Not Hungry, Egg Yolks, Sugar Alcohol, Milk, Quinoa, Rice, and Honey

Carrie: Hi there, lovely listeners! This is Carrie Brown, and Jonathan Bailor is in the building.

Jonathan: I am. I am here. I’m fully engaged and ready to undertake yet another podcast.

Carrie: Yay, we love podcasts.

Jonathan: Yay, we love overly formal introductions of myself. I don’t know. I’m in one of those moods.

Carrie: We are. We’re a bit feisty today.

Jonathan: We are. Well, it’s actually 8:20 in the evening here. We’ve had a long day, and we’re finishing up on a strong note with a podcast here; so, hopefully it’s going to be a fun one.

Carrie: It’s going to be awesome. What are we talking about?

Jonathan: We’re going to do some more FAQs, because there are certainly some frequently asked questions and we would like to answer them for our lovely listeners as you so lovingly call them.

Carrie: I do love Allison’s.

Jonathan: He’s a lovely listener.

Carrie: I do. I love Allison’s.

Jonathan: Carrie, the question is, “Can I eat less than, let’s say, Carrie Brown or Jonathan Bailor or what’s noted in the book and still unclog? Is there some requirement where if you’re not eating enough you’re doing something bad?” What say you, Carrie?

Carrie: From a scientific point of view, you can talk to the whole protein thing. From a portion control, I eat until I’m not hungry.

Jonathan: Can you stop?

Carrie: Then I stop.

Jonathan: Exactly.

Carrie: Then the next time I eat is when I’m hungry, although I’m not talking ravenous. When I feel it’s time to eat something, I eat something, and I eat until I don’t want to eat anymore. I think most people who’ve been listening for a while know that I can eat a lot. I’ve quite an appetite. Some people have questioned my recipes, and then “Wow! Is that really the only one serving?”

Jonathan: I have a Tweet the other day and they’re like, “So, is that one serving or four?”

Carrie: I’m “Well, that’s one serving for me.”

Jonathan: Yes.

Carrie: If you’re ever wondering…

Jonathan: It’s called SANE serving.

Carrie: That’s a serving for me, but I would never extoll eating until you’re miserable.

Jonathan: Exactly.

Carrie: That for me that’s one of the benefits is that I no longer do that. I no longer eat until I’m miserable. I know if I need to so I just eat until I’m not hungry, and then I stop.

Jonathan: Okay, you hit the nail on the head. When you’re going SANE, you should never be hungry. You should never have to deal with hunger, and you should never be overstuffed. You should have that happy sense of satisfaction and contentment, and the only thing to keep in mind in terms of actually eating more so there are two quote unquote requirements of being SANE. I hate to call it that because it makes it sound more formal but if you’re a vegetarian and you eat meat, you’re not a vegetarian. It’s kind of if you’re SANE and you don’t do these things, it’s not really SANE.

We talked about really making the vast majority of the food you eat from volume perspective should be non-starchy vegetables, and you should eat protein, at least 30 grams of protein at least two times a day. That’s really on the low end. I would much rather say at least three times a day so those are the only times. If you’re eating, eat at least 30 grams of protein, and don’t eat 15 and then stop. Eat 30 grams. It has a profound metabolic effect on your body, and make sure you’re taking in vegetables; but now don’t eat so many vegetables that you feel uncomfortable but here’s what not to do.

Don’t do 30 grams of protein and then something inSANE and then not enough vegetables. So again you don’t want to go out of your way to feel uncomfortable, but we really do want to focus on consuming that abundance of non-starchy vegetables and protein in those frequent 30 gram servings and then filling in any gaps with the whole food fats and the low fructose fruits. Again, don’t over stuff yourself but just make sure that when you do eat when you are hungry, you focus on the non-starchy vegetables and the 30 grams of protein; and you’ll be all set.

Carrie: Also, don’t drive yourself mad trying to be perfect.

Jonathan: Exactly.

