left, the Grande Dame of music.)
Basta,
Michael Richards
Did you GAIN massive amounts of weight or LOSE massive amounts of weight with the pub food? I would think the former.
Thanks for the heads up on the music. I’ll have to give it a try. As for Gubaidulina, I think she’s an acquired taste, and I haven’t acquired it yet. I like my music a little more melodic. As for my vote for the greatest living composer, I’d have to give the nod to Morten Lauridsen. Talk about melodic. His Lux Aeterna is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
Very poor choice of words on my part, Dr Mike. I apologize. What I was curious about was your unwillingness, not helplessness and you answered my question. Hope you weren’t too offended.
Not offended at all. Far from it. I thought your comment was hilarious. I don’t get offended when people kid me about my lack of kitchen skills. I think it’s funny that I’m such a kitchen dolt yet was the co-star of a cooking show. What that means is that I was excellent at following instructions. Before every take MD would tell me exactly what to do, and since I have a decent short term memory, I could do it.
Hi Dr. Eades,
I love olive juice, glad to know that I am in good company. My sodium is 136 – the low end of the acceptable scale. Maybe I need more. I take a potassium sparing diuretic for high blood pressure, plus an ACE inhibitor. All that anti-salt propaganda may have caused me to eat too little. I will try some of the sea salt.
The picture diet is a good idea. I may start that at the start of the year instead of writing in your diet log. It seems a lot simpler.
I got my lipid results today after 10 months on the PP diet. TRI G 57, HDL 84, LDL 147, Total 243. My doctor wanted me to start a Statin even before he saw the results of the lipid tests because of my high (3400) calcium score. He is really a statinator; however, I am over 65 and in a high risk group. I have several more tests this week. If I start one (pravastatatin 20), what CoQ10 should I be taking? I had memory problems with lipitor so I am not sure about taking a statin, but Dr Davis, whom you recommenced also seems to think statins help. By the way I got a c-reactive score of 2.2 on the PP diet. This seems ok. Dr. Davis seems to have come to your view that all carbos are equal; however he still is anti-saturated fat. I am still mostly on the PP diet and want to fine tune it to reduce my calcium score. I also have an aneurysm that showed up on the calcium score. I have two sonograms on Tuesday (heart and aneurysm) and a cardiac consult on Thursday. Too bad that I cannot change my genes, I am just like my male family members.
I can’t believe with your HDL what it is that anyone would want to put you on a statin. You are not, in fact, in a category that has been shown to benefit (slightly) from statins. Statins have provided benefit only to men UNDER 65 who have been diagnosed with heart disease (and that benefit was minimal at best). Not diagnosed with supposed risk factors, but with actual heart disease. There is obviously a lot of controversy swirling around the statin issue, but I’m going strictly by what the studies show, not by wishful thinking.
If you do go the statin route, make sure to take at least 300 mg per day of CoQ10.
Good luck. Keep me posted.
I just read a review of a new cook book titled Fat:
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/12/03/the_rich_satisfaction_of_a_decadent_ingredient/
Some of the recipes sound like low-carb dreams.
I see in your marvelous food pictures that MD makes the bacon crisp. Am I the only deviant who loves thick-rind bacon cooked medium rare?
Marly
No, you are not the only deviant. I love my bacon medium rare.
Fat is a good book. We have a copy. Not all the recipes are low-carb, but there are plenty.
Hi Doc (encore),
Viz Morten Lauridsen, here is an interesting post:
http://www.overgrownpath.com/2008/11/shock-of-popular.html
Sorry about like Gudaidulina: I think she’s fantastic.
And we lost weight at the pub. Despite having four or five rounds of drinks. (See, I told you that your drinking, while tut-tutted by your compatriots, was not exceptional.) So much so we’re going back very soon. Aussie Pub food does not equal UK same. So low carbing much easier than in Blighty.
Burning CD from FLAC takes a little more technical nous. If help needed, apply here.
And if I don’t post again here, I wish you, your beautiful wife and all readers a Merry Aussie Christmas.
http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/mp3?ID=233324&URL=/prelistening/00028947779711/00028947779711_01_004.mp3
http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/mp3?ID=233338&URL=/prelistening/00028947779711/00028947779711_01_008.mp3
http://minim.vox.com/library/audio/6a00c22522e91c8e1d00e398c9a17f0004.html
The last one, though the tune is trite, brings tears to my eyes because we used to sing it at Presentation Day every year at school. No snow, none of that Northern Hemisphere stuff. Just glorious weather at Christmas.
