Impact of Corn Prices on a Low-Carb Diet

High GMO-feed costs could result in
beef prices tripling for low-carb dieters. 

As GMO corn-containing feed prices continue to rise, ranchers are turning to new and innovative ways to fatten up their cattle.

The mad search for alternatives isn’t all that surprising because the rumors surrounding the potential cost to raise beef these days could result in meat tripling or more in price.

This would be bad news for those of us who are on a low-carb diet. (And exactly what did happen in Utah a few years ago.)

However, the alternatives that have been publicized lately, such as:

• candy bars
• hot cocoa mix
• marshmallows
• and other goodies

isn’t really new. Many ranchers have been doing this for decades, which is one reason why some low carbers have switched to eating grass-fed beef and organic dairy instead.

With the drought last winter (2011) and the rising demand for ethanol, even dairy farmers are starting to participate in the practice. Some of the strange things farmers are feeding their cows include:

• breakfast cereal
• trail mix
• dried cranberries
• orange peels
• crumbled cookies
• saltines
• tapioca flour
• fish meal
• peanut butter
• ice cream sprinkles
• alternative grains

These alternative foods mixed in with their normal feed contain a lot of carbs, but they also contain a lot of sugar, starches, wheat, or high-fructose corn syrup. When it comes to HFCS, they aren’t really avoiding the GMO corn issue. They are just scrounging for a cheaper way of getting it into the cattle.

Impact of Corn Prices on Low-Carb Diets

Of greater concern for low-carb dieters is the impact these rising corn prices are going to have on ketogenic food choices regardless of what the farmers and ranchers are doing.

Most people following a low-carb diet believe they are eating gluten free or grain free, but in reality, they are not. GMO corn is as prevalent among keto foods as it is among highly processed, high-carb, refined products.

Corn isn’t just found in cornstarch, cornmeal, and corn on the cob. It’s extremely difficult to avoid unless you raise your own food and cattle.

For example, corn is used to wash your eggs and produce and keep your supermarket meats fresh. Corn is found in most plastic wrappings and containers, and is what sugar-substitutes are made from.

This means supermarket prices as a whole are bound to skyrocket, which will make it even more difficult to stick to a low-carb diet in the future.

I had an interesting revelation recently about dishwashing detergent. I noticed that every time I went into the kitchen and start doing the dishes, my ears began to swell and I got dizzy.

For a long time, I blamed that reaction on cheese and other foods, but I finally narrowed it down to the soap. In fact, I even discovered that many dishwashing liquids contain an endocrine disruptor.

Going back to the fragrance-free soap product I was using before straightened out my blood glucose problems that were giving me trouble again.

For me, this also means I can re-introduce dairy products into my diet. Dairy, but not GMO corn. I was still reacting to genetically modified corn and its derivatives when I first wrote this post.

I was adding dairy products back in extremely slowly, so that I could monitor my reactions. I was also careful to introduce only a single variable at a time. I used no store-brand products, and only products that didn't have any natural flavorings, citric acid, or other obvious corn ingredients listed on the label.

With Blood Glucose Normal I can Eat Cheese Again!

I about choked when I stopped by my local supermarket back then and found that traditional cheddar cheese had risen to almost $6 a pound!

It's no wonder that the local Walmart didn’t have any, at any price, last week. That $12 is what it used to cost to buy a giant-sized five-pound block, but now it only gets you a measly two pounds.

When you can buy a family-sized package of tender, center-cut pork chops for the same amount of money, it really starts to put a damper on variability – especially, if you’re like me and are only trying to feed two people.

Granted, two pounds of cheese will go quite a way for just two of us. It feeds both my husband and I for snacks, and makes cheese sauce for vegetables. It's disheartening when I sit back and realize that no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot get our food bill below $125 a week for two adults (Utah).

And that’s with me eating about 100 carbs per day, and my husband eating all of the carbs he wants.

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to eat a traditional low-carb diet when prices are so darn high right now. I’m sure there must be low-carb tricks I’m missing, and I’m sure that some of that has to do with where we live.

Plus, hubby snacks are not cheap, but still . . .

Low carb, nor not, prices are climbing and I can’t claim that eating is cheaper that health care costs anymore – not when it’s $200 for a simple office visit in our area.

Although we do have insurance now, Cigna isn’t quick to pay, and they’re spending a lot of time trying to find loopholes.

The last letter regarding an office visit my husband made to the family physician six months prior wanted to know when my husband went to the doctor for this condition last.

Say, what?

I guess they were hoping it was a pre-existing condition. It’s not, which is why this whole mess is so aggravating! They wait six months to ask us that?

At the moment, I don’t have any answers. I looked into the Nutritional Ketosis movement around this time, did an Atkins’ Induction that way, and I gained another five pounds as a result!

I know I really need to stop doing that.

I need to just let go of a traditional low-carb diet and go back to what worked for me before, but I was so hopeful that maybe . . .

Just maybe . . .

Someone had finally stumbled onto the problem and their solution of eating too much protein would work. Or fixing the dishwashing detergent issue would correct all of my dieting failures.

But I’ve discovered that isn’t it.

My body fights back extremely hard when I try to lower my carbs. When I lower the protein, it fights back even harder.

I’m beginning to think that when you come to the low-carb table weighing as much as I did in 2007, that your body will only allow you to lose a certain percentage of your fat stores before it wages war against you. 

I’ve seen this happen to others, and I'm experiencing it for myself. 

Going from a size 24 to a size 14 is great. I’m happy and proud of my success, but I still look FAT. 

I still look pregnant! 

I guess, I just need to find a way to live with that.