Carrie: This should not be stressful. It should not require a calculator. It should not require you to go “Oh, my goodness! I have to go eat this right now, otherwise, I’ve blown it.” Don’t drive yourself mad.

Jonathan: That’s a general rule. If you ever feel like, “Oh, I just did something. I’ve blown it.” You haven’t.

Carrie: You have not.

Jonathan: You haven’t. A healthy body is resilient. That’s why we can get the flu, and then we’re okay. That’s why diseases such as AIDS are so sad, because they actually attack our immune system itself, and then the body isn’t resilient anymore. That’s why we work hormonally clogged eating in an imperfect way actually causes us to gain weight and become diabetic over time, because our body is not able to recover from that; but when we unclog our drain, we are metabolically healthy. If we go off the ranch a little bit our body will accommodate that and bring us back on, so it’s all good. Cool?

Carrie: I usually tell people if you’re caught out and you’re somewhere and you can’t get anything SANE, don’t worry. Don’t be miserably hungry. Just eat the best you can. Next meal, go back to SANity. Just don’t stress about it.”

Jonathan: Well, that brings up an interesting point, Carrie. Actually, I think this question came up in the Smarter Science of Slim Support Group, which if you haven’t check out, you can certainly should. Just click on the Support Group tab on SmarterScienceofSlim.com. Totally free awesome community of people helping each other live lives of beautiful SANity and eccentricity. The question came up of, “If I have to choose between…” a good example, maybe, you have to run to a business meeting in the morning, and all they have is continental breakfast where it’s literally just pastries, and you are either going to be hungry or eat pastries. Now, the question was, “Which should I choose?” and I’m going to give maybe the unpopular answer here and say, “You shouldn’t have to make that choice.” We can all put a protein bar in our purse.

Carrie: You took the words right out of my mouth.

Jonathan: I hope I don’t offend anyone. It’s unreasonable to say, “I just have no SANE options. None.” You can have a bag of almonds with you. We can, unless you are on an island or you’re shipwrecked.

Carrie: I just wrote a blog post. Well, of course, by time this is published, it will be a while ago, but I wrote a blog post which was eight things that will make being SANE at home or when you’re out and about, one of those things was protein bars. I have some in my desk drawer. I have some in my camera bag. I have some in my briefcase. I have some at home. I have some in the car. They’re brilliant for surviving airports.

Jonathan: Make sure they’re actually SANE protein bars, though.

Carrie: I suggested the two that we recommend.

Jonathan: Less and pure protein?

Carrie: Yes, have those with you. I think avoiding moments of insanity takes a little bit of planning. A very, very good number one planning tip is just have some protein bars with you all the time.

Jonathan: The good news is it doesn’t take that much planning, but if you put a box of protein bars or couple of bags of beef jerky in your car, but you don’t have to put one protein bar. Stack up on on-the-go things, so this is going to sound kind of gross but there are some people who like sardines. They’re portable. You can take them anywhere you want. Have some tuna fish. Have a can opener. Have some canned chicken. These portable things, just have them available to you and put a little box of them in your trunk. Problem solved.

Carrie: It’s a little bit of a shift in the way you think. You only really have to plan the first time, then it becomes part of what you do — then it won’t be a problem.

Jonathan: The good news is actually we all can do this, right? If we don’t have kids, we’ve seen other people do this. If we do have kids, and we do have kids, we probably experience this. You know you got to take snacks with you, so just treat yourself with same respect that you would treat a small child. Take a snack with you, but just take a SANE snack with you and just on protein bars really quick, because that can be a mine field. Protein bars should contain… put it this way. The protein bars should not have double digit sugar in it. It absolutely should not. If there’s double digit sugar in it, put it down. It’s not a protein bar. It’s a candy bar.

If you want a more precise definition, there should be at least a 7:1 protein to sugar ratio, so you’re looking… maybe, that’s high, maybe, 5:7. If it had 3 grams of sugar in it, it should have at least 15 grams of protein in it. If it has 8 grams of sugar in it, it should have at least 24 grams of protein in it. At least. At least. At least 8 grams of sugar. No, 8 grams of sugar times 5. 8 times 5.

