Hi Charli,
Thanks for your reply. Now I have another question. :-)

Looking ahead to Phase 2 in the book, I am confused about something. On page 73, ALG writes, "But don't worry, you'll still be drinking unsweetened cranberry juice from phase 1, which helps to target cellulite. This time you'll have it in a half and half ratio with water in the Long Life Cocktail. "

But then on the page 76, she writes the recipe for the Long Life Cocktail as 7 ounces of water diluted with 1 ounce of unsweetened cranberry juice. I am no math whiz, but that doesn't sound like a half and half ratio to me! I had assumed she meant to combine 4 oz. of cran juice with 4 oz. of water until I saw the recipe.

Can you clear up this confusion for me?

Cathy

Cathy, MY book states "...mix 4 oz unsweetened cranberry juice with 4 oz water..." what edition do you have? Mine is the original, published in 2000.

My book was published in 2002. This must be a misprint. Can you check into it and let me know?

Thanks a lot!

Cathy

Hi Charli,
I am so glad we have our own resident expert here on the Low Carb forum. I find the iVillage website overwhelming and confusing and very SLOW, I guess due to all the advertising.

My latest confusion is about fish oil vs. flax oil and about psyllium vs. flaxseed. I gathered from various things I read online that ALG's current thinking is that rather than take 2 TBSPs. of flaxoil, we should do 1 or 2 Tbsp. of fish oil instead. Is this the current information we should go by?

And I read someone online in an interview by ALG the following:

The Share Guide: How important is flax seed or psyllium for detox and is it something that people should take long-term?

Ann Louise Gittleman: The reason I include ground up flax seeds and psyllium in The Fat Flush Plan is the importance of fiber. One needs to transport toxins out of the system and absorb many of those toxins, and that's the function of fiber. Ground up flax seeds are also the highest source of lignans, an estrogen modulating substance that is very protective against estrogen dependent cancers-from breast cancer to prostate cancer-so you get a double whammy when you use ground up flax. And it contains 50% soluble fibers and 50% insoluble fibers, so you get the regulating effects of the fiber as well as the effects of blood sugar stabilization, and even cholesterol regulation. So I am the biggest believer in ground up flax. Psyllium, on the other hand, can become gooey; it absorbs lots of water in the system, so people's bowel can become quite dehydrated. Overuse of psyllium can actually strip the bowel of beneficial bacterium.

The Share Guide: So these things are not to be taken long-term?

Ann Louise Gittleman: I don't believe that psyllium alone should be taken long-term, but ground up flax is great. But I am going to caution people here: when the ground up flax is not pre-toasted, it contains a type of alkaloid substance, and taken in excess this can effect iodine absorption or iodine uptake in the thyroid. So it should be toasted for 10-15 minutes, at 250-300 degrees in the oven.

So is ALG no long recommending we use the psyllium husks in the Longlife Cocktail? Should we be using the ground up toasted flaxseeds instead?

And speaking of Cranwater, I didn't hear back from you about whose version of the book is correct, yours or mine, but I assume since ALG mentions a 50% ratio, I should go with the 4 oz to 4 oz when I hit Phase 2? Or are you still looking into this?

Thanks a lot for all your help!

Cathy

Hi Cathy,

This is the latest I know via Charli.

If you're over 300 lbs go for 2 T fish oil daily because of problems with oxidants forming from the flaxseed oil in those of us that are over 300 lbs. I could not hack the fish oil only, so I did 1 T of each daily.

You can use flaxseed or psyllium in your cocktail (unsure about if ALG has changed her recommendation on this). If you use psyllium in the cocktail, you need to still eat 2 T of flaxseeds. You can do that by sprinkling it on salads, making flaxseed wraps or other goodies, or mixing it in your smoothie (yum).

Cranwater ... in P2 it is written to mix 4 oz in each cocktail, but many still drink it mixed as we did in P1. I do believe that ALG has okayed this.

I'm sure Charli will be in soon to pick up anything I missed. I hope this helps a little.

