A Serious Challenge to the 2012 Low-carbohydrate "Metabolic Advantage" Study

Warning: this post will be a bit more wonkish than usual, because I need to get detailed to make my points. To read a summary, skip to the end.

In 2012, David Ludwig's group published an interesting RCT that suggested a substantial "metabolic advantage" resulting from a high-protein, very-low-carbohydrate diet (VLC) (1). In other words, this diet led to a higher energy expenditure relative to a normal-protein, low-fat diet (LF) over a one month period (a low-glycemic-load, normal-protein diet was in the middle and not significantly different from the other two). Resting energy expenditure (REE) was slightly but significantly higher on the VLC diet, and total energy expenditure (TEE) was elevated by a whopping 300+ kcal/day! I covered the study at the time, describing it as "fascinating" and "groundbreaking", and calling for the study to be replicated so we can be more confident in its unexpected result (2).

This finding has been used by Ludwig, Gary Taubes, and others to support the carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis of obesity, although there is no evidence that the effect was mediated by insulin, and also no evidence that it was mediated by reduced carbohydrate rather than increased protein (3).

Since I published that post, my confidence in the finding-- and particularly the common interpretation of it that reducing carbohydrate intake to a very low level increases REE and TEE-- has gradually been eroding. This is partially because other studies have generally reported that the carbohydrate:fat ratio of the diet has little or no effect on REE, TEE, or fat storage (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

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Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread

Buzzfeed cursed when they wrote about this recipe.  That sold me.  If you're passionate about something to the point of potty words (I'm a mother) than, well, there must be a reason.  And by the way, if I wasn't a mother, and if I wasn't a LADY, I would curse here too telling you about this HEAVENLY BANANA BREAD.  A cream cheese stuffing, that's almost frosting-like (without being overly sweet), and perfectly moist banana bread.  Gosh darnit it's good!!! 

Recipe here.

Just two more sleeps! Food for Today & Food for the Future

Our big event is just two sleeps away! If you haven't registered yet, here is a sneak peak at some of our evening workshops to wet your appetite:

• Container Food Gardening


• Healthy Eating - What's the Problem?


• Bee keping and Pollinators


• Children and Food Security - Making it Fun and Making it Work

For each topic we'll have some hands-on fun, and also discuss the implications of the topic on the wider picture of food security. 

Can't wait! 

We hope to see you there! Click here for more information and to register. 

Herbed Pizzas for CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

This morning I presented some lovely local products for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.   

This artisan pizza dough from Old Church Bakery, is remarkably light.  It feels as though it would float away.  You don't need to roll it, just press it out with your fingers.

The fresh herbs are wonderful! Fertile Farm has wonderful products at the market.  Grilling the Spring Onions makes them mellow and sweet.  The Sorrel is so lemony, just divine!

Herbed Pizzas

1 bag Artisan Pizza dough (from Old Church Bakery, at St. Norbert�s Market)
olive oil
Spring Onions or Sorrel (from Fertile Farm, at St. Norbert�s Market)
Pesto of choice for sauce.  I�m using basil arugula today, also optional to use only olive oil, salt and pepper
Shaved or grated parmesan cheese

You can bake this on a BBQ grill, with or without a grill sheet.  The Pizza dough is so light, it doesn�t need rolling, just spread it out with your fingers.  Spread on olive oil or pesto to the base of the pizza and top with your favourite toppings.  I love using grilled Spring Onions as it brings out the sweetness of the greens.  I simply drizzled olive oil over the Spring Onions and grilled on the grill sheet until a bit charred.  You can do the same with the Sorrel or put it on the pizza dough fresh. 

Bake on the covered grill until done or bake in the oven at 450-500�F until to desired doneness.

Enjoy with some crisp white wine or local beer.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Salmon Bowl with Crispy Kale

When we eat salmon - and we eat it a lot - almost always Carson throws it on the grill (with this seasoning, yum).  While we obviously love it, doing the same thing can feel redundant so I've been searching for ways to shake up our salmon routine.  Ugh, I feel really old when I say things like "shake up our salmon routine."  Anyway.  Via the world wide web, I've been seeing a lot of salmon bowls lately, so I decide to create my own.  It came out great and was very easy to throw together!  Can I just tell you what I did instead of writing a recipe?  Pleeeeeeease?  Thanks, I'm tired.

I preheated my oven to 400 degrees.  About 30 minutes prior to baking my salmon, I threw it in a plastic bag with about a cup of my favorite teriyaki sauce to marinate.  While those flavors blended together in the fridge, I tossed my washed and chopped kale in about a teaspoon of sesame oil and sprinkled it with salt.  I placed that on a baking sheet lined with foil, and baked for 10-15 minutes, then I set it aside in a bowl.  When I was ready to bake the salmon, I placed it on that same baking sheet and baked it for about 10 minutes.  While that was baking, I saut�ed some shiitake mushrooms in 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp sesame oil until golden brown.  I served the fish, mushrooms and kale with some cooked brown rice and avocado.  

By the way, this would have been even more yummy with Sriracha drizzled over the top but I couldn't find my Sriracha WHO STOLE MY SRIRACHA?!  I'm blaming you. 

Food for Today & Food for the Future

Dear Food First-ers:



We're getting excited about our upcoming Food Forum! Food for Today, Food for the Future is going to be a great event. We've got some exciting speakers lined up, interesting evening workshops and - of course - good food. 



We're also excited to have the forum featured in the Burnaby Now! 



The article quotes one of our afternoon speakers, Jennifer Rustemeyer. Jennifer is the producer of the 2010 documentary The Clean Bin Project, and most recently, Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story. Her latest film talks about how society throws 40 per cent of food in the garbage.



We hope to see you there! Click here for more information and to register. 

Corn, Tomato, Avocado & Mozzarella Salad

How were your long weekends?  Ours felt so long, I needed a full day yesterday to regroup.  We crammed a lot into the three days, for example a Billy Joel concert (I died), a road trip (my 21 month-old wanted to die: carseat no bueno), and a BBQ at our house.  That last part was impromptu actually, because all of the Monday festivities in our town were cancelled due to rain (and the rain never came).  So instead, we had some neighbors over and I scrambled to prepare a Memorial Day-worthy meal.  This simple, summer salad was by far my favorite, and the leftovers actually held up the next day.  Sweet cherry tomatoes, creamy avocado, fresh boiled corn and mozzarella in a lemon and olive oil dressing, seasoned with chopped cilantro, salt and pepper... YUM.  It's bright, fresh and a fun change from a traditional salad.  

Corn, Tomato, Avocado & Mozzarella Salad

Serves 6-8

Printable Recipe

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

2 avocados, diced

1 cup Bocconcini (mozzarella balls), cut into fourths

6 ears of corn, boiled and sliced off the cob

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 small lemon, juiced

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Combine tomatoes, avocados, mozzarella and corn in a large bowl.  Add the chopped cilantro and stir everything together.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together lemon juice and olive oil until desired consistency is reached (I usually use roughly 1/4 cup or a tad more of olive oil).  Season dressing with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over salad and add more salt and pepper if needed.