Carrie: 40.

Jonathan: 40. There you go. Yeah, that sounds a little bit better. My point, is just watch out, because a lot of the things you see in grocery stores that are called protein bars.

Carrie: Are absolutely not.

Jonathan: Are absolutely not. Exactly.

Carrie: Beef jerky is another one of my… in fact, when I go on one of my road trips, I am powered by beef jerky.

Jonathan: Carrie Brown, powered by beef jerky.

Carrie: Because…

Jonathan: Turkey jerky, salmon jerky and other jerky.

Carrie: Again, read the label because some of them — most of them, in fact — are crammed with sugar. Jack Links is the one with the most protein, and the least sugar so that’s the brand I buy.

Jonathan: If you ever want to grab this stuff, folks, we’ve tried to do some of the heavy lifting for you. We don’t sell our own supplements or products or anything like at the Smarter Science of Slim, but we do provide you with links to buy them at Amazon and things like that which is great because it’s the same price. It always would be, but when you click on the link from the SmarterScienceofSlim.com, we get some phenomenal 1.7 percent; but it’s an awesome way for you to help support the show without incurring any cost on your own. We just list out the SANE options right there for you so you don’t have think, which makes it simple; so, all goodness.

Carrie: All goodness.

Jonathan: Next question, “How can I…?” Well, this is going to be controversial one so we’re going to have to give our little disclaimer before we answer the question, so I’ll give the disclaimer.

Carrie: We wave our arms.

Jonathan: Yes, so here’s the question and before anyone panics, let me explain. “How can I quickly separate egg yolks from egg whites?” Oh, my God! Lipophobia. Jonathan Bailor is a lipophobe, because he says that you should separate egg yolks from egg whites. Okay. Now, that we’ve gotten that out of your system, and I’m waving my arms, let’s quickly clarify. Carrie, why don’t you clarify that. It’s about the protein in this context.

Carrie: I love eggs, all eggs, egg yolks, egg whites. I’m a big egg eater.

Jonathan: Absolutely. If in this context you’re trying to eat 30 grams of protein and you’re after eating some protein and the egg white is 91 percent protein, a whole egg is 35 percent protein; so if your goal is to consume protein, it’s more efficient to do that via egg whites. If your goal is to eat a balance between protein and fat in this context, eat an egg. Neither one is better or worse. One is better…

Carrie: It’s a different use.

Jonathan: It’s a different use.

Carrie: You may want to have an omelet filled with avocado which is going to provide you lots of yummy natural fat, but then you don’t need the fat becomes in the yolk.

Jonathan: Exactly.

Carrie: You just use the whites. It’s just choosing where you get your fat from.

Jonathan: Perfect. Perfect, said perfectly; and if people do want to choose…

Carrie: I’m becoming indoctrinated.

Jonathan: Do I want to choose the egg whites? Here’s my tip for doing this. Carrie may have a different one, but what I do is I actually would take however many eggs, and I crack them; and I put the whole egg in a bowl, so I’m just cracking rapid fire. Crack, crack, crack, crack. Eggs in bowl. Make sure I wash my hands, and then I pick up the yolk with three fingers; and I just kind of jiggle it real good. I just did sort of a visual demonstration, and it doesn’t look as promising but anyway, I’m going to keep going. We got immature Carrie Brown over here who wants to be adult. The whites…

Carrie: No, this is the chef in me that’s going, “You do not do that.”

Jonathan: Okay, fine. I’ll show you, because it’s incredibly fast. I just do my little jiggle, the white falls off, and then I do whatever I want with the yolk. I do that again. I can do ten eggs in 30 seconds, very easy. It’s like you’re doing two yolks at a time, so maybe I should take a video or something.

Carrie: We should have a contest.

Jonathan: Who can do yolk…? What do you do?

