Tue, Dec-18-07, 16:40
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Registered Member
Posts: 1,429
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Plan: atkins/ IF
Stats: 162/128/130
BF:
Progress: 106%
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ValerieL
I have such trouble with erythritol. I just can't bake with it, I *really* notice the cooling effect. Even in small amounts.
I started doing IF back in September (I think it was) when Dr. Eades did his first posts on it. I didn't last all that long, but I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. Health! I should have been concentrating on the weight loss benefits. This time I'm doing it strictly to lose weight. I'm at that point in my weight loss journey that my natural intake on low-carb (whether very low carb or maintenance carbs) is high enough that I no longer lose. I need an edge to reduce my calories a little. Not much, just a little. So, I'm experimenting with a little intermittent fasting.
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Hello Val, have you used xylitol too? I haven't, but people say it has the 'cooling' effect as well, but none of the metabolic advantages of erythritol. And yet xylitol has been widely available here for many years in health food stores- very expensive. I've always wondered why the retailers here went with xylitol rather than erythritol. You'd think the people who buy xylitol would much prefer erythritol. Maybe the lower sweetness factor did it?
There is a remarkable prebiotic called 'inulin' (also available online) that boasts some pretty interesting food texturizing/ mouth (creamy) feel properties as well. One of its many claims to fame in my book is that it takes the edge off two of erythritol's disadvantages - the cooling aftertaste, and its tendency to form crystals in baked food. OTOH I quite like the cooling effect now, but it was a bit odd at first. Why don't you get hold of some polydextrose to combine with the erythritol as a food texturizer sweet cofactor in baked stuff? You will definitely have to use some intense non calorific sweetener as well. Polydextrose isn't sweet at all.
Why did the health benefits of IF not continue to inspire you when you first tried it?. I do find the subtle body comp improvements I've experienced gratifying, but I'd have to say my only motivation in adopting this dietary approach is health. I'm a grazer too. Whenever I start eating I'll be unable to stop low carb grazing for the rest of the day. Since I don't break my fast till 6pm now with no effort- after a year it just feels completely 'right', it's a huge amount of food that I no longer consume. It makes me so fascinated about that whole 'futile cycling' of excess calories that some people seem to do effortlessly. I must be a pretty impressive futile cycler. Unfortunately being so doesn't seem to prevent excess calories overloading your metabolism in terms of accelerating degenerative disease. I'm pretty sure I came within a hair's breadth of developing diabetes - from simply consuming way too much food- even though I never gained 'excess' bodyfat.
There seems to be widespread view, particularly in low carbing circles, that not tending to gain bodyfat by eating 'excess' fat calories without the storage inducing carbohydrate somehow makes eating excess fat healthy. I think this is manifestly wrong. IF for me has turned out to be an amazing process of discovery of just how few calories I can consume and maintain excellent body comp. It might make 'recreational' calories less likely to end up on your thighs, but as one of the moderators of the 'Performance Menu' forum put it: 'Thin folks don't really get away with consuming excess calories either. The damage just isn't as visible'. Which is probably why so many 'easy gainer' fat people are actually way healthier than 'naturally thin' overeaters like me. Low carbing is definitely healthier than high unprocessed carbs, IMHO, but it is only half the answer to optimum health.
Stuart
Last edited by kneebrace : Tue, Dec-18-07 at 16:46.
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