The Low-Carb Diabetes Solution Cookbook by Dana Carpender Read Free Book Online Page A

carb counts.” It’s astonishing the garbage food processors try to rationalize.
    Become an obsessive label reader. It is often bewildering the places sugar sneaks in. I once made the mistake of buying canned clams without reading the label, only to notice later they had added sugar. Who put sugar in the clams?
    IT IS NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU EAT
    The HEAL Protocol is not about
how much
you eat; it is about
what
you eat. If you are hungry, eat! Have a hard-boiled egg, a chunk of cheese, a few chicken wings, a bunless cheeseburger. Eat when you are hungry. Stop when you are satisfied. Repeat.
    However, if a food is not on the HEAL Protocol, it is out. Completely out.
    On low-calorie diets, people are always making deals—“I’ll skip 300 calories at lunch so I can have cake at the party later.” This kind of deal does not work. No matter what healthy food you skip, that cake is going to jack your blood sugar through the roof. You’ll be knocked out of ketosis—hunger renewed, back to addiction and craving—and it will take you the better part of a week to get back in the happy biochemical state where your hunger and cravings are suppressed and your blood sugar is rock-steady.
    Just accept it: There is no way to play games with this nutritional protocol. There is no cheating. The word “cheat” implies that you’ll get away with something, and you never will. Your body will know.
    However, if you do deviate from your plan, get right back on the wagon with the next meal or snack. Do not decide, “I blew it at lunch, I may as well go ahead and have ice cream.” Remember, every excess glucose molecule does damage. Ask yourself: If you stumbled on the top step, would you throw yourself down the stairs?
    WHAT ABOUT “MODERATION”?
    There will be people who try to derail you, intoning, “I believe in moderation in all things.” They’ll go on to say, “You should be able to have a treat now and then.” They sound oh-so-reasonable.
    Ask yourself: If you quit a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, would you expect to be able to have just a couple on the weekend? If an alcoholic friend sobered up, would you tell him he was too rigid, and he should be able to have a glass or two of wine at a holiday dinner?
    You’re overcoming a serious, dangerous health issue, as deadly as smoking or alcoholism. Ignore those who would make light of it. It’s not their feet, eyes, or kidneys at risk.
    MENU PLANNING
    The part of low-carb menu planning that takes getting used to is that it is difficult to have more than two dishes—a protein and a vegetable—within the constraints of 5 grams of carbohydrate per meal. Yet there is no need to go hungry. Remember, you may eat the listed animal foods to your heart’s content, and add fat liberally—oil on your salad, butter on your vegetables or on your steak or seafood.
    The most basic HEAL meal is an animal protein food—meat, poultry, fish, or eggs—cooked without added carbohydrate and paired with a nonstarchy vegetable. For instance:
    â€¢ Broiled steak with sautéed mushrooms
    â€¢ Roast chicken with asparagus and lemon butter
    â€¢ Grilled salmon fillet with a green salad
    But there are recipes in this book for meat, poultry, fish, or eggs combined with vegetables or seasonings that add as much as 5 grams of carbohydrate. Those you will have to eat solo. There are also recipes that have fewer than 5 grams. We are confident that you can add, and combine—or not combine—these dishes to wind up with 5 grams per meal.
    WHAT ABOUT THE “CARBIVORES”?
    You may well be cooking for “carbivores.” What to do?
    It’s pretty simple. With the personal motto “I feed people, therefore I am,” I have devised many menus that have allowed me to stick to my plan while making guests happy. The trick is to serve the starch separately. Look at those menus above. You can