Paula Deen ~ A Classic Case of Type II Diabetes

Was anyone surprised by the revelation that Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes?   See here and here, for example.  Full disclosure here.  I'm a NorthEast girl and was raised pretty agnostic in terms of regional foods/cuisines.  Still, as an adult I've enjoyed learning different cooking styles, flavors and ways of preparing foods and I'm an admitted Food Network junkie.  But Paula?  She was not one I ever watched much (unless she was judging on a competition show).  Sure, I love some Southern foods -- chicken fried steak w/gravy anyone?? -- but most of those foods are reserved for traveling to where they are local fare (although Chili's does make a pretty good version of the aforementioned steak).  And I find her accent and delivery just a wee bit over the top.  But I think every time I've ever seen the woman cook, I've seen her put half sticks of butter in a pan while saying jokingly that she's adding "a little".  Butter and Paula are synonymous in my mind -- if someone said Paula Deen in a word association game, butter would be the word that popped out of my mouth.

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Salvaging the Hypothesis

You can't salvage a CIH with fructose and "refined carbohydrates" that has insulin as a mediator because there is no such theory that makes physiologic sense, and this would be obvious the moment such a theory is articulated         ~ Kurt G. Harris MD, 11/18/11

If 2011 will be remembered in low carb circles for anything, it will be for both the lack of anticipated rise and precipitous fall of what I call here at the Asylum TWICHOO.  With the December 2010 publication of Why We Get Fat, no doubt many low carbers began 2011 with a feeling of supreme optimism.   What with all the "Gary you're my hero" comments on his blog, and lots of exposure of the lay friendly book, even in the mainstream media, surely 2011 would be the year when "they" would finally get it.  The momentum of 2010 would be carried forward and by the end of the year low carbers envisioned an even more energized following with an expanding sphere of influence.  Oprah would finally get thin and stay that way going on Gary Taubes' diet and all would be right with the world.  Insulin had finally been implicated as the evil hormone everyone knew it was all along, and our grandmas would be vindicated for knowing all along that carbs were fattening.   The "late great" Robert Atkins' name would finally be cleared and his diet vindicated.  In Berkley, CA, a carving of the Mt. Fatless monument would begin:  Bauer, Yalow, Atkins & Taubes.

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"Zeke" - The By Product of Single Motherhood

These are mandatory listening, but they should also be enjoyable. So get your MP3 out or whatever you need to listen to these two broadcasts and enjoy:

1. Zeke
2. "The Musician."

You will enjoy the decline.

Sweeteners

If you're not sitting down reading this, you might just want to, or grab onto something for support, because I'm going to start this post out doing something I don't all that often: praise Mark Sisson.   The sample menu page on his blog reads:

A typical breakfast for me is a cup of coffee with cream and sugar and an omelet

This page has been around for a good long time and he hasn't changed it, so presumably Sisson hasn't jumped headlong on the stevia wagon.  In the summer, as a kid, we would suck on honeysuckle blossoms for the faint sweetness.  Needless to say, we did this more for the novelty of "hey, this is sweet" than scavenging for every blossom we could find for a sweet kick ... they just weren't that sweet.   If one googles chewing and sugarcane or stevia leaves you will find references to both.    If you are ever in New England in late winter/early spring, you'll see the maple syrup taps on trees.  The dried syrup that may ooze from the tap, etc., also tastes sweet.  We humans tend to like sweet stuff, and when found in nature, we'll chew/suck or otherwise extract the sweet leaving the rest behind.  But the only foods that are truly sweet eaten whole (or at least most) are fruits and honey.  I suppose we could add in the faintly sweet root veggies as well.  

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Hold the Hoax! The Dreamfields Dilema

"I've been on a Dreamfields kick lately and I love having a low-carb alternative to pasta that actually tastes like pasta. It's a nice treat I enjoy eating when I get the opportunity. Some think you shouldn't ever have these kinds of foods, but I disagree. If this keeps me from the real thing that is LOADED with carbohydrate, then what's the harm I say? It's not making me go out and binge on the real thing or sugar or any other carbage."

~ Jimmy Moore 1/16/10

Yes, I've had these spoof blog titles swirling in my head and they are too apropos to pass up.  Hold the Hoax!  Livin La Vida Low Clue (not my original idea) started this, clearly a take on Jimmy's blog/podcast/etc.  Hold the Hoax! is spoofing on Dana Carpender's blog/podcast/etc. titled Hold the Toast!  I don't know if it's been more than the usual amount of time on my hands, or reminiscing over the events of the past year, if Jimmy has been posting some particularly annoying commentary of late, or a combination of the three, but recently Jimmy posted the following:  Considering The Reliability Of The Dreamfields Pasta ‘Low-Carb’ Claim.  Perhaps I'm the only one offended by Jimmy's newfound holier-than-thou view of frankenfoods, the manufacturers of them, and the validity of the nutritional information on the purported content.  Perhaps not.  I think his participation in the Dreamfields hoax is worthy of mention.

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The Sad Case of the Hot Springs VA

Your Captain is currently vacationing in Hot Springs, SD. A vacation needed after his holiday vacation which didn't include a lot of relaxing or lying around.

So I arrive and everywhere on the community center signs, fliers at the bar, posters at the gas station, etc. etc. are slogans and sayings to "Save the VA" since the VA is the largest employer in town and it is slated to be closed.



My observation is short and succinct.

Has America, (in this particular case - a heavy republican district) become so dependent upon government that the best "local economic plan" they can come up with is to beg tax payers from across the nation to subsidize a money-losing operation AS OPPOSED TO trying to lure and entice other employers to set up shop in the area?

I mean, really. Even when the VA wasn't going to be shut down, wouldn't most people say,

"Hey, you know, we're a one employer town. Maybe we ought to diversify our economy a bit and try to get some more employers into town."

Or, could somebody be so bold to say,

"Hey, you know. Forget just keeping the VA here. And forget just attracting ONE additional employer. How about we open up a can of Hong Kong and try to get as many businesses to set up shop here as possible. SAving only one employer is only going to save so many jobs. But pursuing other employers have an UNLIMITED potential."

But no, no. Our efforts are best spent lobbying congress to keep that ONE government agency in town.

Just born in the absolute wrong time in American history I guess if I have to ask outlandishly stupid questions like these.

The Captain Saves a Soul

I have done my good deed for the day! Received this in the e-mail box

Captain,

I heard about your book through Dalrock's blog and, being a man in his early thirties with some college money coming his way from Uncle Sam, eagerly purchased it. I burned through it in a night, taking copious notes, but really, I'm surprised I hadn't seen it all to begin with. Supply and demand is everything in human life, whether it's preparing to enter the working world with marketable skills or pulling the 8 at the bar with better quality game than the other schmucks. I curse the world for not teaching me about this when I was young, just as I curse myself for not seeking out this information myself in all the time since. But for $5, you saved me from making a (at this point) permanent mistake, and for that I thank you.

I was a little surprised to find the anti-feminist (more like pro-common sense) bit you slipped in during the mythbusting segment. I hope the young women (hell, even the young men at this point) that do find this book in their hands take that bit to heart. A feminist undone could well be a marriage saved in the future, who knows?

- Daniel

"Worthless" saves the day again!