Carrie: We use the shell. We just bang, crack, quick.

Jonathan: No, that is not because sometimes the shell… I used to do that.

Carrie: When you’re a pro, it’s easy.

Jonathan: Before I used to do that, before I learned this new technique.

Carrie: You’re just inept at doing it.

Jonathan: Okay. Okay. Well, we have to agree to disagree here, so, Carrie, why don’t you describe your little bowl and cup approach.

Carrie: No, no, no. You just use the eggshell. You just smack the egg on the side of the bowl, then it force in half. The yolk obviously goes one way and then you just switch it between from one shell to the other until all the white falls off. You can do it really quick.

Jonathan: Try them both. Try them both. Try them both.

Carrie: Whatever works.

Jonathan: Whatever works for you. Next question. Next question.

Carrie: However, I had also used my fingers, because that’s why we have fingers, right?

Jonathan: It’s kind of hard to describe but I do this with…

[Crosstalk 14:31]

Carrie: It’s so fun laughing at Jonathan. Just like I just had to.

Jonathan: All right, next FAQ is about sugar alcohols. Specifically, what are sugar alcohols, and are they SANE? Carrie, would you like to pause it?

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: No? Okay, so sugar alcohol…

Carrie: I told you I was feisty.

Jonathan: Sugar alcohols are a bit, like we talked about, I think, in a previous podcast… It’s kind of not applicable. They’re not really caloric. They’re not processed really by your body. This is why if you eat a lot of them, you will have some bathroom issues because they kind of just pass right through you. Are sugar alcohols SANE? The reason this is an interesting question is a lot of protein bars and a lot of low-carbohydrate, low-sugar type products will be sweetened by sugar alcohols so they’re fine. They’re fine, as long as you can tolerate them and they don’t cause you to have any gastrointestinal problems which for some people they do. For some people, such as myself, they do not. For Carrie, apparently they do.

Carrie: No, they don’t. I’m saying I need to speak. I want to speak.

Jonathan: Oh, go ahead.

Carrie: Shut up. I was just about to say that Xylitol is a sugar alcohol. However, it does not have the dramatic effect that Jonathan was just describing to some people have with Sorbitol and Mannitol. You really do have to careful with the amount you eat of those. However, Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, and I found the first couple of days I ate it, there was a minor result in the bathroom department but then it totally went away. Some people find they never have anything, but Xylitol sugar alcohol has nowhere near the effect of Sorbitol or Mannitol or any other sugar alcohols.

Jonathan: The other thing to keep in mind is, I wouldn’t… sugar alcohol is not like non-starchy vegetables, nutrient-dense protein, whole food fats and low-fructose fruits. It’s not something we want to go out of our way to eat more of. A good rule of thumb is, if it starts to cause gastrointestinal distress, you’re eating too much of it, and it should be used as a seasoning. It should not be a mainstay of one’s diet.

Carrie: Right. The good news is, as you know, I use Xylitol for my cookies and those kind of things. The brilliant thing is, that my SANE baked goods are far, far, far, far more filling than the regular inSANE counterparts; so you won’t find when faced with 12 pieces of short bread, you won’t be able to eat them all like you could if it was a regular version. So you will be fine if you have one, and that will be enough. You’ll be completely satiated and so you’re automatically limiting the amount of the Xylitol that you’re, getting because you’re done with one. You’re happy with one.

Jonathan: Absolutely, one and done. I want to call this out, because that’s such a profound point, Carrie. This may seem obvious, but at Smarter Science of Slim we talked about eating more but smarter. Certainly, when it comes to non-starchy vegetables and protein, the volume of food we’ll be eating in a lot of context is way higher than the volume of food we would eat historically; but for things like SANE baked goods — because they’re higher in protein, because they’re higher in fiber, because they’re higher in healthy fats — the marketing literally is ‘once you pop, you can’t stop for traditional type of things’ or ‘there’s always room for X.’ When you eat SANE treats, they’re self-limiting. You can’t keep eating them. You’ll be like, all right, “I am good. Thanks. Got it.”