All the Best for the New Year,
Michael Richards
Hey Michael–
Best to you and yours as well. Thanks for the lovely music. MD’s going to send them to the choir’s artistic director to see if one or more might be included in next years Christmas program.
So, Merry Christmas to us and happy summer to you.
Cheers–
MRE
Amen on Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna; also I’d put John Adams up for best contemporary American composer as well. Though the former works with LA Master Chorale a lot, my favorite Lauridsen recordings are of the English chorus Polyphany with Stephen Layton and Britten Sinfonia on hyperion. Remarkable…
I’m not familiar with John Adams. I know all about Lauridsen because he was the mentor of the director of MD’s choral group. They have performed the Lux Aeterna all over Europe to adoring crowds – Lauridsen isn’t well known on the continent, especially in Italy, and the crowds love his music.
“I can’t believe with your HDL what it is that anyone would want to put you on a statin. You are not, in fact, in a category that has been shown to benefit (slightly) from statins. Statins have provided benefit only to men UNDER 65 who have been diagnosed with heart disease (and that benefit was minimal at best). Not diagnosed with supposed risk factors, but with actual heart disease. There is obviously a lot of controversy swirling around the statin issue, but I’m going strictly by what the studies show, not by wishful thinking.”
My ratios are perfect even though my total cholesterol level is higher than 200. At first my doctor was concerned but since I so don’t believe in the pills for everything mantra, he didn’t have a chance.
Even if my total was 400, if the ratios are good and the HDL is high, why would any doctor put a patient on a medicine that is so bad for us?
My doctor is finally realizing that I am not a pill popper. I still have to take blood pressure meds and I’m working on getting that down so that I won’t even have to take those.
I’m in my 60s and my goal is to be 100% medication free.
Giving up wheat was great for my allergies by the way. No more sinus issues. Who’da thunk it?
Isn’t baby corn mostly fiber? should have a very low “Effective carb” count?
Rabbi Hirsch Meisels
Jewish Friends With Diabetes International
http://www.FriendsWithDiabetes.org
Yes, but I avoid it anyway. I’m not absolutely crazy about corn (other than FRESH corn on the cob), so it’s not worth the carbs to me.
Dr. Mike-
Can we get you to weigh in with your thoughts on some of these “replacement foods” we see for sale everywhere that seem to just be low-carb substitutes?
Specifically, I’m curious about almond flour and its peers. But I do still miss a lot of the foods I used to enjoy, like pastries and things like that. One site in particular has replacement products for cheese cake, brownies, muffins, waffles, mashed potatoes, and more.
Do you recommend that people use these types of products in their LC diet, or do you recommend just sticking to the basic real foods that have been on your blog all week? I’ve been sticking to these types of foods, but I would be a liar if I said I didn’t crave a muffin every now and again.
To my mind, junk food is junk food whether it’s low-carb or not. I think people who try to replace their high-carb diet of junk with a low-carb diet of junk are doomed to failure. The value of those foods – if there is a value – is in the availability of it if you only eat it occasionally. But, if I am going to eat a cinnamon raisin bagel (my favorite kind) once in a blue moon, I would rather eat the real thing than a low-carb replacement. If I were going to eat bagels all the time, I suppose I would be better off with the low-carb variety, but I wouldn’t plan on losing a lot of weight.
“His Lux Aeterna is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard”
Nice to hear that. I was the only person in my circle of friends who had ever heard of Lauridson until I began buying the Lux Aeterna CD and giving it away to people. I agree that there are passages that are otherworldly in their beauty. People are usually stunned when they learn he is a 20th cent. composer. It sounds like something out of an almost magical, distant past.
Ok, if you like Lux Aeterna, I bet you would (or do?) love Anonymous Four’s American Angels.
