This is a follow-up to a recent comment I made about Exo Protein's unique protein bars, made with cricket flour. (Note: I'm making an assumption you don't have certain common food allergies; see the website for more specifics.) I had ordered a sampler and promised to write about my reaction. Indeed, very tasty. My favorites were the peanut butter and jelly and apple-cinnamon. The former is a little higher in carbs than I would prefer but remarkably tasty. Almost immediately after my sampler purchase they launched a savory meals variety (BBQ, Mango Curry, and Mediterranean). I'm currently trying an alternate raw food protein bar (they were running a BOGO promotion on boxes); I just ate a blueberry macadamia bar for breakfast at less than 10 net carbs, which was great. I may discuss the brand in a future post.)
I'm normally not big on gimmick foods; the Exo bars are a little pricey, but if you read the nutrition labels, they are phenomenal, not your typical nutrition bar. They are times that I don't feel that hungry, and the bars serve a useful purpose as a check against binge eating. (I've sometimes found than a tin of sardines also does the trick, with Omega 3's in the bargain.)
The WHO Processed Meat Fearmongering Scare
First of all, I don't regularly eat processed meats; I can't recall the last time I bought hot dogs at a supermarket; it's been years. Occasionally I've bought sausages or bacon, but mostly I've focused on ground or full cuts of meat, chicken parts, eggs, etc. Still, one should remember there's a difference between correlational and causal evidence, and the correlational evidence is fairly weak and/or not well-replicated among studies.
One thing we should keep in mind is that cancer occurs without known risks, e.g., over 10% of lung cancer victims have never smoked. In the case of processed meats, related cancer risks are less significant. Consider the following image for context:
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| Courtesy of Cancer Research UK |
Finally On Another Whoosh
I hadn't had any net loss from my last post; in fact, over the past week, I completely covered the gap from my last 5 lb. drop; I kept oscillating up and down a 3-lb. range over the past 2 weeks--until this morning, with a 2.2 lb. drop to a new diet low. I've done some interim weighings which suggest at least another lb. or 2 on this whoosh to go, which would be consistent with a 1.5/2 lb./week pace which I consider a slow, but decent pace. But I'm wary--the last time I posted, I thought I had more to go, too. I still have another 13 or so lbs. to hit a 2-year low. I'm not sure I'll reach it by year end, but hopefully by January.