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the info. Okay, 2 Tblsp of fish oil it is! I don't mind the lemon flavored kind so I can deal with that. I bought a bottle yesterday for $46! Ouch!

I did not realize that if you use psyllium in the cocktail, you are supposed to eat 2 T of flaxseeds. I wonder how I missed that? Is that with Phase 1 or 2? Maybe Charli can let me know.

And as far as the Longlife Cocktail goes, it sounds like you are saying if we just have cranwater twice a day in the LLC, make it a 4 oz. to 4 oz. ratio, but if we choose to have cranwater throughout the day, we should stick to the Phase 1 ratio. Again, maybe Charli can confirm that for me.

Every time I think I have a grip on this plan, I find something new to confuse me! Oh well, so far, so good. I lost 5.6 pounds on my first week! :-)

Cathy

Hi Cathy, (Great to see you, Lisa!),
First off, I highly recommend you get your fish oil here. <--click on link! Much MUCH cheaper! and only $4 to ship, no matter what you order - woohoo!
ALG does not recommend plain ol' pysllium as your fiber source for life. While shedding weight, however, if you prefer psyllium by all means use it. Frankly, I love the nuttier taste of toasted ground flaxSEEDS (not flaxMEAL!). I toast and grind my own, but recommend that you buy say, Spectrum's or Barleans first so you know what texture you are aiming for (and their products are toasted prior to grinding so that worry is taken care of).
I think ALG's point is this - if you are using pysllium as your fiber, and Fish oil as your fat, the one thing you are missing is the hormone-modulating lignans found in the ground flaxseed. Hence her recommendation to add a couple Tbsp per day (over salads or veggies or in eggs, etc.) This is certainly not clear from the book and I'm thinking it was something she advised for folks with 100+ to shed.
The P1 LLC is definitely 64 oz of cranwater taken throughout the day - this daylong trickle of carbs helps keeps cravings at bay and blood sugar stable. After P1, however, in a nod to convenience, she came up with the LLC half cranberry-4oz/half water-4oz option with additional 48oz plain water throughout the day. Usually most of us are so used to the P1 version of cranwater we prefer it and it's fine to go with either the P1 dilution or the P2, once you are in P2. You must have a misprint in your edition (no wonder you're confused!). D'oh!
PS. My ivillage co-CL, Linda, and I are hosting a live chat this Saturday starting at 1pm West Coast time. Please feel free to join us. Our focus will be FF hints/tips/shortcuts, but you are free to ask anything you wish. Can't promise we know the answer, though.

congrats on your success so far. It gets easier, honest!

Hi Charli,
Thank you for all the information! Wow, I can't believe the difference in the price of that fish oil! I am sorry I opened my bottle or I would march it right back to my health food store and return it! Needless to say, I "bookmarked" the link you gave me and will be using it in the future! Thank you again!

I will try the toasted ground flaxseeds in the LLC and see how it goes. I seem to alternate between constipation and diarrhea (too much information?) which might be due to the psyllium so maybe the flaxseeds will even things out a bit. I will look for the Spectrum's since I know my health food store carries that brand. After that I will "graduate" to toasting and grinding my own.

It's no wonder people lose so much weight on this plan. With all the trips to the health food store and the toasting and grinding of flaxseeds and preparing Longlife cocktails and hot lemon water, not to mention drinking it all, who has time to eat? :-) (Just kidding. I ALWAYS can find time to eat.) Sounds like I could use that shortcuts info in the live chat. I will try to join you if I can figure out how to get there.

Thanks again, Charli! I will try to stop pestering you for a while.

Cathy

here's a link to the ivillage chat room http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbfatflchat/chat - once you're there, log in and click on the chat room itself. if that's as clear as mud - I blame the time (it's way way past my bedtime!)

Cathy,

I am looking into the Fat Flush Plan and appreciate the information that you have provided. You look terrific and congrats on your success on the plan. I'm 47 and weight also what you did when you started out. I was having problems on ATkins and decided to switch over. Again thanks for the info. I had the book at one point but am not sure where it is now....but I have some cheat sheets that I found.....

