Cool It Now: This Neat Trick Makes Carbs Healthier 🍝🍚

A new edition...

5 min read

READ BETWEEN THE WHINES

Approximately nine people sent me a link to the NYTimes review of the new book by Amy Larocca, How To Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic One Dubious Cure At A Time, to ask if I had seen it.

I saw it. I haven’t read it yet (it’s a big week for groundbreaking reading material, no?) So I can’t speak to any nuanced efforts it makes to soften the edges around a title that comes in real hot. I know the author peripherally, and had three or four coffee dates with her over the years that were always friendly, if slightly clipped, often leaving me wondering if I had inadvertently shared something that might someday be used against me (journalists, amiright?) So I knew about the book, but it’s been so long in the works that I all but forgot about it. But here it is, just in time, as we were really lacking a divisive voice raising eyebrows and pointing fingers… 😐

My $.02: to know me is to know I believe that with any wellness trends, sharpening your bullsh*t detector is important (see: all posts under Is This Anything?). The underbelly of this industry is indeed rife with bad actors confusing, dividing, and politicizing us every day. But, at the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I choose to spend my energy providing guidance, suggestions, and solutions, hoping to level the playing field in any possible way (like, say…a free newsletter with lots of tips that cost you little to no money but can meaningfully improve your health), determined to keep a sense of humor about it, and to demonstrate that healthy living doesn’t always have to be synonymous with privilege, access, luxury and greed.

Yes it’s real, and gross, and a part of this industry, like MANY industries. So I’m just not sure a book that paints an entire industry with one broad brush is helping. We’re not all charlatans, we’re not all looking to intentionally create confusion and then capitalize on your vulnerability. We who choose a different lane are still here trying to do good work amidst the noise, with a genuine desire to help people feel good, live better, and just get some motherfu*#ing sleep.

Also the irony is not lost on me that the book with a hooky title, written by the expert – not on wellness, but on wellness experts – cautioning against the evils of a for-profit industry, is available to you for $28.00. 💰

(Climbs down from (paraben-free) soapbox)

A MATTER OF TRUST

That said, without even touching The MAHA Report yet, it IS hard to know who to trust. And you can’t always wait a week to get good info from me when you need reliable, accurate health information, whether it’s something majorly serious or it’s toenail fungus (yo, I have a fix for that too – see me after class). So here’s a starting list of resources that I recommend:

• PubMed, JAMA Network, and NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine), provide access to peer-reviewed articles and updated medical research

• Mayo Clinic – maybe it seems obvious, but how much more frequently have you asked Dr. Google instead?

• The Vaccine Education Center

• National Center for Learning Disabilities

• Here’s a good guideline for how to be read a medical site with a discerning eye

VIVE LA RESISTANCE

Turning toward some lighter fare: what if I said you could have your cake and eat it too, with less metabolic impact? Ok, TBH not sure it works with cake, but how about pasta and rice?

Carbohydrates contain starches, which have an impact on blood sugar when digested and break down into glucose. But certain carbs contain what are known as resistant starches, which literally resist digestion in the small intestine and arrive at the colon mostly intact, where they act more like fiber, feeding beneficial gut bacteria. This aids in weight loss by improving satiety and lowering blood sugar spikes after a meal.

Familiar resistant starches include legumes and beans, but fun fact: other starchy carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta, become resistant when they are cooked and then cooled, via a process known as retrogradation. Even re-heating after cooling does not lessen the resistant starch, making leftovers more beneficial than the first go.

Resistant starch also has what’s known as a “second meal effect” meaning it not only minimizes blood sugar spikes in the meal where it’s consumed – say, breakfast – but can also diminish the glucose response to carbs in the meal that follows. 🤯

So turns out you CAN go the distance with too much resistance (Oooh, watch out – music puns around every corner).

HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE

Giving the hubs credit where credit is due here. Not only did he scoop me on the resistant starch tip, but he’s been unknowingly practicing it for ages. His penchant for leftovers has had him healthifying his rice and pasta by cooking big batches and then storing in the fridge or freezer, and then he takes it a step further by boosting smoothies and frittatas with all that starchy resistance, both reducing food waste and making super-recipes out of his morning routine. Bravo, Bryan. 👏🏻

Has also never turned down a chance for a “second meal effect.”

FOLKS, HERE’S THE DEAL

Happy long weekend, all. Leaving you with some good deals on things that don’t check the snake oil box for me. 🐍

• 🚨 Seize the red light mask! Our hot friends at Higher Dose are offering 20% off sitewide, with 25% off Bundles and Kits! May 24th – May 27th, use code MDW2025

• 🍸 Imbibe responsibly and have better mornings with pre-alcohol support from ZBiotics. Get 10% off with the code ALLTOOWELL

• 💊🐬 Fatty15 is the game-changing longevity supplement discovered in part by dolphins! Hear the deep dive on my pod (wow, a 2x aquatic pun!), get 15% off with the code ALLTOOWELL

• 🌞 It’s sunny somewhere (not here) so slather yourself with safer suncare by Solara. 20% off with code ALLTOOWELL

• 📚 Not all books are created equal! My new book, Tuning Up is like newsletter-lite, just the tips.

Cool.