Another low carob thread

[Blueberry]

On the pasta question - can he have winter squash? If so, spaghetti squash is a fun food (comes out like strings, can be treated like pasta).

[Becky]

Spaghetti squash, although a squash, is much lower in carbs than butternut or other similar winter squashes. DH and I love eating it as a pasta substitute.

Zucchini and carrot ribbons, lightly sauteed, make for a pretty tasty meal with pasta sauces.

[GLC1968]

I was going to suggest zucchini ribbons myself. I saute them briefly in garlic and olive oil before putting sauce on them and they are so delicious! I honestly think I like it even better than real pasta!

For long rides, I fuel with natural carbs (sweet potatoes, bananas, grapes...) or in a pinch, Lara bars but I don't have the carb sensitivities that others have. I just avoid grains and starches.

I don't know what to tell you about 'treats' as we can have things like honey or maple syrup in small quantities, so I have recipes that include those. I have found that no longer eating processed foods or sugar has made a HUGE difference in my taste buds though and now things like raspberries taste like candy to me. Super dark (85% cacao) chocolate is now plenty sweet for me, too. I even have recipes for sweet potato pie or a sweet potato snack cake for which I had to reduce the amount of honey in the recipe to almost nothing because my tastes have changed.

So yeah, not having sweet treats will be tough at first, but eventually, you get past that an just stop wanting them. At least, that was my experience (and again, I'm not really low carb...just reduced carb and no grains or starches).

[Anelia]

I ate more than a year high fat low carb diet and I felt very well. But one thing is very important: if his carb intake is low, he has to have onother source of energy and these are FATS. Otherwise he will transform the excess of protein into glucose and this is not desireble. So, his choices now are different kinds of meats: don't be afraid to cook pork, lamb or any other kind of meat. There are many kinds of high-fat cheeses, whole dairy products are great choices. Eggs are egg-xcellent. Raw nuts and low GI fruits (banans and grapes are excluded) should satisfy the need for something sweet. No pasta and no pie is not a disaster, it's in fact really healthy. Once he starts using fat as energy, he'll feel good and energetic without the bloating of the carbs ot the insulin peaks.
I wouldn't recommend using artificial sweeteners or honey (veeery high GI). Once he is used to low carb eating, he will stop craving sweets.

[shootingstar]

I haven't avoided desserts completely...I just don't bake any desserts anymore. Instead he does, which is not often.

Instead Chile Pepper (since I know you bake): I make a fresh fruit baked dessert foccacia. The dough is very thin and I make from scratch using flour, yeast, water and pinch of salt. No eggs, no sugar.

And I embed with fresh fruit (certain ones are low glycemic) and spices. Honey is used drizzled, less than 2 tblsp. for a huge cookie sheet of this. See my blog post with photos.

Merry Christmas! I also do consider low fat yogurt with fruit/sugar free, as a treat at home.

http://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.com/...ot-and-spices/

I don't avoid butternut squash ...but I NEVER add sugar to it. I actually I find it strange/totally unnecessary that people add it for savoury dishes. It has a natural sweetness that becomes more flavourful if you understand to stir fry with touch of soy sauce, which carmelizes it a touch.

I stir-fry butternut squash (also in cyclewrite blog) or we have it in soup, pureed. Chile Pepper you are probably a gifted cook and will become creative.

[Chile Pepper]

Great ideas--thanks! I have never seen spaghetti squash here, but zucchini is everywhere this time of year. I will try threading some (never done that before).

It's kind of funny, but we are on very different diets now. I have high blood pressure, so I'm on the fruit, veggie, legume, and lean meats diet, whereas he is going to have to up his fats, as Anelia said, and will probably crave the fattier meats just for variation. We are both foodies, so this will be a huge change for us. Or a challenge, anyway, which I always enjoy.

[shootingstar]

Since he is in his early 50's, at this point in his life ..alot of physicians would not be recommending eating much red meat. And only lean.

Some seafood, like salmon, trout, etc. have a healthier "fat" and provide still some protein.

Unless he is competing or a real endurance athlete, it seems quite excessive to eat much more red meat... Over in Bicycling Magazine forums, alot of the cycling men in 40's and upward, are REDUCING their red meat intake.

[goldfinch]

I personally did not like spaghetti squash or zucchini ribbons as a spaghetti substitute. I do like shirataki noodles, though they are hard to find. Here is information on them: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/pro...takinoodle.htm