Carbohydrates and Tomatoes

[IronPete]

Regarding the pasta replacement the spaghetti squash seems to be his idea. He really likes pizza though. He makes a crust using stuff metamucil is made of and then adds the sauce and whatever.

No one has mentioned it because there may be no connection. But the keto diet is low sugar/fats and that is what cancers eat. I wonder if this diet would influence that?

Thanks all! Pete

[TomNJ]

Reading the nutrition labels on packaged tomato products shows canned tomatoes to have a net carb content (total carbs minus fiber) of about 3-4 grams per serving (1/2 cup), while prepared tomato sauces contain an average of 10 grams of net carbs (ranges from 8 to 13). Those extra 7 grams of net carbs on average equate to 4-5 tablespoons of sugars being added per quart. For comparison, Coca Cola has about 9 tablespoons of added sugars per quart.

To cut carbs from tomato sauces in half, just make your own sauce from either fresh or canned tomatoes and don't add any extra sugar.

I went on Atkins back in 2003 and stayed on the induction period (<20 grams of carbs per day) for seven months. I lost 43 pounds without exercising or ever being hungry - easiest diet I ever tried - and went from being chubby to too thin (people said I looked scrawny). I added back enough carbs to stabilize at a comfortable weight (BMI of 25) and feel great. I am still low carb compared to the average person and avoid sugars almost entirely.

I should add that prior to starting Atkins back in 2003 I spent 10 years on a low fat, high carb diet and had a lot of difficulty controlling my weight, mainly because I did not like what was I was eating and was frequently hungry. When I studied the Atkins diet and learned I could eat all the meat, cheese, sausage, and nuts that I wanted, it was a no brainer. These fatty foods eliminated the frequent hunger and I loved every meal. Interestingly, my cholesterol profile during the Atkins diet period improved, with the good HDL cholesterol rising over 50% and my triglycerides dropping 75%.

Just one man's story - your mileage may vary.

TomNJ/VA

[noinwi]

The failing of Atkins

Wah? When did Atkins fail? And who? Low carbing is a very individual thing. You find the carb level that suits your body best. Yes, the body will turn excess protein into sugar, but some people can eat more protein than others. There's no fail of the plan, but there is a fail of the way the plan is worked.

[Worth1]

I'm going to explain diets the way I look at them.
Your body is an engine, everyone's is different.
If you pump nitrous oxide into an engine that cant handle it, it will blow up.
If you pump too many carbohydrates into your body it too will blow up.
Where I work I have seen just about every diet possible fail.
One guys idea of the Atkins diet was just stupid.
Other people eat rabbit food till they just cant stand it anymore and fall off and gain it all back.
Yet others are taking some sort of pill.
Me I'm on the eat what I want diet.
On steak night I eat a plate of fried potatoes or salad and that is it because I cant stand the nasty steaks they have.
Other nights I will eat only meat.
To my dismay there is a guy that has to scrutinize my food every time I sit down to eat.
One time he will look over and say, what no meat and other he will say what no vegetables.
Then he will spout off about what I do with my burger when I make it.
It has gotten to the point other people have noticed this guy too.
Some times the guy will say where did you get that.
I tell them I got it from the line.
He will say I didn't see it.
My reply is I made it from what they had.
If I say I dont like something he will ask why not.
Why do I have to explain what I eat to anyone.
He asked me what happened to my hair when I cut it off.
I told him I had ring worms and it all fell out.
He believed me.
Last year when my wife died he asked me how my garden was doing.
I told him I didn't really have time to mess with a garden due to what I was going through.
He didn't get it and said it only takes a bit to have a garden.
The guy is a blithering idiot.
My point is eat what works for you but if it isn't working it may be you and not the diet.
Or it could be the diet.
You simply cant eat large amounts of anything sit around and do nothing and expect to lose weight.
The only way that works is if you are cold and your body is burning calories to keep warm.
If I get cold on my motorcycle and start to shiver I will get a bag of corn chips and a cup of coffee.
It works.
My diet works for me.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Very Nice Worth.

I have never been on any diet. Pretty much eat and drink what I like BUT in moderation.
And I am satisfied with my weight and health conditions, relatively speaking. In my senior age I can handle and work with shovel, pick, saw,rake for hours, walk several miles comfortably.
So my no-diet works for me and my doctor has never told me what to eat and what not to eat.
YMMV

Gardeneer

[FLRedHeart]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

Reading the nutrition labels on packaged tomato products shows canned tomatoes to have a net carb content (total carbs minus fiber) of about 3-4 grams per serving (1/2 cup), while prepared tomato sauces contain an average of 10 grams of net carbs (ranges from 8 to 13). Those extra 7 grams of net carbs on average equate to 4-5 tablespoons of sugars being added per quart. For comparison, Coca Cola has about 9 tablespoons of added sugars per quart.

To cut carbs from tomato sauces in half, just make your own sauce from either fresh or canned tomatoes and don't add any extra sugar.

There seems to be an unconscious bias that everything we buy
is laced with sweeteners and tomato sauce is no exception to this boogeyman.

