cottage cheese

[Catheryn]

Can you please explain why cottage cheese is not allowed on induction? 4 oz has only 6 carbs. cheddar cheese has 4 carbs in 4 ozs. So why the limit for only 2 measley carbs? I always thought it strange that Stillmans diet is less carb than Atkins, and it allows cottage cheese.

[mmmommmy]

can't exactly answer your question, but when i saw melly last weekend i shared with her that i had been stalled for 2 1/2 months. she asked what i was eating. i had been eating cottage cheese daily. she even though carbs were low it had sugar in it and, i think, hidden carbs. i stopped eating it and i've lost 4#. you might pm her.

[Catheryn]

who is melly?

[mmmommmy]

melly is on of the posters here. if you look above and to the right, click on search. type in melly. you will find her.

[inatic]

If you can find the friendship brand of cotttage cheese their no salt brand is even less. .5 c is only 4 carbs

[MAMZELLE]

One fourth container [1/2 cup] is 4g carbs but 3g sugar. I happen to have the Friendship 'no salt' right here, but it's the fat free which might be more... a neighbor who went shopping was picking up cream cheese & sour cream for me and not only grabbed cottage cheese instead by mistake....but also the fat free. I told her to keep it but she doesn't like
cottage cheesee so figured I'd have a spoonful every week or so lol...... sometimes a little something jolts into losing when stalled, but that was the good OLD days..... now because of my sugar I've been afraid of even that little, so it's still unopened because I have that additional thing to worry about therefore permanently on induction [so far] and it's
certainly not allowed on induction but even if it was, I wouldn't eat it.

Aside from the 3 less carbs, THIS cottage cheese has as much sugar as peanut butter, which I would prefer instead, if having a choice, and was one of the hardest things to give up, even tried soynut butter for a while [went through two 15 oz jars over a month or 2 months, don't remember] while 'easing into' induction, which is how I've always done it] and gave that up too [sort of weaning myself off chunky peanut butter which I used to sit and spoon plain right out of the jar in tiny bits]... but I don't know how much sugar the FATTY cc is. This is the non fat, so it's says 'SKIM' milk and 'milk' and vitamin A palmitate. All milks are loaded with sugar.

How much sugar is in the the regular CC? I'd love this right now with cinnamon, sour cream and lots of sweetner :-( Wonder if cinnamon has carbs... those counts never are on jars of 'seasonings' but i'm suspicious of cinnamon and counts are not written on my various brands, nor in Atkins' little counter book that's always next to me just for an
occasional curiosity about an odity food that I'm not familiar with because I'm not a slave to counting... and I probably looked in the counters in the other books too along the way, and not there, don't remember because not many occasions to use cinnamon. Anyone know?

Funny how we miss things that we didn't even usually normally crave.... for me it's cc and oatmeal, [and other things] though I did USED to try to eat a couple of spoonfulls of oatmeal every morning for cholesterol, not because I craved it.... but now sometimes I do die for those things once in a while, just for a variety of different type substances and flavors.

I always remember my diabetic mother [on insulin] ALWAYS eating a cottage cheese on gluten bread as I grew up, or the next best thing when they stopped making gluten bread. I always ate 'Thomas' gluten bread when on atkins growing up, probably what he 'said' to eat after induction, don't remember, but he must have or I wouldn't have eaten it. It was all that was allowed then.

[If his is the Catheryn who wanted my food list, I just haven't gotten to it yet... will take a while to copy my shopping list which is a bit of a chore but which I guess is the most logical way..... and I've been swamped with other things, but will when getting in the mood to do it, in the middle of a few problem and these posts are a good distraction].

[inatic]

mamzelle actually cinnamon is getting great talk about being good for diabetic and reducing insulin.. see here

diabetes and cinnamon

[inatic]

oppssss

diabetes and cinnamon http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...s+and+cinnamon

[MAMZELLE]

Really? Hmmm that's interesting, I'll read it after I make my coffee. Yesterday on the news they said blueberries are good for diabetes! I'm always nervous when hearing those things, but not about cinnamon as much, that I would use. Blueberries I'd be very hesitant about though both in my situation AND also staying only on induction. So much sugar in them! Maybe with insulin it's ok. Or to 'avoid' diabetes while still eating normally.

