Friday, February 10, 2006


you can eat bread at last

dear readers, as someone who -- you know -- eats bread and chocolate, you have to forgive me for not being really up on the latest diet trends. sorry.

i mean, my web traffic probably suffered a tad during the recent atkins phase, since that diet forbade bread, coffee, and chocolate, period.

when the atkins trend was replaced by the raw food movement, i again suffered a bit, since bread, coffee, and chocolate are all cooked. but now the new diet, which has recently been explained to me, is a french regime by a guy named montignac.

this apparently has been chic since j. steingarten talked about it in vogue or something a while ago, but appears to be gaining steam, esp. since said montignac has just written a forthcoming new book. as it has been explained to me, this diet is based on the glycemic index concept.

what it means in practical terms is that the conscious dieter can now eat dark chocolate without lecithin, drink half-caf, and also eat -- surprise! -- naturally leavened pain de campagne or pain au levain, provided it is made with 100% organic whole-wheat flour and/or other whole grains.

apparently such bread has a low or moderate gylcemic rating, especially if sliced thin and toasted. i won't pretend to understand why.

this new diet, combined with the news that pure ultra-low-fat isn't so effective, may actually bring pleasure back to eating again. i am told this montignac guy agrees with me that olive oil and goose fat are the way to go.

i'm not an expert in blood chemistry and i can't play one on the internet, but it seems to me as if social trends are finally coming 'round my way! frankly, in these matters i've always adhered to montaigne and julia child.

montaigne said that wine is good for you; julia child said have a little of everything (emphasis on "little") but don't have seconds, and do adopt the habit of walking whenever you can.

except of course, i've added yoga to the walking.

posted by fortune | 8:44 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 4 comments