"Frankenfoods" - Your opinion?
 

:lol: Frankenfoods!

I am not an Atkins follower but I saw the title and had to check this out. :lol:

So many "foods" (low carb or not) are truly "Frankenfoods", you know?

;)

Hi Kim!
I'm so glad to see your thread.
How's everything going! Did your Steelers win! LOL

Well you know I learned about Frankenfoods from the best, so you know how I feel about that.
It took a long while to break myself from eating those Atkins bars, but everytime I thought about it, I would hear a little voice inside say, "don't do it, don't eat it". Hmmm, I wonder who's voice that was? ;)

I like to keep it as natural as possible. I do occasionaly have Sugar free breath mints, or a little diet cola when I need a treat. I use splenda quite regularily. I don't buy any bars or shakes or any packaged foods like that. If I cant make it at home with natural ing, I don't realy want to eat it.

I lost 50 lbs on a healthy Atkins diet, I had started on it early, before all those frankenfoods were being marketed. I ate a big salad every day for lunch, had high protein breakfast and dinner (usually with organic eggs and at least natural meats). If I wanted a treat, I'd treat myself to a little bit of melon or a berry/coconut milk smoothie.

Then the frankenfoods started hitting the shelves, Splenda started showing up in everything. It started with the low carb icecream, that was a huge temptation for me, I remember picking a pint up at the whole foods on the way home from work almost every day. Then they started putting splenda in big red.. my favorite soft drink. I drank that stuff like it was water. The point is, this stuff made me sick, and led me on a spiraling path that ended up with me gaining all the weight back within two years. I think especially with the splenda, it began to mess with my kidneys. I kept having horrible stomach pains and cramps. Back pains, and urinary discomfort. got checked for UTI and the docs found nothing. On top of that I just felt tired and sick all the time. I blamed my hormones, but eventually suspected the vast quantities of splenda. Then I read online somewhere that it's made of sugar bonded with Chlorine! And that in the clinical trials it was found to affect thyroid function and produce crystals in the urine (hence the UTI symptoms) Of course, they determined that it was safe in "normal" amounts. But I was drinking tons of this stuff, put it in every liquid that passed my lips.

Anyways, so I quit it all about a year ago, and it took awhile for me to get my motivation back. When I went back on my low carb diet a few months ago, I cut out all franken foods. No MSG, no Splenda, no aspartame, no soy, no words I can't pronounce. I just eat fresh veggies, healthy meats and eggs, and a little bit of dairy here and there. And if I want a treat, I went back to a little bit of fruit instead of turning to franken foods.

LOL Kim, I mean't you!

I'm weaning myself from diet rite sodas, and I'm actually eating strawberries and blueberries for a dessert or treat. I'm drinking at least 5 bottles of water that are 16.9 oz. Is that enough or do I need more?
It's funny because I never thought I could eat this way and it's just becoming a habit. To think of eating any other way right now seems foreign to me.

I think moderation is key to everything. On one hand, I had a supervisor once who was a health food fanatic, but smoked like a chimney (a chain smoker, who despite the nonsmoking policy in the govt bldg was high enough in the chain of command to get a filtration system for his office rather than a reprimand). Cutting the cigarettes and eating the occasional twinkie would have been a better choice for him, in my opinion (by the way, that's a figurative twinkie, as I destest the little buggers).

If you eat a mostly "real food" diet, one or two "frankenfoods" occasionally probably provides minimal risk, but if everything you eat has unpronounceable chemicals in it, you have to wonder what sort of chemistry-set you've made of your body.

Thanks Kim! :D

Kim,
What dou you think about that coconut bark that everyone is eating. The coconut oil is supposed to have some health benefits. I've tried and it's not bad. The co is supposed to help the skin and metabolism from what I read about it.

Your thoughts?

Hey Diana,

Remember, you asked for my thoughts:smug:

Here goes....I've seen the recipes for "coconut bark" and honestly, they've never interested me much. I'm not sure Splenda is the safest thing in the world so, I use it very sparingly. As for health benefits....I've heard pro's & con's. The American Heart Association claims coconut oil is detrimental to cardiovascular health and promoted heart disease. So who knows! If I'm unsure of something, I just stay away from it. Chocolate was always my "weakness"....I never thought I'd be able to do without it....but....ya know what, I haven't had it in months and I've survived!!!:) Every now & then, I'll have some Lindt 85% cocoa dark chocolate but, its not very often. My passion is Fage Greek Yogurt with frozen blueberries, a tiny bit of hazelnut or english toffee DaVinci's, a sprinkle of cinnamon & a few toasted, chopped almonds. It's to die for!!![

I have a general rule to stay away from "frankenfoods" and anything that's not whole foods. Of course I live in America so it's impractical to eliminate them entirely, but I try to use them very sporadically. I guess if it's in a box that says how healthy it is, I don't really trust that.

Is that yogurt okay for OWL, or just maintainence? Where do you get it?
Thanks Again!!!:D