Hi Charli,
I have a few flaxseed questions. I want to try to start incorporating flaxseed into my diet.

First of all, gold vs. brown? My health food store carries both. Any advantages in one over the other? Taste differences?

Second, my health food store keeps theirs in the refrigerator. I assume I should do likewise, even the whole seeds?

Third, from what I have read, I should only grind a few days' worth at a time. How about toasting? Do you toast only a few days at a time too? How do you store the seeds, once they have been toasted? Back in the refrigerator?

Fourth, I plan to grind them in the coffee grinder. Is that what you do? How many "pulses" do you give? I imagine just a couple, right? Otherwise it would turn into flaxmeal.

And lastly, just wondering about amounts. I have over 100 lbs. to lose and I am taking 2 Tbsps. of fish oil instead of flaxseed oil each day. I want to start using the ground flaxseeds in my Longlife Cocktail, so that means I will be getting 2 tablespoons each day. If I would like to use some ground flaxseeds in a recipe or with a meal during the day, is there a limit to how many tbsps. of ground flaxseeds we can have each day, as long as they are toasted?

So many questions! Thank you for your help!

Cathy

1) doesn't matter, IMHO - despite claims, the experts generally feel there's no nutritional difference. However, I use a combo of 1/2 brown & 1/2 golden for my flaxcrackers - for the taste, I guess (or just habit! ).
2) I store the ground seeds in the fridge in a dark container with a lid. Whole seeds should go there if you've got more than you're going to use in a week or so.
3) I toast the seeds before grinding and yes, I grind about a week's worth. See #2. (I used to buy FortiFlax by Barleans and when I decided to toast & grind my own, I continued to use the FortiFlax container to store my ground flaxseeds aka: GFS)
4) Yep, I use my coffee bean grinder. I pulse 4-5 times, inverting on the last pulse so the seeds collect in the top and are easier to transfer to my container. The key to the "correct" grind is to see some nearly whole seeds in the mix.
5) Yup, there's a limit because these are seeds remember. That means they've got calories and you CAN eat too many in a day. You can either choose to use your 2 Tbsp per day amount over salads & veggies, with eggs, etc. INSTEAD of putting them in your morning cranwater OR you can subsitute 3 Tbsp GFS for 1 Tbsp fish oil. When you choose this latter substitution, ALG recommends switching to psyllium in your LLCs.

Clear as mud?

Hi Charli,
Thanks so much for all the info. Very helpful!

As far as being "clear as mud", it was going just fine until I got to number 5. I think you are saying that the most flaxseeds we can have in one day is 3 Tbsp. of GFS, and that is only if we substitute it for 1 Tbsp of fish oil? You said ALG recommends using psyllium in the LLC if we make that substitution.

Is there some kind of "magic" to drinking the flaxseeds in the LLC as opposed to having them with breakfast a half hour later? I don't really like psyllium and yet I would like to use the flaxseeds in breakfast recipes. So I guess that is my real question. Is there a way to avoid using psyllium in the LLC and to be able to use 3 tbsps. of flaxseeds in a breakfast recipe and still be "legal"?

The LLCs are a fiber drink because most of us don't get nearly enough. If you PROMISE on a stack of FF books that you will faithfully get your 2 daily TBSP of ground flaxseed in daily by putting in smoothie or on salads or over eggs, etc., you do not have to put GFS in your long life cocktail.
Understand, however, that the morning LLC is the intestinal "scrub" and the hot lemon water is the "rinse" (by way of explaining why it was set up that way). You get the biggest um...BM for you buck, so to speak, doing it this way.
HTH!

LOL. Okay, thanks. I swear! Or maybe I will just use the psyllium in the LLC on the days when I want to use the flaxseeds in a breakfast recipe. The jury is still out on how I feel about flaxseeds. One minute, I think, "Mmm, so rich, so earthy." Then a few minutes later I think, "Hmmm, yeah, earthy, kind of tastes like dirt."

Thanks again for your help!