You may think I'm nuts, but these are really good. Try 'em before you make up your mind. If you're a chocolate-peanut fan, I'm betting you love 'em. And they take all of about 5 minutes to put together. The only reason they're not going in the new edition of 15 Minute Low-Carb Recipes is because there's no way to speed up the chilling time. Even in the freezer, they go past the 15 minute mark.

Wow. Dr. Andrew Weil, long-time celebrity doctor and health guru, has come out with the public statement that saturated fat, including animal fat, is not harmful in any way, but that rather the diseases of civilization, including diabetes and obesity, can be attributed to carbohydrate consumption.

Happy Birthday, America!

In honor of Independence Day, I thought I'd do a rundown of American foods. No, not fast food burgers and pizza, but rather those foods that are native to our nation, the foods the colonists might well have encountered for the very first time when they came to these shores. (Though some of them had already made it across the Atlantic, and started gaining popularity in Europe.) What foods are truly American?

You'll notice that one of our newest sponsors is Canada Pharmacy. I just wanted to mention that I've been doing business with Canada Pharmacy myself, ever since Armour thyroid became hard to get here in the States. They've been great; helpful, professional, and even expedited a shipment for me when I had to go out of town and was about to run out of thyroid. I'm very happy with Canada Pharmacy's service, and will continue to get my thyroid medication through them.

Strawberries are a low carb favorite, but I'm afraid there's some bad news. They've long topped the list of foods most heavily contaminated by pesticides, especially since, unlike, say, a banana or a melon, they have no peel or rind. But it may well get worse.

I've had a busy day, and it ain't over yet. I spent most of the day getting publicity photos taken -- that one to your left is eight years old, so it was about time. You'll see a new photo very soon. But, of course, getting the photos taken meant going to get a manicure (got a pedi while I was at it) and then to the salon for a wash and blow-dry. Then changing, and doing my makeup, and all that stuff, before I went to the studio.

Pumpkin Pudding

1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
1 14-ounces can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder
5 eggs
1/2 cup erythritol
1/2 cup granular Splenda
1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses (or the darkest molasses you can get)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Set the butter to melt, either in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove. In the meanwhile, spray a 6-cup glass casserole with non-stick cooking spray.

So I'm at Kroger, picking up a few ingredients I needed to work on recipes today, and I see Women's World in the magazine rack at the checkout. Oprah is on the cover, and there's big headline reading "THE DIET OPRAH NEEDS! Lose 85 lbs on the plan that prevents diabetes! "I'm surprised she doesn't already have diabetes," reveals Bob Greene.. But this plan can lower her risk -- and yours -- 83%!"

I had to look, right?

So I threw the magazine in the cart, and ponied up my $1.79. The magazine is now sitting on my desk, open to the article about this diet.

Jimmy Moore posted a link on Facebook to this article, about how many people assume that "organic" on a food label somehow implies that the food is lower in calories than conventional foods, and therefore they are more likely to overeat that food. (Which, if that food is, oh, vegan soy patties or organic sandwich cookies, would be eating it at all.) Seemed like a cue to republish this column I wrote a few years back.

Oh, fercryinoutloud. Look what showed up in one of threads I've been following on Facebook: Refusing to eat junk is now being defined as a mental illness. The article cites The Guardian, which is a British paper, so maybe this garbage hasn't made it across The Pond yet. But I'm betting our medical establishment seizes on it right quick.

As you may or may not have noticed, there aren't as many comments here as there are at some blogs. Part of that is because we've just started sending out emails to the old Lowcarbezine! crew, and are still gathering our audience. (And we'd love it if you'd send our link to any friends you think would enjoy Hold the Toast.) But part of it is because a lot of the chatter is going on at ourHold The Toast Facebook Fan Page. Pretty lively over there.

So hey, come join the fun!

This press release came out from the Endocrine Society on June 20th. This is more evidence that fructose is uniquely fattening, especially when given to children. In particular, this study demonstrates why loading children up with juice is a very bad idea. Do not, however, assume that this means common sugar is in the clear: Sucrose, aka table sugar, is a 50/50 mixture of glucose and fructose.

Fructose Sugar Makes Maturing Human Fat Cells Fatter, Less Insulin-Sensitive

Under the "The Other Dana" thread, a reader named Johnnie Ann asks:

I have a question for you, off-topic of your girl crush and off-topic of low carb (for humans anyway!) It's for my beloved doggies & kitties!

I have a girl-crush. I just discovered that Dana Seilhan, a regular poster at Dana Carpender's Hold the Toast facebook fan page (click the link at the left, below my smiling face, to join) writes her own blog, The Low-Carb Curmudgeon. I've been clicking around the archives this afternoon, and I love it. She smart, she's funny, she's snarky as heck, and she's brave enough to use words on her blog that, trust me, I regularly use in real life.

We're adding her to the blogroll post haste. Hope you enjoy her stuff as much as I am.

Clearly I'm out of touch with the mainstream, because I only just learned that Oprah is running a contest to pick the next health and wellness show host -- and I learned it because Jimmy Moore, bless his heart, posted it on Facebook.