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Citrus zest

jpscloud

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,188
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I didn't want to hijack someone else's thread but the one on sugar content of fruit got me interested. For me at the moment, I am avoiding fruit but I used lemon zest in coconut fat bombs today (I don't plan to eat them like sweets, they're for a rare treat and are now in the freezer).

According to the nutrition searches I did, zest of citrus fruits is low carb but I would like to check what people with more knowledge and experience think? I'm hoping I can use lemon/lime/orange zest in my full fat unsweetened yoghurt.

Assuming the carb content is as low as I think, I suppose the main danger might be that it makes things more palatable and might lead to danger of overeating, not feeling satiety at the right time. I'd love to hear others' thoughts or experiences.
 
I understand your point. Make it too tasty and you eat more of it.

I just knocked back lots of Greek yoghurt with strawberry coulli with Stevia added. It was very nice and I ate half a tub full of the yoghurt (200grams). But then I didn’t really eat a lot of other stuff today.
 
Is there an issue with the juices of these fruits? Can you not add them to the Greek yoghurt?

I am assuming that a lemon itself might well be benign? Or maybe not?
 
Thanks Listlad, I find that I am eating way less calories than I used to by doing 24 hour fasts and 16:8 on other days.

I am finding the main meal (just one if 24 hour fasting) leaves me very satisfied but I'm still working on portion control - I think I'm having too much protein so I need to make some adjustments.

My tastes are changing but I want to build a bank of things that feel like treats, but are low carb and not artificially sweetened. Although I have dropped all sweeteners I still hanker a bit after some sort of treat, and yoghurt with citrus zest would definitely fit the bill, as long as I'm not walking into an overeating minefield!
 
Listlad said:
Is there an issue with the juices of these fruits? Can you not add them to the Greek yoghurt?

I am assuming that a lemon itself might well be benign? Or maybe not?
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I think the juice of fruits contains sucrose and fructose, JimLahey has good knowledge of the points Jason Fung makes about fructose and even with my limited understanding thus far I want to avoid it. The sweetness of the juice would definitely be an overeating trigger for me, so I was wondering if the zest had had any such effect on LCHF'ers.
 
I see. Yes, @Jim Lahey will know. I just thought that those citrus fruits might be an exception, especially lemons.
 
Do you fast for a full 24 hours at a time?

A work colleague of mine used to use a fasting technique purely to keep her weight in check. I cannot remember the fine detail. It was at least a full day, if not 2 or 3. It worked for her but I think it must have been tough.
 

Yes, I've just started Intermittent Fasting (following Jason Fung's The Obesity Code) to try to help reduce my insulin resistance and as a happy by product bring my weight down. It does seem sustainable for me, which no other method has been so far.

I haven't tried a longer fast yet but I am really surprised how easy it is, although I gradually switched to low carb over a couple of weeks before trying a 24 hour fast.
 
I remember her telling me about it and wondered how she managed to fast while her family tucked in under the same roof, but she seemed to manage it, presumably by sheer will power.
 
Listlad said:
I remember her telling me about it and wondered how she managed to fast while her family tucked in under the same roof, but she seemed to manage it, presumably by sheer will power.
Click to expand...

I did a 24 hour fast on Friday, and at lunchtime in the staff room, sat next to a colleague who was tucking into fish and chips! Hand on heart, and I would never have believed this had I not experienced it, I wasn't even slightly tempted and although it did smell nice, my mouth didn't really water as it would have done prior to going low carb. I do not possess an iron will, hence my worries about using anything that might trigger overeating.
 
Ah yes, from the site quoted above:

Orange (navel) 1 medium 6.1 (g of fructose)

So orange juice would be a no-go, but the zest is surely a different matter? A way to get a real orange taste zap without the fructose?
 
jpscloud said:
Ah yes, from the site quoted above:

Orange (navel) 1 medium 6.1 (g of fructose)

So orange juice would be a no-go, but the zest is surely a different matter? A way to get a real orange taste zap without the fructose?
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Nice tip though. I will try lemon juice in Greek yoghurt next.

You might be able to tell that I am trying to see what I can eat on anything approaching an LCHF diet and there is a lot more than at first meets the eye. Thanks.
 
I have no problem using the zest of lemons and limes. I have no problem squeezing lemon over fish or in a curry. The only thing to do is try it and test
 
Listlad said:
I remember her telling me about it and wondered how she managed to fast while her family tucked in under the same roof, but she seemed to manage it, presumably by sheer will power.
Click to expand...
Fasting becomes a lot easier once you have adapted to a low carb diet. Once you can easily access your fat stores then you are simply surviving on the doughnuts you ate years ago that were stored as fat. I'm currently only eating once per day for January.. and only eating beef (yep I'm weird) but have done up to 7 day fasts with just coffee with cream, tea with lactofree milk and water. It becomes easier each time.
 
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My understanding (for what it's worth) is that our livers can handle small quantities of fructose reasonably well and these can be converted into glycogen and stored for future use. It's the overconsumption of fructose that's the issue as the liver has limited glycogen storage capabilities but far greater fat storage ones and this is where the problem lies as liver fat can't be very easily converted back into any usable form. .(And this applies equally to any alcohol we consume -- in that it also makes for fatty livers.)

So this would suggest to me that consuming small amounts of fructose need not necessarily be an issue.

Robbity
 
Thanks Robbity - as I'm still "eating" (via intermittent fasting) the fructose I scoffed years ago, though, I need to avoid putting more in!
 
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