Also did you hear on the news about as little as one soda per day [especially for women] triggering diabetes. I always wonder when hearing things like that, their thinking that people don't already know something that is so obvious. Anyone who is the slightest bit weight and/or health consious would know that, and not be drinking regular sugar sodas!

It always amazes me when realizing that most of the world ISN'T consious of anything, because I grew up being that way every waking moment of my life since birth, and don't even know what a regular soda tastes like, nor one with caffeine, thanks to my mother and how she raised us. But heredity wins out sometimes nomatter what. Even when off the diet through the years when wrongly eating everything..... sodas and many other things were things that could still have no sugar and sugar WAS always something I never used and hardly ate when it could be avoided..... as I look up and notice Kelly eating Regis' birthday cake, licking her fingers... or her cake.... wasn't listening lol [I 'tape' Aly & Jack, on at the same time.... very informative show.]

[saige]

If you research the actual carb count of cheddar it's less than half a carb per ounce. 4 ounces would be something like 1.6 (don't remember the "exact" figure).

[MAMZELLE]

Cheddar is what I eat mostly [love the cracker barrel X-sharp] along with swiss second. They're the lowest, and monteray jack [which i don't remember ever 'consciously' having, other than possibly at parties, etc.]. I thought I was eating too much of the cheddar, and didn't care because it's my savior but when finally measuring the chedder recently, for the first time EVER, I saw I WASN'T eating too much MOST times... 4 oz. is more than I thought! It's ABOUT 1/3 rd of the brick [or close to that].... and lasts three days.

And I'm not getting my carbs from anywhere else anymore except forcing a small handful of vegetables which only works out to once a day...and celery in many things, not even salad too often so I'm very far under 20 anyway and the cheese helps though I should be having more from vegs. I always did Atkins close to zero and that worked for me weight wise and obviously healthwise also till lately. Never sick a day in my life, never even had a 'cause' to see doctor in decades.. never even a single cold. Always took mega vitamins too, which probably helped. I was never afraid of zero carbs but now thought I better have some because not sure of this diet WITH high sugar and if there are any alterations. Nobody answered that question on the diabetes boards :-(..... but i've got all the major doctor's books on Diabetes [including both of the one's for DUMMIES lol too] although none of them actually address that specific general question either....low carb diet WITH high sugar.... so I'm assuming It's the same. I thought close to zero carbs might be dangerous with diabetes as opposed to without it, that's why I'm even eating the little carbs that I am. I'm used to none on Atkins for as long as I could. I am CERTAINLY NOT advising that to anyone, though. It was just my own way.... then when stalled, always reversed it and it jump started the losses again. Ate everything I missed for a day or two and then got back on track. 'Reversing' NEVER set me on binges but if doing that, better be very careful, because it could. [now I can't do that anymore, of course :-(

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

6 grams of carbs on Induction may be too much for those who are metabolically resistent. When you compare this with many of the hard cheeses that have less than 1/oz. and you figure that your veggies olives... should get you to 20 grams, you would then be eating 26 grams of carbs if you add the cottage cheese.

After the 2 week strict phase, cottage cheese is allowed, that would give you your next 5 grams of carbs to move into OWL.

If you did not eat the other cheese and wanted to switch cottage cheese for hard cheese, it would likely not effect your progress.

And to confuse matters (hopefully not )some peole can get into ketosis eating between 25-50 grams of carbs (eating an additional 6 grams from cottage cheese would be ok) so the plan can be more flexible but it is hard to determine who will be metabolically resistant until after the 2 week Induction timeframe.

If you are one of the people who are losing 1/2 pound following Induction then you may not be able to afford the extra 6 grams of carbs.

So, I hope this clarfies things for you.

[MAMZELLE]

But if eating the cottage cheese in exchange for hard cheese, doesn't the fact that the cc has 3 grams of actual sugar mean anything? [this one happens to be fat free, which was mistakenly bought instead of sour cream by someone else and which I'm not eating, but aside from that....] Hard cheese [my chedder, at least] has zero sugar, and no milk listed in the ingredients at all as cottage cheese does.

