Hello all,

I've been reading the last digests with interest; great information! This is 
my first post.

Lynnet: <I've ordered pemmican from US Wellness meats and was well satisfied 
with it.  The fruit is a very small part of it, or you can get it without:
http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=3D600 >

Thanks for this link. 

A personal story to tell about eating energy-type foods (I'm interested in 
trying one of the beef pemmican products from grasslandbeef; I note that one has 
honey and dried cherry; the other doesn't). I know which one I'll be trying!

I had a recent dentist's appointment and discovered to my chagrin that I had 
developed some significant decay in a short period of time. Not only was I 
puzzled by this, but so was the dentist. He asked me if I had changed my diet. I 
couldn't think of anything until he mentioned that he had had another patient 
with the same problem. That man was an endurance runner or cyclist (can't 
remember which), and apparently had been regularly consuming one of those energy 
gels during training or competitions. Bingo. I made the connection on the way 
home. 

Due to a recent onset of reactive hypoglycemia in my late-50's life (I had a 
GTT test to confirm it), I had started eating more frequently throughout the 
day, which basically solved the problem. However, there were times when I just 
couldn't find snacking meals easily (e.g., traveling, tradeshows), so I 
discovered the marvelous "Organic Food Bar" bars at Whole Foods and I bought them by 
the case, nibbling on them whenever I needed to satisfy my hunger. They 
really worked!

But here's the BUT... while the ingredients look great (almond butter, 
organic cranberries, date paste, agave nectar, flax, sesame seeds, maple syrup, et 
al.), and the sugar is "non-refined," there's still a lot sugar (22g per 
serving), and it's in a form that happens to stick to your teeth! I was chewing on 
these bars and usually forgetting to rinse my mouth well with water. DUH... 

I'm convinced that the energy bar consumption (as "healthy" as the bars were) 
was the cause of my dental problems. In an emergency, I might now still eat a 
few bites of one of these bars (and have one in my briefcase just in case), 
but I'd be very careful to immediately and completely rinse out with water (my 
dentist's instructions). 

Hope this helps someone who could find herself in a similar situation.

Harald

P.S. The way I satisfy my hunger at home now is pretty much Paleo: snacks of 
lean meats, fats, eggs, vegetables. The protein and the fat really do the 
trick. Hence the interest in trying the beef pemmican.