I’ve never hear Anonymous Four’s American Angels. I’ll give it a try. If it’s anything like Lux Aeterna, I’ll be all over it. Thanks for the recommendation.
so, if one were in a hurry to lose that last 10-15 pounds, because of one’s bet with one’s cruel wife, how dangerous would it be to skip food altogether and just have 3 or 4 shakes per day? Not that I really plan to do that, just curious.
btw, here’s my tweak to your shake recipe (I like more fat, less or no ice, in mine)
6 oz very cold water
6 oz coconut milk (or half and half, or heavy cream)
2 scoops powder
Polaner’s sugarless jelly- 1 heaping tablespoon
half banana
Since there are no carb requirements in the human diet – only fat and protein, both of which you would be getting – I don’t see a problem. However, an easier way to deal with a cruel wife may be the issuance of a pink slip, which is always my threat to MD when her cruel tendencies bubble to the surface. 🙂
“I am talking about compounding bioidentical hormones. A discussion of all these issues is beyond the scope of the comment section. MD is the real knowledgeable one of us in this matter. I’m trying to get her to put up an entire long post about it. We do address the issue in the new book, but not in huge depth.”
Dr Eades, that was one of your comments in one of the previous posts…
I would LOVE to hear what MD has to say about this. I’ve been on a ketogenic diet (with a few minor slips) for about 5 months now. Occasionally my carb intake has been about 15% of daily caloric intake (I track this all with a spreadsheet) but most of the time it is really down around 8%, often lower. I’ve lost around 10 pounds during this time. I weighed 164 and now weight 154. Based on your body fat calculators and I estimate I should weigh around 125-130, which seems about right based on what I used to weigh about 10 years ago and weighed as a teen. I’m 33 and have been between 145 to 155 for the past 4 years or so.
I don’t exercise, so I’m hoping that some weight training and fasting will help break me out of this plateau. I’m also cutting out cream in my coffee and hoping that helps. I’m finding it much more difficult to lose weight this time around, and being slightly older. I wonder if that might not have something to do with hormones (I’m female) so I’d love to hear what MD has to say about this. I’ve gained and lost this 30 pounds 2-3 times now over the past 15-17 years. I guess that may have something to do with it as well.
Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger on this – it’s a common problem, especially with women. As I wrote, there is a fair amount about hormones in the new book, but I’m trying to get MD to post more. Maybe once she’s past this Messiah gig we’ll all get her back.
Your day looked like one of mine when my wife is out. I could cook, but I will forage instead.
I was curious about your deletion of the corn from your veggies, it didn’t look like much. Are you always that rigorous? Thanks for everything.
Nah, I’m not always that rigorous. I just don’t particularly like corn, so I figure why waste the carbs on something I don’t really like. Plus, I’ve been doing this kind of dieting for so long that I’m pretty much on auto pilot. For example, I don’t even think about it when I get a salad with croutons – even if there are just a couple. I remove them all without even thinking about it.
“Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger on this – it’s a common problem, especially with women.”
Thanks! Very interesting — this hormonal issue is just not something one hears about regularly, even in the paleo/primal/WestonPrice circles, so I eagerly anticipate your new book. So I definitely look forward to being educated about this. I don’t feel depressed, though, since I’ve certainly not expended all my options just yet. I could still try an all meat diet, fasting, etc.
Notably, except for one minor time when I was a teenager (when I ballooned from 120 to 170 pounds) I have never eaten copious amounts junk food (sugar, chips, etc.). I have ALWAYS eaten what the mainstream considers to be a healthy diet, and basically got to where I am now (which is overweight but not obese) simply by eating rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, bread and the occasional dessert. The fact that I gained so much weight on these foods is telling.
Even considering minor slips I’ve had in the past five months, though, mostly just drinking too much milk and eating too much cheese cheese, with one candy blowout (I was finishing writing a dissertation and defending, so it was a relatively stressful time) I’d consider what success I’ve had pretty remarkable because I’ve managed not to *gain* weight.
It is interesting how different people learn about low carbing. I got here because two years ago when the pet food scandal emerged, I educated myself about how bad most pet foods are for pets. After seeing the dramatic benefits for my pets with an all meat diet, I was hooked on learning about an appropriate diet for humans, too. Certainly if I was that concerned about my pets I should be even more concerned about my own diet, I thought. From my raw diet for pets contacts, I learned about the Weston A Price foundation. I kept learning from there. There is a domino effect. The one person who educated me about pet diets has spurred an information cascade that has probably now led to at least 10-20 people that I know of being educated about low carbing, through me. Who knows how many people will learn about it.
The ridiculous thing is that I had a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology with a strong focus on evolution, well on my way to getting a PhD, and it hadn’t even occurred to me until two years ago that a grain based diet is not appropriate for carnivores. Duh.