Aren't the grams of sugar in CC a big difference and why Atkins says none of those cheeses [cottage, farmer, ricotta, etc.], because of the milk/sugar content? He didn't say that hard cheese can be exchanged for those cheeses even if one can 'tolerate' it. And also, how would that sugar content apply to diabetics, specificaly.

Oh, and also..... if it would apply to diabetics too [exchanging the hard for cottage cheese] then would peanut butter be allowed with it's also 1 to 3 grams of 'natural' sugar even in the sugar free brands, *IF* anyone decided they would eat anything listed with sugar at all [which I personally really wouldn't] if exchanges for the 2 or 3 extra carbs more in PB than in CC where made allowances for? that would be nice. Thanks

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

Not exactly sure how to respond to your comments mamzelle.

Any milk product such as cheese will have some sugar as it contains lactose.

Aside from meat and fat, it is impossible to have 0 grams of carbs/sugar.

Just keep in mind that this is not a No carb plan. It is about finding an individual threshold or balance of healthy carbs from healthy sources of foods.

It is not wise to focus on avoiding healthy carbs like real cheese or peanut butter as foods to avoid. You should be focusing on avoiding high carb items like white rice, pasta, bagels... that have little nutrients and lots of sugar.

Following the guidelines from the book or website (www.atkins.com) should help you clrify the details.

[MAMZELLE]

Thanks for your response. Ok let me make it a little clearer [I 'hope' lol]

Yes, I do know the 'guidlines' and have been following them for decades, but cottage cheese was never in them on induction, so that leads me to wonder, and why I asked.... that if cottage is now allowed as a substitute for hard cheese [as you said further above.... and I do understand "for only those who find they can metabolically tolerate it on an individual basis"], then would peanut butter also be allowed, since some of the Sugar Free ones have even LESS sugar than cottage cheese, [1-2 gms of sugar, and NO milk products... even plain old Skippy WITH sugar also has only 3 SUGAR grams, equal to cottage cheese] and some only 2 more CARB grams [total 6 as opposed to cottage cheese with 4]. And specifically for diabetics because that is the most severe sugar imbalance and what this diet was devised for from the beginning, therefore if it would be ok for diabetics then certainly for anyone else who is just merely 'dieting'.

Simply: Can peanut butter also be eaten, since it has even less sugar than cottage cheese if a daily carb adjustment were made with other foods for the 2 more carbs in it, and if not.... why? Basically it's also a nutritional question of their different type properties and possible different effects on metabolism if peanut butter would be considered worse even with the same or similar carb and sugar 'counts'.

Also, since we're talking about dairy products, is "Smart Balance" with no trans fats allowed in the "Atkins" opinion, or is it also considered as a no-no margarine like all the 'margarines'? It wasn't produced yet when Atkins wrote his book and I've never considered it as a typical margarine and it was always used by my diabetic mother at the orders of her doctor who DID advocate low carbs, and the nurses, who also brought it to her [for convenience because it wasn't sold everywhere at first], so all those low carb medical people were very much for it, and just curious if Atkins Nutritionals feels it's 'ok' as well. [I think although 'I can't believe it's not butter'' came out before smart balance, they also now have a 'no trans fats' version, so I would put both products it in the same category of question.] Are they considered ok to use? Thanks again.

[Catheryn]

Your question about peanut butter reminds me of my question about nuts. I wish the AN would answer it soon.

[SweetCinnamon]

I'm sure Dr. Atkins had a good reason for putting cottage cheese at step 2 of the carb ladder (extra dairy) and peanut butter at step 6 (legumes).

Cinnamon

[Mona]

I know I'm not A_N, but I have an idea about the peanut butter question. Peanuts are a legume and are very high up on the carbohydrate ladder. They are a common trigger/binge food and allergy food for a lot of people. A big part of the Atkins diet is pinpointing food allergies and triggers. So I'd have to say no, peanut butter is not swapable with cheese. The type of carbs matter.