We have a lot of new folks and I thought some might find this helpful.

Onions have long-chained sugars, which digest slowly and do not raise blood sugar quickly. If you cook them in any way, those sugars break down to short-chained sugars, causing higher blood sugar and an insulin spike (like eating candy). Since the goal is to reset your pancreas by resting it, giving it sugar makes it work. While it may not knock you out of ketosis, it is counter-productive to our goal to get the weight off as fast as possible...to get on and off IP.

If you follow the sheet EXACTLY, you will get the best results. IP is perfect as it is. Cooking onions may not seem like a big thing, but the details add up and can make a huge difference in how long you have to stay on the program. You want your pancreas to be fully rested so when you start to phase off, it works like it should...that is the key to making sure the weight stays off. Anything that makes me stay on this program even 1 week longer is a really expensive cheat and I am NOT paying $84 for onions!

Hope this Info helps!!!

Thanks, that's very interesting. I wonder if garlic or ginger work the same way?

I made meatballs last night and used lean minced beef, an egg, diced onion, garlic, ginger, splash of tabasco and finely chopped zuchinni and everyone loved them

I don't believe garlic and ginger have the same change, but even baking onions will change the available sugar content, so next time with the meatballs, try leaving out the onions and adding some onion powder before you eat them. Sounds like a good recipe, though.

Thanks so much for the info, JoesHotWife! I've been wondering about that. Only on day 5 of IP, but I feel like the more I understand it, the more I believe and trust in it and the better I will ultimately do!

On a similar note, why no red wine vinegar? I eat out a lot and this is pretty much the choice for salads (aside from fattening yummy dressings)

What about scallions? I like them chopped up and cooked with some ground beef.

That helps me understand it a bit more. I love cooked onions and haven't had any raw ones in a long time. I'm going to try to get more time into IP before I try.

Checked the IP manual and can't find why you can't have red wine vinegar. Since it is 0/0/0, there must be something else in there they don't want you to have (sulfites???). I know basalmic vinegar has more sugar in it so that is why we can't have that one. As far as cooking green onions, I don't think it is a problem since it doesn't specify on the sheet raw. I would think it would be better to cook them as little as you can just in case.

I know for me, it always makes it easier if I know why I can't have something.

Leeks are a good onion substitute and can be cooked -- buy them fresh (clean them well!) or Trader Joes sells them frozen and chopped.

gosh ive been smothering/cooking/stirfry onions almost everyday n coach said as long as did carmalize them. oh well shes has been wrong on other things. thanks for the great explanation. hasnt interferd with oss. 46lbs in 9 weeks but sure want my pancrese to REST n weight not back on. thanks again for the info

Thanks for the info!

Do dehydrated onions act the same when you cook them?

Vinegar is an acid (acetic acid). I read somewhere in IP materials ( who knows where?), that IP is an alkaline diet. Apple cider vinegar tends to be the most alkaline type of vinegar on the acid/base continuum.

So does using onion powder in something that gets cooked count against you?

Thanks for the info. I was wondering why cooked onions were restricted. I love cooked onions, but haven't had any. I've been roasting a lot of my vegetables, asaparagus, peppers, and zucchini mostly. My favorite is roasted carrots, but can't have those either. I'm picking the last of the carrots from my garden today and taking them over to my parents.