GCBC and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration were enormous eye openers. If anything can turn you off to sugar and starch, it is reading and seeing the terrible degeneration and illness that is caused by modern foods and modern ignorance. There’s such an enormous amount of diabetes, cancer (my mother got three different cancers between the age of 25-27), Alzheimer’s etc. in my family, and I feel so wonderful on a low carb diet, that I’m not even remotely tempted to go back to my high carb ways. Ever. Even if I am not losing weight quickly. Yesterday we had to go to McD’s and my partner ate the hamburger with bun, a big coke full of sugar and medium fries. Forget the weight issue, all I have to do to keep from eating fries is to imagine myself coming down with cancer.
What upsets me most is that the medical community is so ignorant of these basic facts that are of such crucial importance to the longevity, health, and happiness of all humankind. I would imagine it is the biggest scam in the history of medicine. It’s very upsetting to see so many of my family members refuse to change, and suffer greatly for it (my father has had the same cancer twice now, I wonder if low carbing could have prevented these cancer occurrences and the recurrence) due to modern ignorance on the part of the medical profession. I’ve tried telling my boyfriend’s statinated father and my diabetic grandfather (who has also had two cancers) about this stuff but the lowfat propaganda is so enormous it is almost beyond hope for them. I will try once more with Christmas gifts of Protein Power and then that’s it.
Thankfully for most of us who are either young or with open minds, it is not too late.
Oh, and interestingly, I have had 8 teeth removed because my palate is so small. Of course, if you have read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration you know all about the effect a lack of fat soluble vitamins may have on this. Both my mother and my father have perfectly normal teeth. But my mother’s pregnancy diet was terrible, and she was a nurse, too. (I have a strong suspicion her diet contributed to these three cancers she got at an early age…. including Hodgkin’s and histiocystic lymphoma of the liver).
Oooo, a restaurant where you can get Swiss chard and greens as sides! Excellent.
My grandson (age 12) has always had a thing for pickle juice, but it just sounded so nasty to me, I usually wouldn’t give him any. I don’t know if I should tell him my nutrition hero drinks it! I read in a newspaper not long age that some company freezes pickle juice into popsicles–I think called Pickle-sicles (not sure of spelling)–and apparently they help to lower blood glucose.
I wonder if men not being able to deal with the wife being gone and having to feed themselves is rooted in childhood when mommy made all the food magically appear on the table. I’d love it if my husband were willing to learn how to be my sous-chef, but that’s not likely to happen.
My favorite remark, one that I make often, is: I’m not really a cook, but I play one on TV.
Dear MRE, Love your blog and am always referring people to it. Regarding the shake for breakfast, I don’t know how it was made, but if you’re using a protein powder I just wanted to alert you to the possible negative effects (especially if it’s soy). The Weston A. Price Foundation website has some info on protein powders and how damaged, and damaging, they can be. I think you are familiar with their work.
http://www.westonaprice.org
I’m following a low-carb version of Nourishing Traditions and the first thing I had to toss out was my soy powder, rice protein powder, wheat protein isolate, etc…. Now I get raw milk from a local farmer and ferment my own yogurt and kefir. They make great smoothies with a big dose of beneficial bacteria.
Just a FYI, forgive me if someone already posted about this. Just looking out for your health and appreciating how you’ve looked after ours for so long.
Laurel
I’ve published the recipes for the shakes both on the posts and in a number of comments. Our protein shakes are made with whey protein only – no soy. So don’t worry about us.
Best–
MRE
Sorry about all the comments, but I am wondering which Lux Aeterna recordings or performances people recommend? (and I’ll make sure to order it from Amazon through this site)
Two good ones are the one by the LA Master Choral and the one by Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony. Two completely different sounds, but complimentary.
Hey, Dr. Mike — a few things:
* My darling husband passed out and keeled over several months back, scaring the ever-loving crap out of his wife. Called 911, went to the ER, had a bunch of tests run, and what they came up with was that he was hyponatremic. We don’t avoid salt at all, but we eat so little processed stuff that we get less salt than most Americans, I’d bet. Plus, of course, eating low carb we don’t retain sodium. The rest of the summer he drank water with a pinch of salt in it before exercising or doing yard work.
* I like chicken bones, or at least those pin-like bones in wing tips. When they’re roasted crisp, I’ll chew ’em right up. Yummy. The rest of my chicken bones I save to boil for broth.
