I've begun a biological metabolic experiment in sugar reduction using myself as the subject. I've eliminated high fructose corn syrup, acesulfame potassium, phenylalanine, partially hydrogenated man-made oils, and pretty much all grains and the empty carbs they contain from my diet. I want to see if my liver receptors and isles of langerhans can get back to their evolutionary roots - as they were originally intended to function before being inundated in corn oil, corn syrup, refined Sugar, massively refined grains, and other processed and preserved food-like-substances. I do not want to go the way of my parents and their advanced mellitus. [side note: some acupuncturists have stated that the Chinese don't suffer from diabetes, they control it entirely with herbs, diet, and correctly applied needles] If I cannot control it by diet and exercise, and re-train my endocrine system, then ok, I'll listen to the extremely conservative advice of my primary care family physician and take the dern prescriptions she's written.
So I've been doing pretty well over the last month in the progress of my experiment, eating fresh foods, watching labels, limiting sugar, opting for wine or liquor over the carb-rich beers typically. Then last night, Dr Desert Flower and I are enjoying a delicious (and inexpensive, just $14 for the two of us) meal at our local Paradise Bakery, with a big bowl of vegetable soup and a delicious chicken caesar salad, when I caught myself eating crouton after crouton after crouton. They were so yummy, and crunchy, and sweet on my tongue - wait, croutons are stale bread + seasonings... dern it! So 1/2 way through the salad, I extracted my croutons, and left them aside.
This is also the first NFL season that I am going "chip less", which is a Huge Change for me, from the "at least one" plate of nachos I used to inhale each Bears game - I can't give up the Sunday beer though. Bread (even pitas) have been vanquished from my kitchen & pantry. We shall see how well this experiment progresses. Il faut voir...
8 years ago
I can relate to that -- at least weekly I'd have a salmon caeser salad from the canteen at work, which was quite good (man those smoked anchovies are like little salt bombs), but I always had to stop them adding a big handful of croutons (and also stop them adding the cloying "ceaser" dressing, but they were always nice about dumping some olive oil and lemon juice on there for me instead).
ReplyDeleteFor football viewing, maybe try some nuts? Or toasted cheese? (Toasted cheese used to be a thing just by itself, without requiring bread under it. Some cheddar by itself under a broiler or even in a microwave can be quite nice.)