When Food Labels Lie

In our attempts to wrangle our health and happiness to a place of confidence and success, wrest control of our lives, and make better choices, we rely on supposedly trusted sources.

It is not always easy. Frankly, sometimes it's impossible.

There are certain truths that, while not necessarily self-evident, we want to believe. We like to trust that if something appears in writing, it must have been vetted, checked for accuracy, and is honest.

Ha. That's a laugh. We all know better.

The thing is, even if we tend to be skeptical by nature, our desire to believe what we want to think can over-rule questioning a statement that beggars incredulity. We may question whether two plus two equals four, but we'll accept that a food product that boasts the word "keto" on the packaging is anything other than a valid nearly zero carbohydrate cookie. Spoiler alert: it's not.

The term keto is not regulated. Heck, it barely existed a few years ago. So, food purveyors can describe something being keto when it is, in truth, the opposite. A good rule of thumb is to assume that any item on grocery shelves that self-identifies as being "keto" isn't. Why? Because the ingredients that prepared-foods require to be shelf-stable are the opposite of low-carb/ketogenic. Think flours - even alternative ones like almond flour - are carbohydrate-dense. (You'll remember that the protocol - as I learned it and have practiced it, anyway - is to limit carb intake to 20 grams/day or fewer - total carbs, not net; if it's not on Page 4, don't eat it; don't eat if not hungry; stop eating when satiated.) Nuts are not on Page 4; ergo, flours made from nuts aren't either. Making so-called "keto" cookies is not a thing. Truly. It's like selling a vegan chicken egg. Oxymorons, all around.

The thing is, we may want there to be the mythical baked good that is not carb-based. We may also want self-cleaning houses and poop-free diapers when we raise our children. There are no such things. To believe otherwise is magical thinking in the extreme.

If we need to avoid carbs, the thing to do is to - wait for it - avoid carbs. We need to lay off cookies, cakes, granolas, ice-cream, popcorn, etc., Even if the food-seller uses large, block letters reading "KETO" on the packaging. It just isn't. Their job is to try to sell us things. Our job is not to be sold a bill of goods. We are in control of our decisions, whether we like it or not.

Take the extra few seconds required to look on the back of the packaging, realize that total carbohydrate counts per serving (and check out what the vendor measures as a serving!), and make your decision based on the numbers, not on the marketing.

Don't blame keto for what the opportunists did.


Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor, researcher, or Ph.D. but rather I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments, and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!

The Food List.... Again

The most visited page on this site is, hands down, that plain old PDF found under the 'Resources' tab labeled 'Casey's Keto Food List'. To be clear, it's not really my food list. It's the list I followed when I commenced on the ketogenic diet although at the time I didn't event know the word ketogenic. I just wanted to change my life so as to avoid having to take insulin - or any medication - to deal with Type 2 Diabetes. I hadn't yet been diagnosed with that insidious disease but I knew it really was just a matter of time. I come from a large family of people with metabolic challenges and I was on deck. I've written about the day it all hit home for me previously.

I was also really fat. I had given up on that ever changing. I had been overweight for about thirty years and was sadly resigned to the situation. I've written about this previously. Let me attest to the fact that loss of hope is demoralizing. But while I was pretty sure it was my role to the be the fat lady in the room, the prospect of losing my feet or eyesight or a kidney to diabetes was a bridge too far. I might have been demoralized, but I wasn’t dead.

Yet.

And so I did what we all do when we need information. I started typing and Ms. Google returned some results for my ‘how to not take insulin for diabetes’ query. I don’t know whether it was the first link I clicked on but I was taken to a video of Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University where he was talking to his clinic patients, as he continues to do every Monday to this day, about how his program addresses obesity and Type 2 Diabetes with food. Not with insulin. On this particular video, whoever had uploaded it had included a link to the food list to which Dr. Westman makes reference several times - "if its' not on page 4, don't eat it" ( 'page 4' because it was the fourth of a five or so page handout for the patients). That seemed simple enough. At the time I didn't understand the physiology of why keeping ones carbohydrate intake to 20 grams or fewer a day would have such a dramatic effect on my body, but the protocol was simple. Always a good thing for me. So I copied the list to my computer, perused it a few times and, the next time I ate something, I left off the carbs.

It was that simple. Really

And what’s really simple is the food list. The thing is, it’s not a magical list. Not a special combination of foods and condiments. It’s a list of various animal products and some non-starchy vegetables. It’s not comprehensive as far as all the fatty sources of protein is concerned. After all, it’s one page. There’s only so much space on a PDF document. For instance, I don’t think bison is listed. Like bison? Have at it. Ditto alligator. You get the idea.

Here’s the thing: while a list is a handy guide as you get started, it’s not a sacred scroll. Once you recognize which foods you like and are likely to go to, the list isn’t needed. In truth, I haven’t referenced it for myself since about the first week into following the diet. Again, it’s animal flesh and a few veggies. And let’s face it, no matter what food routines we have had over the years, have we ever needed 365 different dishes? Heck, have we often deviated from the same half dozen or so? But, the list is there. Use it for what it’s worth. But keep in mind that you can create your own list. Those foods that you like, that you can find in your local market. That suits your life. In our house? Mostly beef, sometimes nice, fatty pork, less frequently poultry and fish. Our veggies, when we eat them at all, rotate between broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini and sometimes Brussels sprouts. Romaine and cabbage for leafy greens. Maybe we’re unusually boring but I bet we’re actually unusually common, to use an oxymoron.

So, try to not fret over that danged list. Or over the protocol itself, which is: keeping carbohydrates to 20g or fewer a day, eat fatty sources of protein (meat with the fat, poultry with the skin, eggs with the yolks, fish), don’t eat if you’re not hungry and stop eating when satiated. Simple. That is not say easy.

That, though, is a topic for another day.  


Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!