OK...so I tried making a slurry with the milled flaxseed but it didn't really do much regarding thickening it any further. If it had been earlier and I wasn't getting tired, I'd have tried making a roux just to see what that might do.
So I split it up into individual servings and put them in the freezer.
I'll tell you, Sandy....I really think I'd prefer to leave the lettuce out...it's not really necessary and it kinda grosses me out...just the idea of lettuce in a hot soup. I mean, I'm okay with spinach being limp when cooked...but lettuce just seems weird. But bacon might work well.
I wish there was some Atkins-approved way to really thicken it good. I think it would be even much better if it could be made to be much thicker. It had never really occurred to me that this would be a major problem on Atkins....needing to seriously thicken something. I guess I'd just never made anything that needed thickening before.
I wanted to copy something here that I found on the blog of a member named Magnolia Rayne....and I think she copied it from somewhere else but wanted to give her credit. It's what happens during the hour after you drink a regular soda:
1. # In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
2. # 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat.
3. # 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
4. # 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
5. # 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
6. # 60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
7. #60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, urinated away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.
This really made me think...from a physiologic standpoint. And it fits right in with the Taubes theories....in fact, a great example of several of them.
Item #4 is intriguing to me...the whole release of dopamine thing.....why would nature have made humans to become addicted to food items? We have dopamine and endorphins but I don't think humans were meant to get a rush from them from what they eat....or from drugs, etc. Not good for us, basically. I'm sure that McDonald's food causes a rush of dopamine too....and the problem is even compounded by the fact that we don't feel well if we stop eating it for a while...a true sign of an addiction....and that can't possibly be good.
Then on top of the whole addiction issue....is the sugar spiking causing insulin release which in turn causes fat storage....and also the whole issue of not only no nutritional value but causing loss of nutrients that we did get from other better foods.
But at the very least, just eating any sort of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, will cause the release of insulin/fat storage and also the dopamine rush.
I wanted to ask you guys something.....if you've read around here regarding some of the other low-carb diets. Due to the fact that restricting the carbs so seriously is critical to weight loss on Atkins and also to not eat anything with sugar as an ingredient..........have you ever wondered how they lose weight on these other low-carb diets when they are not restricting carbs nearly as much as we are and eating carbs we can't eat (whole grain bread/pasta, etc.)?
I mean, Atkins makes total sense from a physiologic standpoint....but if you follow the logic of the diet...being a metabolic one....it seems to me that one would not lose weight on these other low-carb diets. I wonder if they are actually losing weight due to lower calories, and not to fat-burning from ketosis. I don't see how one could possibly go into ketosis with the amount of carbs they eat/can have....do you?
It is certainly much healthier to eat significantly less carbs and also BETTER carbs (whole grain, etc.) than humans like to eat.....but I just don't see how they are losing weight on them...unless it is really low calorie....which would make it a deprivation diet, IMO.....along with the corresponding downsides, including hunger. A lot of them are rather low-fat, IMO...so they wouldn't be eating the fat needed to go into ketosis either. I'd much rather do Atkins than any of those other ones. And it seems to me that hunger and stalls is fairly common with them. Many of them do have an induction period just like Atkins does....but then they start adding significantly more whole grain type carbs....and often stall then...or at the very least, the weight loss slows down significantly.
OK...tomorrow is dentist-day. I go at 11 am. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
deena