The Steaks Are High

A Raw Deal

 

In a Slate article this week (The Purloined Sirloin), Brendan Koerner discusses why meat is the most shoplifted item in America. The data comes from the Food Marketing Institute, which just released the 2005 stats: meat rang in as the most shoplifted item in America's grocery stores, coming in just ahead of analgesics, razor blades and baby formula.

 

So why the steak stealing? Micheal Eades suggests that it's because meat is the most nutritionally dense item available, so nabbing a chunk of protein gets you more bang for, well, no bucks. The Slate article seems to conclude that the thievery is luxury-related, with Angus cuts disappearing with more frequency than regular meat cuts. Picturing the would be meat-thief lamenting over only being able to afford burgers, she's portrayed as opting to steal the luxury ribeye instead. Having gazed longingly at the Angus ribeyes priced way out of my grocery budget, I can't say my conclusion would ever be to stuff one down my shorts and shuffle awkwardly out of the store. However, the story does bring to mind the topic of grocery budgeting and how expensive meat can be.

 

According to an article from The Lancet, “Childhood Obesity: Public Health Crisis, Common Sense Cure,” poor children are 2.6 times more likely to grow up to be obese than middle or upper class children. At first, the figures seem paradoxical. I mean, in the simplest terms, if you have less money, and you can't afford to eat as much food, shouldn't you be skinnier?

 

Well sure, if the “eat less, weigh less” doctrine had consistent truth to it. But what's really going on here is that foods with low nutritional value relative to calorie content are often the most economically viable choice for lower income values.  Think 20c boxes of no-name mac-and-cheese, Ramen Noodles or value packs of Little Debbie cakes for less than a dollar. Think the Dollar Menu at McDonald's. In fact, think very hard about McDonald's and other fast food chains: a study by Genevieve Haas of Northeastern University found that people in the poorest urban areas have two and a half times more exposure to fast food than people in the wealthiest areas. Hey, doesn't that stat sound familiar?

 

The problem with the cheap options is that a bunch of the calories come from sugar. Anyone who has read up on blood sugar knows what high sugar foods do: cause a spike in blood sugar immediately after eating, followed by a precipitous plunge which leaves the person craving, hungry and cranky. There is no lasting fullness, as provided by generous quantities of protein and fat. Then it's back to the drive-thru or the Little Debbie box for another quick fix.

 

Even taking into account the increased hunger caused by carbs, I still think that a low-carb diet inflates the grocery bill even as it deflates the waistline. I can't deny spending a bunch more on groceries since I started low carbing. Buying fresh – sticking to the outer edges of the grocery store, just dairy, meat, fish, eggs and fresh veggies – is much more expensive than loading up on freezer meals, pasta and rice from the aisles. Having said that, here are some tips for low carbing on a budget:

 

1. Cheap meat

   Buy meat on special, divide into bags and freeze. There are often great deals on medium ground beef (since the low fat folks pushed up the price of lean – thanks!) and pork. If you can get your own card to a discount club (like Costco's, Sam's Club etc.) these are great places to get good meat deals.

2. Frozen veggies

   OK, so they're not as yummy as the fresh stuff, but frozen veggies are often on sale and good to stock up on for easy side dishes.

3. Can can time

   Cheap low carb canned goods: tuna, salmon, and some low carbers swear by canned sardines. Not this one, but I'll pass along the strong recommendation...

4. Buy the bird

   I was amazed at how cheap whole chickens and whole turkeys are, especially compared to breast prices, sometimes under $1 a pound. You get a load of meat off the bird and then can boil up the carcass for a great soup.

5. Shop for specials

   If you keep an eye out for specials on low carb staples, you can stock up and save a bunch. Even block cheese can be frozen (it's a bit crumblier afterwards).

Of course, all of these tips are assuming the ability to stock and save, which means having a decent amount of cash to spend in advance on food, a way of transporting large grocery loads and having a freezer roomy enough for value shopping. The complex links between poverty and obesity won't be solved by one article, and the politics behind why crappy food is so much cheaper is a topic for another post entirely.

As for me, I have the luxury of being able to invest in my body. I'm able to say I'll go to restaurants less and spend the difference on higher quality groceries, rather than picking between healthy food and my rent. At the end of the day, I'm grateful to have the choice, but I do think it's important to see it as a choice. Personally, I think staying healthy will save me money in the long run – already since low-carbing I've had significantly less sick days, and no medical bills. It might save the country some money too, if they'd turn the infamously inaccurate Food Pyramid upside down: some estimates put the total cost of health care due to obesity at $70 billion.

Cheese and A Whine

"A meal without cheese is like a beautiful woman who lacks an eye." - Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Jimmy Moore is up in arms this week on his podcast, and rightfully so, decrying the ridiculous decision in the UK that the Atkins Nutritional Approach could not be described as “healthy”. A print advertisement for the Atkins diet was forcibly removed by a consumer watchdog group. Their “reason”ing? There is not enough evidence that the low-carb diet is a “healthier lifestyle.”

In more craziness from across the pond, cheese was classified as “junk food” under new advertising rules for children's television. The Daily Mail reports that the ban will come into effect this month, with all commercials promoting cheese prohibited during children's TV shows and other shows with a large proportion of young viewers. The fate of the cheese-loving claymation characters, Wallace and Gromit, remains to be seen...

