Posts by thhq

I'd leave this with the professionals.  I'm OK with raw oysters in the winter, but I've gotten violently sick on them in warm weather.  Scallops go beyond that for health risk.

I'd only do it if I was the one shucking the scallop, but I've never seen anyone selling them in the shell in North America.  Maybe you could find something in Nova Scotia or Nantucket.  Maybe you should look for fresh geoduck, which makes excellent sashimi.

This has been bugging me.  The heck with answering the questions, here are a couple of my once-a-year favorites:

-The berry that is fresh and in season.  Raspberries, blueberries, Marionberries, strawberries.  Currently cranberries.  These take a zap in the microwave to juice up before blending some yogurt and sweetener.

-Hard squash.  Acorn, butternut and especially buttercup.  Lots of ways to eat these - currently I'm roasting them, skinning and chunking, then topping with yogurt, curry and S&P.  Half the fun is finding them on sale.  The challenge is getting the biggest one for a dollar from a farm stand.

Back to the OP....

Tinned asparagus is bland and I find that it needs some vinegar.  Try it as a topping for a green salad with a vinegary dressing and black pepper.

Or better yet, try it pickled, as a salad topping or by itself.  It's easy to eat half a jar in a sitting.

For fresh asparagus, steamed is good, and grilled is even better.  Leave it a little bit crunchy.  A little oil, S&P and lemon juice will dress it up. 

Dry breakfast cereals are high GI, even if they aren't sugared.  They are made of dried cooked dough (rice, wheat, corn, whatever), and have a GI like bread, tortillas or crackers.

The way you reduce their GI is to add less digestible or indigestible things to them, such as bran.  This dilutes the flour and sugar, reducing both the GI and the calories.

Some people don't care for bran buds, grapenuts and bran flakes, though.  Me included. I mix bran with oats and cook them together.

The other way you can dilute the GI effect is to add some protein.  Are you up for topping your cereal with tuna or tofu or nuts?  It'd be better for you than dumping sugar on it.

In answer to the question, paleo.  This is the caveman diet, right?  I don't keep up with the contracted names.

In answer to the broader question, neither of the above.  But use the cc methodology if you decide to do either.  It works, and there is no conflict.

In answer to eecummings-in-training #87, I like to write in bullets, too. For powerpoint and poetry yes, for longer prose no.  Since this forum is pretty aphoristic, random bullets work well enough.

I like pho, but between udon and pho I'll take udon.  I like the noodles a little chewier.

2 dark chocolate kicks-in-the-head:

-Make your own dark chocolate cocoa from scratch, using a good quality powder like Droste or Valrhona.  Heck, even Hersheys and Nestles are pretty good, but you have to start with the unsweetened cocoa powder.

-Mocha.  This is the strongest chocolate kick I can get from the local barista, and the espresso gives it an additional caffeine shot.  There's something about coffee that really enhances chocolate flavor.

Kbella - have you tried Italian cocoa? I first had it at one of those rest areas along a motorway.  Thick and strong - like a hot dark chocolate milkshake in a coffee cup.  I found some packets of Perugina powder in a European store once for making it, but I've never seen them in the USA.  I ended up making my own recipe, with some cornstarch to get it to hot thicken the same way.  I do it in a microwave, whereas the Italian baristas used the espresso steam jets.

biscuit, from what I've read, it is true that the fat has a toxic effect, due to the way it "fat packs" your internal organs. The guys on the radio talk about this effect on your colon walls as insidious "spackle", full of toxins, but as others have said this is largely baloney.  The real "spackle" - visceral fat - has a very nasty effect on insulin resistance, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, etc.  Reducing your waistline is the best way to eliminate it. 

Whether your fat is in and itself toxic is another matter.  I suppose that it could contain dioxins, PCB's and other fat-soluble toxins; but I haven't looked into any studies on this.

The toxins you should worry about are not in your colon.  They're in your bones, your liver, and in your  visceral fat.  You can do something about the fat in short order by losing weight. The others will take years of healthy eating to fix.

The easiest way to tell whether you have a problem with toxins is to measure your waistline.  If it's higher than normal, fix it.  You know the drill.

There doesn't seem to be much debate about whether raw cruciferous vegetables induce hypothyroidism, but to what degree they do it is not made clear.  Here's another quote, taken from nahanniriverherbs.com:

"...all the foods that contain substances called goitrogens (raw cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts) as they can interfere with thyroid function and cause a thyroid problem. Cooking inactivates the thyroid-blocking components. The anti-thyroid components contained in these foods are enhanced by juicing and can induce a mild hypothyroid state when used in this manner."

What I'd like to see is some comment on the size of the effect in calories per day from the nutrition literature.  The authors of what I've read so far do not seem to have any axes to grind. They're not doing this to sell supplements or colon cleansers.  Judging from the language they use there is a real physiological effect, which could measurably increase the thyroid inhibition caused by dieting.  But so far all I've found are broad generalities.

Last night I did the healthy thing and braised my cabbage....

Edit: here's a more legitimate link.  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=geor ge&dbid=47

In summary: limit the intake of raw goitrogenics (the cruciferous vegetables AND soy (including tofu)) to 3-4 cups per week.

Lucky you....

The reason I keep counting calories after 2-1/2 years is because it's the only way I can put a limit on eating.  My appetite is not a good judge to use for maintaining my weight.

FINALLY  you mention the dreaded grilled tomato.....

I've never figured out how to cut one of these without having it explode. 

And they target clean white shirts with their juice.

"My main question is- does it matter if I eat 1200 calories of junk food as long as I dont go over."

1200 calories is a lot of junk food.  A lot more than a Snickers bar.  I thought through the logic of this once when Butterfingers were on sale and I could get all my daily calories for $2 by eating 5 of them.  A very inexpensive diet.

I guess you COULD survive on a 1200 calorie diet of nothing but sugar and fat for a few days.   But the lack of protein and complex carbs would catch up with you very quickly, health wise.  And you would feel hungry most of the time.  I wouldn't recommend trying it.

Eat 112 of those and you'll feel right chuffed.

-Buy a small scooper, and like Jane says, go for the good stuff.  4 tablespoon scoops fill a ramekin, and for a lot of ice creams this is only 70-80 calories.  Eat it slowly with a demitasse spoon, classy gelato style, and pretend you're in Italy. Upgrade it even more with a cup of strong coffee on the side.

-You can make ice cream go further without adding a lot of calories by mixing it half and half  with unsweetened low or no fat yogurt.  Mash the whole works together and eat it kind of lumpy.  Or throw it in the blender and turn it into a small smoothie. Yogurt sweetens up easily and there's very little sour taste.