Carrie: Also, they’re not made with ingredients that cause the chemical reaction that makes you crave more.

Jonathan: Exactly.

Carrie: You don’t get that, so you eat one and you’re just happy. Yay!

Jonathan: Absolutely. The next one, Carrie, is actually a series. It’s a series of four, and they’re the four most common ‘Is it SANE?’ questions I get; so I’m just going to rattle these off, and then we can go in detail where needed.

Carrie: Okay.

Jonathan: Is milk SANE?

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: Is quinoa SANE?

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: Is brown rice SANE?

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: Is honey SANE?

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: Okay.

Carrie: We don’t know.

Jonathan: One hundred percent accurate. Let’s do a little more detail so “Is milk SANE?”

Carrie: No.

Jonathan: Correct, so for those…

Carrie: I struggled with this for a long time. Sometimes, I still do.

Jonathan: For those who are interested in more information, two percent in whole milk is just inSANE. It is sugar and not a type of fat that we need to go out of our way to eat more of. Skim milk isn’t inSANE. It’s right in the middle. It’s not SANE. I wouldn’t go out of your way to eat more of it. Most people don’t realize that skim milk – we’re talking about eight ounces of skim milk – has 12 grams of sugar in it, and that’s lactose. It is a sugar. That’s 12 grams of sugar, and when you drink milk, believe it or not, you’re drinking mostly sugar. Most people don’t realize that. “Oh no, it’s protein or something.” So, it’s mostly sugar.

Carrie: We all grow up thinking that milk is a good source of protein. We just do, and still now even though for a year of hanging out with you, I still sometimes have to stop myself, and go “Milk is a carbohydrate.”

Jonathan: Yes, it’s a sugar.

Carrie: When you said to anybody, they go “No, it’s not a carbohydrate.” I’m “Yes, it is. It’s a carbohydrate.” That really was hard for me. I have almost entirely stopped drinking cow’s milk now. I’ve almost switched completely to coconut milk, but I still… my go-to is milk protein, which it’s not.

Jonathan: On the topic of milk, you said you moved to coconut milk. When it comes to milk alternatives, I would recommend a coconut or a rice. I would not recommend a soy. I would steer away from soy milk, if it all possible. Again, these are things which I wouldn’t go out of your way to drink any form of milk if you like it. Stick with the rice or the almond or the coconut, and just keep in mind that for dairy in general we often recommend Greek yogurt or cottage cheese.

It’s not the Greek-ness of the yogurt that makes it magically SANE somehow, it’s just that Greek yogurt has a very high protein to sugar ratio; so one serving of Greek yogurt has 20+ grams of protein, and I think with 5 or 6 grams of sugar. Compare that to a glass of milk which has 12 grams of sugar and 8 grams of protein. Same kind of thing with a cottage cheese. When choosing dairy, the issue, is choose dairy that has the most protein and the least sugar.

Carrie: Right, and so I’m bringing my label up again. Read the label because, if you go in a big enough grocery store or supermarket and you’d line up all the non-fat Greek yogurts, and you read all the proteins will be different but all the sugars will be different. You only have to do it once, is work out which the best brand is, which has the most proteins…

Jonathan: The SANEST.

Carrie: … and the least sugar, and then you just know that that’s the brand you buy. For me, it’s Trader Joe’s. It’s got the most protein. It’s got the least sugar. That’s the brand I buy.

Jonathan: This question actually did come up in the Smarter Science of Slim Support Group. They’re like, “What is it about Greek Yogurt,” – and they italicized the word ‘Greek’ – … “that makes it SANE?” To be clear, again, it’s not the Greek-ness. One of my co-workers told me about Icelandic yogurt. I don’t know about that, but any dairy product that has five times more protein than sugar…

Carrie: Is SANE.

