The Livin La Vida Low-Carb Show

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Hello and welcome to Episode 45 of the Internet’s premiere low-carb podcast show–it’s “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.”

In today’s episode, Jimmy looks at the strange case of CHOICE Magazine, who want to tell you why they think low-carbers are wasting money on bad products AND why they think the healthy low-carb lifestyle is not a healthy long-term diet anyway! This article makes a few points that Jimmy agrees with, but they really want to “throw the baby out with the bathwater!”

Have no fear, though, our host Jimmy Moore is here to set the record straight on how to tell a good low-carb product from a sham! To hear the good word, click the play button above!

LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 45
- E-mail Jimmy Moore
- Jimmy Moore’s podcast and blog nominated for Blogger’s Choice Awards
- Choice magazine article on low-carb food products

Did you miss anything Jimmy said in today’s episode? There is a full transcript of Episode 45! Simply click through below to read more:

TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE 45:

This is Episode 45 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore” and I’m pleased you could join us again for another exciting podcast about the amazing low-carb lifestyle. I appreciate that you listen to this show and want you to know I’m always available to answer any questions you may have about low-carb living. It would be my distinct pleasure. You can send me an e-mail at livinlowcarbman@charter.net, leave me a voicemail at (206) 203-4192, or leave a comment at my podcast web site, TheLivinLowCarbShow.com. I’m happy to hear from you anytime, so don’t be a stranger, okay?

So did you hear that “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore” is up for an award? Yep, it has been nominated in the category of Best Podcast in the Blogger’s Choice Awards. WOW, how cool is that? This is kinda like the People’s Choice Awards for the online community. My LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com blog as well as yours truly were also nominated for Best Health Blog and Best Blog Host, too. I’m flattered by the attention shown to what I am doing and I encourage you to check out how YOU can vote in these various categories if you so choose. Click on the link in the show notes section at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com for more information. THANK YOU to everyone for your faithful dedication to the mission of my podcast and blog.

I wanted to talk with you today about a study that was released in an Australian consumer magazine called “Choice” that concluded low-carb dieters are wasting too much money on foods that are simply overloaded with carbohydrates. Can we all say that’s the WELL DUH of the year? I’ve been telling people to be very careful when they see a product on the shelf at the supermarket that has the word “carb” or something like that on it to actually read the ingredients and nutritional label to see what is actually in it. Most of the new products that literally flooded the shelves when low-carb was a cool marketing trend a couple of years back began to push out the truly good products that were out there on the shelves. These newer low-carb products from the large food manufacturers were just loaded with added and might I add unnecessary hidden sugars and other such refined carbohydrates that your body just does not need when you are livin’ la vida low-carb.

That “Choice” magazine study found that people who are following a low-carb diet program are eating just as many carbohydrates in the low-carb products they are buying as they were in the regular versions of those products and are paying up to 500 percent more for those foods. Well, if that is indeed happening to people who are livin’ la vida low-carb, then it’s their own fault for being suckered into slick marketing. People who have read books about doing low-carb as prescribed know that you have to be aware of any food that you put in your mouth and you cannot trust that the food manufacturer who produced this “low-carb” product has the best interest of your weight and health in mind when they created it. They just want your money and it’s high time somebody blew the whistle on these people and hold them accountable for their false advertising. Clare Hughes, the food policy officer for “Choice” magazine, said consumers needed to know that low-carb foods are no healthier than regular ones. Here’s what she said: “For example, the manufacturer’s suggested serving size of one of the low-carb pastas was 50g, whereas most other pasta manufacturers will say that a serving size is 100g. So you eat less carbs because you’re actually eating a smaller amount of food.”

That’s not entirely true if you are purchasing a genuine low-carb product, Ms. Hughes. If you get Dreamfield’s pasta, for example, then the carbohydrate content of a serving size is just 5 grams of net carbs. This is compared with the upwards of 50 or so carbs for that same regular pasta serving size. That’s a big difference and makes it easy to see why it is important to read your labels carefully. Hughes continued, though: “They also replace the sugars and starches with ingredients that don’t count as carbohydrates on the nutrition panel. Some use synthetic forms of dietary fiber but these forms of fiber don’t offer the nutritional benefits of fruit, nuts or whole grains that are all rich in carbohydrate.” But I have a response to that, Ms. Hughes. If it is dietary fiber, then you don’t have to count those as part of your digestible carbs. I don’t know why people get so hung up on this point. Fiber is a carbohydrate, yes, but it is one you don’t have to count when you are counting carbs. In other words, it’s a freebie.

Here’s the formula: Just take the total carbohydrates on the nutritional label and subtract the dietary fiber and sugar alcohols to get your net carbs. Is this really too difficult to understand or am I missing something here? Interestingly, Hughes calls for something that I wrote about in my book “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: My Journey From Flabby Fat To Sensationally Skinny In One Year” that will make a lasting impact on the food industry well into the future. She believes, like I do, that there needs to be more stringent food labeling regulations to avoid confusing unbeknownst low-carb consumers who are looking for products for their specific diet plan. Exactly! But it really does boil down to the person buying the product to make sure they know what they’re getting. In the end, the individual is the final arbiter.

Hughes said that “some low-carb products may have less carbohydrates per serving than their conventional counterparts, but not necessarily so much less to make you lose weight.” I’m glad to know I’m not a lonely voice on this issue either. I believe a group of low-carb food industry leaders need to meet together with government labeling agencies to form some sort of guidelines that food companies will have to follow in order to label their product as a “low-carb” food option. This needs to be done as soon as possible to cause food companies to fess up to their low-carb product scam on the public. This is long overdue. In Australia, the food standards spokeswoman said her team is currently looking at the phrase “low-carb” and attempting to come up with a clear way to define what that means to consumers. She said, “We have to work out whether it’s meaningful, health-wise, to say whether a product is low-carb or not.” Of course, it’s healthy, just as much as low-fat is for people following that diet plan. This only makes sense and is something that should also happen in the United States if we are going to rope in these garbage product purporting to be low-carb. Not all of those products are as bad for you as some would contend, but many of them are packed with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, tran fats, and worse. How dare these companies try to pass these off as “low-carb.” It’s absolutely hideous (okay, now I’m starting to sound like Simon Cowell from “American Idol!”).

One final thought: On the online version of this particular “Choice” magazine story, there is a section called “Spin Doctors” in a pink box at the bottom of the page which states the following asinine commentary: “There’s no evidence that low-carb diets are safe beyond about 12 months. They can put you at risk of heart disease and kidney problems, not to mention increasing your chances of developing osteoporosis. You’re much better off trying to lose weight by exercising more and eating less — and sticking to a diet with plenty of whole grains, fruit and veggies, with lean meat and low-fat dairy products.” You don’t think this “Choice” magazine would have an anti-low-carb, pro low-fat agenda now, would you?

That’s it for Episode 45 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” We’ll be back again on Thursday with another engaging topic about low-carb living. So, until next time, keep on livin’ la vida low-carb!

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