Healthy Shirataki Can Be Destroyed By Carbs

Filed under: In The News — @ April 26, 2007

One of the most popular topics I blogged about in 2006 was the sudden emergence of the low-carb pasta alternative known as shirataki. I held a recipe contest and blogged at great length about these Japanese wonder noodles.

Last month, I was interviewed by a student in Toronto, Ontario Canada who was doing a project for her journalism class on popular new trends and she chose shirataki noodles. I’ve learned a lot about this stuff, so I guess I was as good a resource for her as anyone. And I was happy to talk with her about my own personal use of shirataki.

Well, it’s happened again with this Star-Bulletin highlighting the high-fiber alternative to regular pasta. Although the author Keiko Ohnuma mentioned my blog in the column (which I appreciate), I was VERY concerned about two things:

First, Ohnuma mentioned that “comments on blogs such as ‘Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb’ find Americans now gobbling up shirataki by the caseload in recipes loaded with fat-free cheese, fat-free sour cream, Boca Burgers, Egg Beaters and Splenda.”

Say what?! “Fat-free cheese, fat-free sour cream, Boca Burgers, Egg Beaters?!” I challenge Ohnuma to send me the links to the posts where either me or any of my readers used any of those ingredients in low-carb shirataki recipes. UGH! Come on, man. You’re killing me here with the fat-free crap!

Then, as if the fat debacle wasn’t enough, then he posts THREE recipes using shirataki noodles that are clearly NOT healthy for you to consume because of the high carb content. A “Spicy Pork with Cellophane Noodle” recipe has 60g carbs while a “Sweet Potato Noodle Stir-Fry” contains a whopping 83g carbs per serving. Are they TRYING to kill people?

If we’re gonna promote something healthy life shirataki noodles, then don’t ruin the health benefits with needless carbs. It does no good to eat shirataki if you take away what makes it good for you to begin with.

You can e-mail your comments about this story to Keiko Ohnuma at kohnuma@starbulletin.com.