* I don’t make or eat a lot of low carb baked goods, except when I’m working on recipes for a book — I’d generally rather have eggs for breakfast than pancakes or waffles or whatever. But I do get good results with almond meal (or pumpkin seed meal) and vanilla whey protein, and I don’t see why this is less “real” than the standard wheat flour. I think my stuff tastes better, too. Goes without saying (though I’ll say it) that it keeps me full a heckuva lot longer, and doesn’t crash my blood sugar.
Had your husband followed my lead and drunk pickle juice regularly, he would have avoided a trip to the ER. 🙂
Dear Mike –
Sort of a tangent, but a fair one from the comments I’ve seen. I would not want to guess who the best current composer is (whatever “best” means in this context) – that reminds me of the distinguished conductor who was asked which was the greatest orchestra in the world. His answer was to defer: “I’m not inexperienced enough to answer that question.”
Anyway, we live in a time of wonderful music, though the general culture was pretty much purged of classical music in the Cultural Revolution of the 60s, so most people are oblivious of it.
Arvo Part is a fine composer, though some of his music is very austere. De Profundis, either in its small vocal ensemble guise or in its full chorus setting, is gorgeous. Tabula Rasa, a kind of double concerto for violins with strings and prepared piano, has a fantastically intense first movement that starts with something gossamer and seemingly casual, but that builds to a huge cadenza that releases its energy into the darkest, most desolate slow music I can imagine that gradually dies away into a subtle and powerful ending – an implied final note: not sounded, but heard in your mind. Look for Gidon Kremer’s recording. And there’s Arbos, a piece for brass and percussion that sounds like an announcement of the appearance of one of Rilke’s angels. Or Fratres, especially in the version for cello ensemble, a kind of hymn to the warmth and pain of human connection.
Philip Glass has written some powerfully lyrical music, both concert music and film music, from the opera Satyagraha on. Good starting places are the violin concerto – another one of Kremer’s best performances – the string quartets (my favorite is #4 with the lamenting finale), and his elegantly haunting soundtrack for Cocteau’s film of Beauty and the Beast.
Michael Nyman is mainly a film composer. He came to general notice with his scores to movies by Peter Greenaway and, of course, his score to The Piano. There’s an Argo disc that you can get from iTunes called “The Essential Michael Nyman Band” that has great stuff on it, including mock-Handel (really based on music by Purcell) from “The Draughtsman’s Contract” and some stunning reworkings of Mozart’s great Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra in the pieces from Drowning by Numbers. Also worth a look-again you can find it on iTunes- is a disc of his music reworked for full orchestra: the concerto he made out of The Piano; the pieces featuring solo violin, including the searing Miserere paraphrase, and excerpts from Prospero’s books with the mind-blowing Prospero’s Magic and its transfigured and reconciling twin “Cornfield”. A lot of Nyman is lyrical, whimsical, and sardonic – all at once. Think of him as the offspring of Weill and Prokofiev.
Another British composer worth hearing is Gavin Bryars. He’s best known for his Ivesian piece on the sinking of the Titanic, but he wrote some haunting smaller pieces: a cello and piano work “The South Downs” and a great viola concerto “The North Shore”, both inspired by places in England.
Adams has been crowned with fame and popularity, but some of his pieces are quite good. Harmonielehre, a huge orchestral piece, is a challenge to the mind and a delight to the ear. The Chairman Dances is a lovely little piece, but a troubling reminder of Adams’s seeming deafness to the horrible nature of some political figures and movements.
There are lots more to mention. I love some of Torke’s music and if you like Gubaidulina, there’s Kancheli waiting in line. Not to mention Dutilleux, and Golijov…
But I go on too long.
Stephen
Your depth of musical knowledge vastly exceeds mine. I really appreciate the recommendations because I love to track down new music. I hate to admit that I don’t know any of the composers you mentioned except for Philip Glass, whom I’m not particularly a fan of (but, then, I haven’t heard the specific pieces you mentioned), and Gubaidulina, whom I find a little too discordant for my unsophisticated ear. Thanks again for all the recommendations. I’m keenly interested – based on your review – to track down the pieces by Arvo Part.
Hey Dr. Mike,
So I find myself grocery shopping late at night, and I was hungry. I grab a jar of pickles and start eating them. I too love the pickle juice, and I thought about this post. I drank it, after eating the pickles.
Saline laxative, anyone?
Unfortunately the whole jar was much like a magnesium citrate bottle, except much tastier… unexpected side effect of too much sodium perhaps?
Maybe. But I don’t know for sure. It’s never had that happen to me.