The Great FAT Debate

A couple of people who have purchased the e-book have requested the fat and fiber information. I now have that available for no cost as a supplemental file. It is easy to add those pages at the end of the chapters for the different types of recipes.

The reason that they are not included with each recipe is because low carbers generally do not count fat grams in their menu planning. There are many varied opinions on this. I'll leave that research to you. Some prefer a plan that is both low carb and low fat. I find that too restricting. Others promote the other extreme, even encouraging occasional "fat fasts." I haven't gone that far either.

Here is what I do know. I used to cook low fat. We didn't get healthy eating that way. Low fat foods tend to have additional carbs. Today, when I was typing out the nutritional stats, it would just about kill me to admit that I am advocating meals which contain 40-50 grams of fat per serving. In my old low fat days, that would have crashed the entire day. Old habits die hard. I do believe that carb counts matter most to my diabetic family. I also think caloric intake is important, but may not the main factor of weight loss. In this type of diet, the body learns to process food differently. The research is out there. Check out Dr. Bernstein's plan for much of the science. Right now our goal is controlling blood sugars, not losing weight.

So, for me, I'm not going to think about the fat. It is glorious to have real cream in my coffee and to cook with cheese. But the choice is up to you. If your body can tolerate more carbs, then switching to lower fat cheeses and using less butter may be more successful. I guess the only hard rules are that you won't be at a healthy weight if you consume both the fats and the carbs without restriction.

For more information on tweaking the low carb diets to be more calorie restrictive, check our George Stella's newer cookbook, Eating Stella Style.