Monday, February 16, 2015

the case against almond-meal baking

I mentioned yesterday that after my "paleo-approved" breakfast, i felt mild but classic symptoms of food-intolerance.  It happened to have been a favorite pseudo-carb treat, which i indulge in maybe once every two or three months, lemon-poppyseed muffins based on -- you guessed it -- almond meal and eggs.

There's a reason why in time-honored murder mysteries the detective sniffed the breath of the acute-poisoning victim -- anything that kills them that fast (in fiction, at least) has got to be cyanide!  The criminologist always notes that bitter-almond smell....

There's also a reason why the list of goitrogens includes things like cassava/yucca and stone-fruits, too.  All of them contain varying amounts of cyanide compounds.  These chemicals interfere directly with the thyroid's ability to create its crucially-important hormone.

IF a low-carb diet has a negative impact on the thyroid (which i'm not conceding), i postulate that it has more to do with consuming goitrogenic plant-sourced toxins than it has with too-low carbohydrate content.  (i've discussed that latter concept many times before, and pronounce it a bloody LIE spread by people too ignorant to understand the difference between physiologically-lowered hormone output and the pathological kind.)

Connect the dots:  as has been observed before, it's easier to "over-eat" ground-up nuts than whole ones;  it's scary-easy to overeat baked goods, even low-carb ones;  the goitrogenic property of almonds is minuscule in serving-size portions of whole nuts;  the goitrogenic property of almonds is probably shockingly high in almond flour, considering that ALL its digestible constituents are more available, and one is probably consuming more than one perceives.

I have long believed that too many treats are a mistake (even if they're low-carb ones), for people trying to lose weight -- it's just too easy to overdo it.  The problematic nature of milled almonds is just another nail in the paleo-baked-goods coffin, in my opinion.

I'll be ordering and using more hazelnut meal, myself.  Although less immediately-available than almond flour (which most grocery-stores seem to be stocking these days), it has a longish history of use in European cuisine, and i have reason to believe it's more "wholesome" for me.  I don't make a LOT of low-carb treats, but i DO uphold their value in this dessert- and snack-happy culture of ours.

4 comments:

  1. Many who are LCHF do not eat low carb treats or desserts, it is of course an individual decision. I do include some in my menu plans. I also include macadamia nuts which do not suit all.

    We do get to learn and understand what best suits us and any underlying health issues. Which has a great knock- on affect because we can share our thoughts and findings with other like minded (and sometimes new) bloggers.

    It all helps

    All the best Jan

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    1. i'll never stop singing the internet's praises, for giving us the ability to share our experiences! :-) if what I report about my own findings is helpful or inspiring to ANYBODY, I get even more thrill than ... merely by being able to express myself freely!

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  2. I am getting more and more lazy about food preparation, choosing the easier route most of the time. It looks like my culinary enthusiasm was very tightly connected with my brain being hungry. I now often feel that cooking became an extra chore, and I regret in a way such development.
    I don't feel any effect on my thyroid from foods, but I am on Armour thyroid.

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    1. :-) i go through phases of kitchen-ambition.... having J around spoils me, since he's always willing to cook when i'm feeling lazy!

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