4beans4me
Mon, Dec-20-04, 08:14
Let's raise a toast of Holiday Nog to low-carb dieters
By Bill McClellan
Of the Post-Dispatch
Monday, Dec. 20 2004
Have you heard that the low-carb craze seems to be dying down? A wire service
story on Sunday claimed that 9.1 percent of American adults were on low-carb
diets in February and that by November, that figure had dropped to 4.9 percent.
Personally, the low-carb diet craze always puzzled me. I remember the first
time I heard of it. A friend was passing through town. He is a farmer in
Michigan - he grows plants - and he was taking a truckload of his plants to
Arkansas. He excitedly told me about this new diet in which you could eat bacon
and eggs for breakfast and a triple cheeseburger for lunch (but no bun) and a
steak for dinner and - oh, yes - you could eat as much of this good stuff as
you wanted. If you felt like snacking, you could eat a roll of summer sausage.
And cheese, of course.
As much as you want of this good stuff? I asked.
Yes.
How about dessert?
Whipped cream. Straight out of the can.
What about alcohol?
Unlimited vodka.
Well, that did sound reasonable. I hopped on the bandwagon myself for a week or
so. But my ancestors were gatherers rather than hunters and I have a
deep-seated craving for carbs. So pretty soon I was back at the Pasta House.
Still, I didn't think the low-carb diet would have much staying power because
it seemed like it was aimed primarily at men. And most men do not believe they
need to lose any weight. Actually, I saw an interesting statistic on that
recently, and I've lost it, but it was something like this: Three out of four
men think they are in "good shape" or "very good shape."
I happen to be in "very good shape" myself. Most of the time, that is. That's
because I let myself go a little bit during the holiday season. I pretend that
I am an actor and that I have just been hired to play a wonderful role in a
movie that will begin production in January. The only problem is this: The
character I'll be playing is only in "good shape." So I have to put on between
15 and 20 pounds.
It is not difficult. For one thing, there is egg nog. I have discussed this in
previous years. How come you can find every other holiday specialty food
all-year-round? Most people eat cranberries only at Thanksgiving and Christmas
and yet, if you wanted, you could have them in July. You can even find
fruitcakes in July. But somehow, the cartel that runs the dairy industry - Big
Milk - keeps egg nog off the market except during the holiday season. Why is
this? Could it be that Big Milk is afraid that egg nog is so detrimental to our
health that the government would step in? That makes no sense. Can egg nog
really be more fattening than ice cream, another product Big Milk provides
year-round? I think not.
By the way, I got a strange e-mail last week. A fellow wrote me that he had
found low-carb egg nog. He seemed excited about it.
I am something of a purist. That is, I am willing to go with "Holiday Nog,"
which is, I think, egg nog made with low-fat milk. But that is as far as I am
willing to go. It's sort of like cheese. I try to set standards without
becoming a complete cheese snob, so yes, I will make a grilled cheese sandwich
with Velveeta, but I will not use Cheese-Whiz out of a can.
I wrote an e-mail back and told the man that he was going too far if he was
drinking low-carb egg nog. "Try Holiday Nog," I suggested. Had I known then
what I know now - that the low-carb diet is a thing of the past - I would have
been gentler. I feel sorry for people who get in on the tail end of national
crazes.
That is what I have always done. I didn't really get into the '60s until the
'70s. Then I went to work for a conservative newspaper when the country was
liberal and now I work for a liberal newspaper while the country is
conservative. So I have plenty of sympathy for some misguided soul who has
arrived late to the low-carb party.
I mean, hey, the rest of us have moved on. We got bored with nothing but meat
and cheese. Besides, what if we put on a few pounds and slip into the "good
shape" category? What's so bad about that? I'm not surprised the craze is over.
Low-carb egg nog? That's just pushing things too far.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20041220/1040425.asp
By Bill McClellan
Of the Post-Dispatch
Monday, Dec. 20 2004
Have you heard that the low-carb craze seems to be dying down? A wire service
story on Sunday claimed that 9.1 percent of American adults were on low-carb
diets in February and that by November, that figure had dropped to 4.9 percent.
Personally, the low-carb diet craze always puzzled me. I remember the first
time I heard of it. A friend was passing through town. He is a farmer in
Michigan - he grows plants - and he was taking a truckload of his plants to
Arkansas. He excitedly told me about this new diet in which you could eat bacon
and eggs for breakfast and a triple cheeseburger for lunch (but no bun) and a
steak for dinner and - oh, yes - you could eat as much of this good stuff as
you wanted. If you felt like snacking, you could eat a roll of summer sausage.
And cheese, of course.
As much as you want of this good stuff? I asked.
Yes.
How about dessert?
Whipped cream. Straight out of the can.
What about alcohol?
Unlimited vodka.
Well, that did sound reasonable. I hopped on the bandwagon myself for a week or
so. But my ancestors were gatherers rather than hunters and I have a
deep-seated craving for carbs. So pretty soon I was back at the Pasta House.
Still, I didn't think the low-carb diet would have much staying power because
it seemed like it was aimed primarily at men. And most men do not believe they
need to lose any weight. Actually, I saw an interesting statistic on that
recently, and I've lost it, but it was something like this: Three out of four
men think they are in "good shape" or "very good shape."
I happen to be in "very good shape" myself. Most of the time, that is. That's
because I let myself go a little bit during the holiday season. I pretend that
I am an actor and that I have just been hired to play a wonderful role in a
movie that will begin production in January. The only problem is this: The
character I'll be playing is only in "good shape." So I have to put on between
15 and 20 pounds.
It is not difficult. For one thing, there is egg nog. I have discussed this in
previous years. How come you can find every other holiday specialty food
all-year-round? Most people eat cranberries only at Thanksgiving and Christmas
and yet, if you wanted, you could have them in July. You can even find
fruitcakes in July. But somehow, the cartel that runs the dairy industry - Big
Milk - keeps egg nog off the market except during the holiday season. Why is
this? Could it be that Big Milk is afraid that egg nog is so detrimental to our
health that the government would step in? That makes no sense. Can egg nog
really be more fattening than ice cream, another product Big Milk provides
year-round? I think not.
By the way, I got a strange e-mail last week. A fellow wrote me that he had
found low-carb egg nog. He seemed excited about it.
I am something of a purist. That is, I am willing to go with "Holiday Nog,"
which is, I think, egg nog made with low-fat milk. But that is as far as I am
willing to go. It's sort of like cheese. I try to set standards without
becoming a complete cheese snob, so yes, I will make a grilled cheese sandwich
with Velveeta, but I will not use Cheese-Whiz out of a can.
I wrote an e-mail back and told the man that he was going too far if he was
drinking low-carb egg nog. "Try Holiday Nog," I suggested. Had I known then
what I know now - that the low-carb diet is a thing of the past - I would have
been gentler. I feel sorry for people who get in on the tail end of national
crazes.
That is what I have always done. I didn't really get into the '60s until the
'70s. Then I went to work for a conservative newspaper when the country was
liberal and now I work for a liberal newspaper while the country is
conservative. So I have plenty of sympathy for some misguided soul who has
arrived late to the low-carb party.
I mean, hey, the rest of us have moved on. We got bored with nothing but meat
and cheese. Besides, what if we put on a few pounds and slip into the "good
shape" category? What's so bad about that? I'm not surprised the craze is over.
Low-carb egg nog? That's just pushing things too far.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20041220/1040425.asp