On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:41:07 -0600, Alec Wood <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Lynnet, Liz:
>
> How many carbs do you average on strictly low carb days and what areyour  
> carb meals like? When you carb load is it still paleo sources ofcarbs?
Long answer to a short question---

I don't count carbs, but I have a rough idea and look something up
if I'm curious. I'm looking at roughly 10 grams carbs each with
breakfast and lunch, and up to 20 for supper. No snacks, particularly
not on carbs.

On carb-load days, I'm looking for roughly 100 grams carbs, up to
150, in the evening meal. As for what, it can be a tricky question.
You should not carb-load on just fruit: gives you way too much
fructose which is a load on the liver. Carb-load meals should also
be lower in protein and fat than normal paleo meals. As Faigin put
it, the high-carb high-fat meal is just like a conveyor belt taking
the fat into your fat cells.

Strict paleo eliminates many sources of starchy carbs: potatoes,
dry beans, grains and pseudograins. Non-potato root veggies
don't have a high starch content; you would need to eat a lot.
Winter squash would be good. Most nuts are too high in protein
and fat to be a good carb load. Chestnuts would be OK, and paleo
as can be.

I have a complication with carb-load in that I am eating a low-oxalate
diet. I have discovered that reducing oxalates improves my
fibromyalgia condition very much. After about 6 months of low-oxalate
dieting, I am feeling better than I have in 10 years, more able to
walk, work in the yard, less pain, better sleep, etc. Apparently
people with celiac disease (like me) often get oxalate problems
due to the compromised gut. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, many grains,
all nuts except chestnuts, and almost all dried beans are high in oxalates.
So this condition almost forces a paleo diet, and may explain why
many people feel so better on a paleo diet with less pain, etc.

I have used chestnut flour and eggs to make pancakes, with some
milk or coconut milk. I also use tapioca, either flour in
pancakes or bread, or as tapioca pudding cooked with coconut milk
with sliced bananas. You really don't need to sweeten it if
you put the bananas in, or you can add a spoonful of honey.
You can mix tapioca flour and coconut flour in pancakes or
breads too. Tapioca is one of those things that Ray Audette
would not approve as paleo: takes LOADS of processing. But for
lack of other candidates, I do use it once or twice a week in
carb loads.

I am such a believer in the periodic carb-load that I cut
paleo corners to make sure I have something to carb-load with.
I have lost 44 lbs since January, feeling better than I have
in years, with no cravings.