Do you know the history of St. Valentine's Day?

In 5th Century Rome, mid-February was traditionally the time of the Lupercian festival, an ode to the God of fertility and a celebration of sensual pleasure, a time to meet and court a prospective mate.

But in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius outlawed the festival, choosing instead a "lovers" saint to replace Lupercus. The martyred Bishop Valentine was chosen as the patron saint of the new festival. Before his death, Saint Valentine had signed his final note to his true love, "From Your Valentine", a phrase that has lasted through the centuries. Eventually the concept of celebrating true love became known as Valentine's Day.

In modern times the most common gesture has been for the gentleman to bring his lady flowers and sugary chocolates. Well, the sugary part may be "out" for us low-carbers, but the fun of the holiday doesn't have to be... From beautiful flowers, to elegant meals, to romantic travel plans, make sure Valentine's Day remains special to you. This issue will have some recipes and tips to help you out!

                            

Amusing Facts.com We thought everyone could use a chuckle, so for our Site of the Month for February, we've chosen a site that contains a collection of unbelievable dumb-things-people-do stories, as well as strange news, weird town names and origins, and a lot more. I love the weird town names, and have actually been to a number of them: Smackover, Arkansas (a short drive from ElDorado, where I began nursing school); Santa Claus, Indiana (where we went every year when I was a kid); Intercourse, Pennsylvania (no comment); and Knockemstiff, Ohio. Ya gotta spend a little time at this site. :)

Our product review team features a "Product Of The Month" in each issue of our magazine. These products are a group consensus of those we find to be the most innovative, healthy, tasty, and/or helpful to the low-carber's daily dietary regime.

                               
Sometimes we tend to forget the reasons that low carb diets work so well... because we are able to avoid sharp peaks in blood sugar, we avoid the flood of insulin that causes fat storage. When we can stabilize blood glucose levels, we feel better, lose weight (or maintain a healthy weight), and control diabetes (or insulin resistance.) But how to best do that? Eating foods that don't cause a spike needs to be the basis of your diet. But more than that, finding foods that allow the carbohydrates they contain to be slowly and gradually released over time is the key to appetite control as well.

To help you understand what these numbers mean, A GI less than 55 is considered low GI. 56 to 69 is medium GI and greater than 69 is high GI.  A Glycemic Load (GL) of 10 or less is a low Glycemic Load food. 11-19 is medium. 20 and higher is high. ExtendBar is both a low glycemic index and a low glycemic load food.

Do they taste good? That's always a question with low carb products that often taste little better than the box they come in. Not the case with Extend Bars. Our review team found them very tasty and had no problem wolfing them down. :) The Peanut Delight was a favorite with the majority, but all three flavors were received well.

They contain no trans fats, are low in fat and calories, are high in fiber and protein, and of course contain no added sugar. And the Chocolate and Apple Cinnamon flavors are gluten free as well. Low Carb Luxury strongly recommends Extend Bars as a great snack bar for low carb dieters, diabetics, and those with insulin resistance. For purchase information, visit their website.


   

Neil's Photo of The Month:
_{Click the image below to download a 1024 x 768 image to use as wallpaper!}
       

       

Copyright © February 2005  Low Carb Luxury.     Photography Copyright © 2005  Neil Beaty.