Some sugar is added to many sauces, especially fancy ones,
but basic tomato sauce shouldn't contain added sweeteners if you are a good label reading shopper.
Don't forget to read the ingredients as well as the nutritional facts portion, before pulling out the calculator
http://www.hunts.com/products/tomatoes/tomato-sauce

Tom, I see you know how to look at this scientifically, but your
direct comparison of canned tomatoes that are not reduced, to
sauce which is reduced is invalid. The tomato sauce I boil and freeze
has no added sugar, and the people I know who can
never put any sugar in it either.

So my advice to the OP is if you don't make your own,
buy a basic unsweetened sauce to use as your base
and just stew a few veggies and spices in.
But don't expect to make the sauce much less than 4%-5% sugar by weight.
That's the typical content of unsweetened tomato sauce derived from the
tomatoes themselves. If you want to tweak it, use low brix tomatoes or if
obsessed, water down your sauce (yuk). Else-wise make due with smaller
portions of the good stuff. But really, if you are on a diet that makes you restrict
tomatoes in any size, shape or form, other than because you are allergic to them
or have some serious medical issue, you find a new diet

[BigVanVader]

Lol yeah I eat what I want and enjoy it. No tomatoes? No thanks!

[frankcar1965]

Since having a weight problem all my life except when I was near death and now that I have blown up like a balloon- I asked my doctor about diet. Now I know they don't get much training in nutrition but he said something that made sense. Instead of low carb or low fat or low gluten et. al, he said the best way is LOW FOOD! Go figure! It doesn't matter what you eat just eat less of it and move more he said. I can't wait to see what the next fad is. And the adage about the eskimos/inuit he said does not hold any value since they are unique and isolated small population and have evolved over a very long time. My relatives are always on some diet and one was never fat and the other has always been fat and I'm sure always will be. It's always interesting to see what they have removed, added, combined or even if they are dancing under moonlight while eating virgin broccoli blessed by the sun god. It's really like that no kidding.
So basically eat whatever you want and stop stuffing your face and get up and walk and move.

[IronPete]

I don't think its so much a diet thing as a lifestyle choice. My son has been a vegetarian since he was 4, has a black belt and is built like a greek god. The 'diet' just compliments his already busy lifestyle and reflects his desire to make better, healthier and more natural from the garden type choices.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by frankcar1965

It's always interesting to see what they have removed, added, combined or even if they are dancing under moonlight while eating virgin broccoli blessed by the sun god. It's really like that no kidding.

I'm sorry but that is hilarious.

Worth

[IronPete]

I liked that bit too!

[Deborah]

I lost 33 pounds just by eating three or four bites of whatever I wanted. Now that's all I care to eat. Maybe I trained myself?

[Tracydr]

I have a lot of patients who've had gastric bypass. The only thing a bypass really does is to decrease stomach size which decreases caloric intake. And some still eat too many calories and don't lose weight.
It truly is calorie in/calorie out. However, I do believe that something about low carb diets change metabolism for the better and I recommend low carb diets, but still with fresh veggies, for my patients, especially those with diabetes. I also recommend healthy fats, including some dairy fat. Whole foods/natural foods and a couple of veggie servings with each meal, including breakfast. Increasing fiber by eating more produce fills you up so that total calories are ultimately less.especially if you eat those tomatoes with a bit of evoo and some mozzarella cheese, or something similar.
Lettuce wraps are excellent replacements for sandwich bread.mi don't really like most replacement "diet" fake foods but I do love lettuce wraps and also spaghetti squash.
When weight watchers changed their program to allow unlimited fruit I literally gained weight while sticking to the letter of their plan.

[FLRedHeart]

Originally Posted by IronPete

I don't think its so much a diet thing as a lifestyle choice. My son has been a vegetarian since he was 4, has a black belt and is built like a greek god. The 'diet' just compliments his already busy lifestyle and reflects his desire to make better, healthier and more natural from the garden type choices.

Your son really needs to better define his beliefs, since he seeks to restrict his carbohydrate, the major macro-nutrient contained in tomato,
he may want to make some concessions with the numbers:

--His lowest carb unadulterated tomato sauce option is like the Hunt's I linked to above. This is most likely lower carb than making your own sauce.

--Generally, the lowest carb fresh tomatoes are the fibrous ones bought in the supermarket, which he can make sauce from. The variety Trust is an example.

--Home grown on average are higher carb.

--Some home grown tomatoes are higher carb than others and brix roughly ranks them (but not perfectly

[frankcar1965]

Pete, your son has it right lifestyle choice he has made, these folks do it because their friends do it or they read it online or it is just the in thing to do. They have an organic garden wont spray anything but then she, my sister in law, comes in with bag big as the avon lady full of suppliments! Not from the doc mind you, The homeopath of course. Told her i read all the raw materials come from china, i did read it, they formulate them here and there is no regulation of suppliments, i told her i would recommend listing her body as a superfund site, didn't go over well. She doesn't mind gping to the MD for that script of xanax though, guess they make that organic now too.