Dear So and So

[SadieKate]

Dear Anonymous Person(s) Far and Wide:

Quit slamming carbs. Vegetables are carbs. Beans are carbs. Wheatberries are carbs. How about talking about simple vs complex carbs instead? Talk about glycemic load. You're leading the innocent astray.

[OakLeaf]

I have to say ... and I freely admit it may have more to do with enzymes and less with carbs, but I am feeling a lot better since I started cutting down on grains ... (which 80% of my grain intake was brown rice and almost all of the rest of it whole grains of other sorts) ...

(plus, most vegetables are water and protein with hardly any carbs...)

[VeganBikeChick]

I have to say ... and I freely admit it may have more to do with enzymes and less with carbs, but I am feeling a lot better since I started cutting down on grains ... (which 80% of my grain intake was brown rice and almost all of the rest of it whole grains of other sorts) ...

(plus, most vegetables are water and protein with hardly any carbs...)

I'm the same way. Pasta and grains do me in. I become the bloat factory. Much easier for my body to process plain ol' veggies and fruits. Even beans get me bloaty.

[BodhiTree]

I have to say ... and I freely admit it may have more to do with enzymes and less with carbs, but I am feeling a lot better since I started cutting down on grains ... (which 80% of my grain intake was brown rice and almost all of the rest of it whole grains of other sorts) ...

(plus, most vegetables are water and protein with hardly any carbs...)

I'm finding paleo type food choices make me feel a lot better also.

[lph]

(plus, most vegetables are water and protein with hardly any carbs...)

What kind of vegetables are you thinking of? I've always thought that most vegetables were relatively high on carbs and low in protein, though I know of exceptions.

I tried a search on nutritiondata.com, for vegetables highest in protein and total carbohydrate, and most of the top runners there had carb levels in grams a lot higher than protein levels in grams.

Not trying to be contrary, I'm truly curious I've been experimenting with gradually substituting some carbs with more fat and protein, and it sure works well for keeping my blood sugar stable.

[OakLeaf]

Well, okay, you got me, it must be enzymes.

I was really pretty surprised when I looked stuff up. I don't entirely trust the USDA database, partly because food really isn't fungible, and partly because the sample sizes tend to be very small, but the results are so far off what I thought that I trust *that* much.

It's too early in the morning for me to go back and re-read the basic summaries, but I'm going to assume that what the database shows for carbs is for digestible carbs, because the total of fiber and sugar all by itself is often greater than the total carbohydrates. (That's the "by difference" part, I think - they can't test digestible carbs directly, so they derive it from the total by subtracting fiber and sugar. I think.)

"Average" vegetables like spinach and rappini have approximately the same amount of carbs and protein. Really surprising to me. But what surprised me the most is carrots - though it probably shouldn't have, since they're so high in sugar. Carrots have the same carb to protein ratio as long grain brown rice (10:1) - and yet carrots are one of those things that if I eat enough of them (or drink carrot juice) I feel so good that I wonder why I ever eat anything else.

So it must be enzymes. (But it's still not the simple sugars in carrots which overall make me feel bright, strong, quick and healthy, vs. the complex carbs in brown rice, which make me feel logy and slow though not at all bloated - I'm not allergic to it, it's something else.)

[lph]

Cool. I've never even heard of rappini, actually I'm continually hearing vegetables mentioned here I've never heard of But I'm fairly sure most of the veg. I eat regularly, not a very impressive variety, are lowish on protein. I'd be happy to find more high-protein ones so I'll have a closer look at that list, and then go pester our local Turkish vegetable guy who sells a lot of strange-looking growths.

[Catrin]

Vegetables...I need more of these in my diet. My current diet gives me great blood-sugar control, and I feel great so I really don't want to change things. However, I know that I am missing out nutritionally...so this discussion is helping to spur my curiosity.

[OakLeaf]

I've never even heard of rappini

AKA broccoli raab or broccoli rabe. Love me some bitter greens!

[Owlie]

Oak, I'm willing to bet the carrot thing is psychosomatic. Enzymes (or any protein) aren't going to last long in your digestive system. If your stomach acid doesn't get them, the peptidases will. I know that I get the "woo! I ate veggies! I feel great and healthy!", though not with carrots. I don't care for them. (Yay oral allergy syndrome.)

I will say that I do better on a higher-protein diet, but I'm not going to stop eating grains, or the occasional cookie, doughnut, slice of cake or anything else.

On a related note:
Dear friends--
Stop trying to get me in on your calorie-counting, meat-cutting diet thing. I like meat. I am not going to stop eating it. Food should be enjoyed, and counting calories is not going to let me enjoy it. I have enough problems. I don't need to add my meals to it.

[Crankin]

My opinion is you can go nuts with any type of eating plan, but yes, I agree that focusing on glycemic index and complex vs. simple carbs makes the focus a little different than saying "no carbs" at all.
On the other hand, restricting my intake of bread, pasta, bagels, etc. has helped me stabilize my weight enormously. And I haven't eaten things like donuts in years. I'm not saying I *never* eat bread, but the longer I go without having it 3-4X a day, the less I crave it. And it's made it a lot easier to just say no to any white flour stuff.
I think all of this becomes a bit more important, once you pass a certain age. For me, it was somewhere between age 35 and 40.

[Reesha]

I've been eating pretty paleo for the last two months and my partner and I went out to this ridiculously amazing Italian restaurant for dinner and I had pasta (handmade, oh god so delish) for the first time in months. My stomach was not amused. I've had the gurgles and cramps all night.

[Owlie]

I was pretty much vegetarian for a 6-week period one summer (by force--there wasn't any fridge space for meat and I was too squeamish to handle raw meat that year). My parents took me out for a steak dinner the night after that final. I was very unhappy that evening. I've never heard of it happening with grains, but I wonder if it's a matter of your digestive system going "Hang on! What is this?" if you haven't eaten it for a while.
My vegan best friend would have to start introducing small amounts of cheese into her diet a month before breaks because her mom thought she was just vegetarian...

I'm just a little suspicious of diets that revolve around the idea that some food group(s) are concentrated evil.

Anyway:
Dear BF:
Your girlfriend may have been gotten by the bodysnatchers. That is the only explanation for the fact that she bought running shorts last week and decided to clean all the things this week.
Sorry.

[limewave]

Dear Men,
Really, you don't need to race each other to open the door for me. One of you can open the door, the other can buy my coffee
~Limewave

Dear Self,
It's okay to enjoy a little attention.
~Limewave

[Bethany1]

Dear IRS,

It's one thing to know I probably owe you money but did you have to flood my basement and break my heater on the same day?

I can see you doing that after taxes are due, but this is a bit premature isn't it?


Broke, Cold and Wet

*Edited after the heating guy left*

Umm...did you have to fry the motherboard to the heater so I don't have central heating until Friday? That's really mean.