Jonathan: Is SANE so that’s great. I don’t care if it’s Jonathan’s magic yogurt, whatever, which is actually quite delicious with a private label on it. No, I’m just kidding. Speaking of potentially controversial things, this one is definitely talked about a lot, and it’s sad because it is so wrong; and I don’t mean to be mean but it’s just patently incorrect and that’s quinoa. The reason quinoa is touted as good for you is because it’s high in protein. If milk isn’t a good source of protein, which it’s not, then quinoa definitely is not a good source of protein.

The amount of quinoa you would have to eat to take in 30 grams of protein would make you obese and diabetic faster than you could shake a stick at, so quinoa is not SANE. and it’s not a good source of fiber. To put this in perspective, spinach has about six times more fiber in it per calories than quinoa; so again, is it a good source of fiber relative to refined white flower? Yes. Is it healthier for you than cigarettes? Yes. Does that mean it’s healthy? No, so let’s stick with our SANE options and keep it simple. What are you laughing at?

Carrie: You’re funny.

Jonathan: I just get amped up about that one because it’s the new cool. It’s quinoa is new. “Quinoa. Oh, Dr. Oz.” I don’t mean to knock Dr. Oz. “Okay. He said quinoa…” Sigh!

Carrie: I’m waiting.

Jonathan: Yes, quinoa is one of the better starches in the world for you, but it is still a starch so if you got it… and let’s be clear folks, if you need to pick a starch, pick sweet potatoes. Don’t pick quinoa, pick sweet potatoes, but moving on, brown rice is another starch. Not SANE.

Carrie: Nope.

Jonathan: Not SANE. Everything that makes white rice bad for you is still in brown rice. It’s…

Carrie: It just has a bit of fiber wrapped around the outside.

Jonathan: It’s just has a bit of fiber. It’s everything that makes white rice bad is still there, so not SANE. Then finally, honey. Honey is sugar. Your body isn’t like, “Oh, it’s made by bees. Bees made this. I’m not going to really sense that one.”

Carrie: I have to say, this hurts my heart because I love honey; and for not any honey, though. I have been before I became SANE. Some people would find that really, really funny.

Jonathan: Are you contending that are no longer inSANE?

Carrie: Yes, we’re talking physically, not mentally.

Jonathan: I understand.

Carrie: When I went SANE, in terms of I said, ‘No honey,’ but I bought really raw honey from the Really Raw Honey Company, which was just literally where the honey comes from. It was just scooped out of the hive and dumped in a bucket and shipped to me, so we had all the bits of bee wings and honey was just fantastic stuff.

Jonathan: Crunchy.

Carrie: Well, the crunchy stuff rises to the top, and you scoop it off.

Jonathan: Oh, that sounds even better.

Carrie: Anyway, I love honey, and I miss it.

Jonathan: Do you miss your muffin top?

Carrie: I do, actually but in a good way. That’s a good point of missing.

Jonathan: Yes, yes.

Carrie: That’s “Ha! Bye-bye, muffin top.”

Jonathan: Bye-bye, muffin top.

Carrie: Rather than bye-bye honey.

Jonathan: What again — not about perfection, so if you had to choose between having some high fructose corn syrup or some agave nectar, which we know Jonathan loves. Sarcastic.

Carrie: Not.

Jonathan: Raw honey is certainly a better option, but again, filtered cigarettes are better for you than regular cigarettes. It doesn’t make it a good enough reason. Just keep that in mind. With that said, Carrie, I think we got some good FAQs. Next week, we will continue.

Carrie: Is that it? Are we done? That was fast.

Jonathan: Carrie, we are…

Carrie: We are rocking and rolling.

Jonathan: We are rocking when we are having fun, when you’re loopy after a very long day of work, and you’re just being SANE, sometimes time just flies so it’s all good.

Carrie: It’s been awesome.

Jonathan: It’s been fun. Folks, we’ll be back next week with some more FAQs. Until then, remember to eat more and exercise less; but do it smarter.

Carrie: See you!

Jonathan: See you soon.