But seriously, examining the criteria used by the Food Standards Agency to determine junk food reveals just how ridiculous these new regulations are. The FSA model assesses the amount of fat, sugar and salt in a 100g portion of food, or 100ml serving of beverages. 100g – that's 3.5 oz, or just under ¼ lb of cheese. Helpfully, the British Cheese Board pointed out that a serving of cheese for most people is 30-40g, or 1 -1.5oz. But no matter: cheese is on the banned list.

Along with cheese, the following foods made the blacklist: Greek yoghurt (from sheep's milk), ham, sausages, bacon rashers, peanuts, cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, peanut butter, olive oil, and butter.

Escaping the ban, and being advertised freely to kids in the UK: fish fingers, lasagna ready meals, currant buns, frozen roast potatoes, frozen oven chips, sliced white bread, frozen chicken nuggets, canned strawberries in syrup, and chocolate-flavored milk.

This is mind-boggling to me. Why on earth would anyone want to ban healthy fats like olive oil, and nutrient packed nuts, and push something so utterly devoid of any nutritional value as sliced white bread? I guess it follows the same “logic” that tells us a diet which restricts sugar and processed junk, and instead relies on whole foods like meat, fish, eggs, cheese and vegetables is not healthy.

A figure often trotted out on the low carb boards, but one I feel is worth repeating is the cost of the grain that goes into a box of cereal. I asked a friend what he thought the cost would be.

“Two dollars? A buck?” I shook my head. “Fifty cents?”

“Nope – try four cents. Four lousy cents, and then they sell the box at $4 or more.”

Obviously, there are other costs associated with producing a box of sugary crap, but what this indicates to me is that a lot of profit is made from dressing up cheap grains in tasty sugar and passing it off as food. And where there's a lot of profit, there's a lot of motivation to keep those dollars rolling in, even if it means the population is rolling around in wheelchairs due to obesity.

The more studies that come out, the more the low carb approach is vindicated. Even researchers who set out to prove how unhealthy low carb diets are came up with undeniable evidence that low carb diets were at least equal to low fat diets in improving health markers, if not better.

Mary Quicke, who runs Quickes Cheese in Devon, sums up this whole situation with more pith than I can hope to muster: “Frankly, it's bonkers,” she said.

I've had enough. I'm off to eat some gouda - and maybe a bacon rasher or two.

Low carb - panda form!

No, even I'm not carnivorous enough to suggest incorporating pandas into the menu. But I couldn't help sharing this one: low carb dieting can even help out the dwindling panda population!

Zookeepers in Thailand put a male panda on a low carb diet because he is too heavy to mate with his partner. Chuang Chuang weighs in at 150 kg (330lbs), while his partner Lin Hui tips the scales at a svelte 115 kg (253lbs).

Kannika Nimtragol, a veterinarian at the Chiang Mai zoo in northern Thailand says "We think Chuang Chuang should not weigh over 140 kilograms. Otherwise Lin Hui will carry too much weight while mating."

She says to help Chuang Chuang slim down, zookeepers are feeding him fewer bread loaves and more bamboo branches to cut back on the amount of carbohydrate he consumes.

Here's the link to the rest of the article, including the backup plan for “panda porn”:

Thailand puts panda on low carb sex diet

Why they are feeding them bread loaves in the first place, I have no idea, but here's hoping Chuang Chuang's feeling frisky soon. The potential result is just too adorable to miss out on because of pesky old carbs...

 

 

Forbidden Fruit

On my forum forays this week I've noticed a lot of self-berating with regard to holiday cheating on diets. (Meat and Eggers For Life Forum, Active Low Carber Forum) I think people talk about cheating and going “off” low carb eating because it's way easier to rationalize some extra calories as a treat or a hungry day, but eating foods that are specifically not allowed – like cakes, bread, chips or candy – is a categorical cheat.

I enjoyed my first cheat-free Christmas this year. I definitely ate more low carb treats than normal (like the delicious three-minute chocolate cake...recipe coming soon!) However, this kept me from feeling deprived without setting me up for carb cravings and a blood sugar rollercoaster.

After reading some of the more miserable posts about feeling ashamed and saddened by going off plan and gaining weight, I had to post my thoughts on cheating.

I think the most damaging part of "cheating" is the psychological guilt and torment of feeling like you're eating all these "wrong" foods. Food cannot be inherently evil or good. It's just food. Sure, some of it is nutritionally deficient (sugar, flour, many grains) and ultimately harmful to health but that doesn't make it morally bad - just not optimum fuel.

I read in Marc David's Nutritional Wisdom that if you eat while stressed the food you consume will sit in your stomach like a rock and be undigested for hours. Your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, and sends blood flowing into your limbs and away from your core in order to prepare you for an escape or a battle.

So, whatever you decide to eat, whatever plan you decide to follow, eat with joy. If you're going to eat sweet stuff, at least enjoy it! Eating it with a sense of shame and guilt will only make the effects on your body worse.

In the end, for me, the taste wasn't worth it this Christmas. Maybe on another occasion or another holiday, I'll weigh my options and decide that enjoying the taste of a higher carb food will be worth the aftereffects. I've found it much easier to take this less harsh approach to cheating. Maybe it's something of the forbidden fruit effect: if I am at peace with the possibility of going off-plan, I'm less tempted to do so.

Finally, one of my resolutions for this new year is to update more regularly, posting menus to keep myself accountable and also to give a clearer picture of my diet. Happy New Year!