Shirataki Noodle Verdict is IN!

Hi

I tried the shirataki noodles (no tofu) and I think I am in love!! I tested my blood sugar and it was 109 one hour after, and two hours after it was 98. Hip-Hip-Hooray!! Finally something that actually does not raise my blood sugars and is pretty darned good to eat.

I ate one whole seven-ounce package (about 2.5 cups) of spaghetti-like shirataki noodles that I rinsed very well in my colander in the sink. I let them sit to drain very well, also, as I had seen in a video, and then tossed them into the skillet in which I had browned a few scallions along with about a pound of hamburger with kalimari olive slices, garlic powder, curry powder, salt and two kinds of cheese. (I removed half of the hamburger for later before putting the noodles in.) I forgot to cut the long noodles into shorter lengths so they sort of bunched up in one spot in the pan, but that was not that big a deal. I think that if I remember to cut them, they will mix better next time.

The texture on the noodles was not precisely like pasta, but was very very close. Close enough that I am planning on getting used to it. It is more gel-like in texture than pasta but was very far from being obnoxious. On my first bite to test one strand, I noticed the slight texture difference, but as I ate them with the other ingredients I really did not notice it any more. They are about the size of thin spaghetti and have about the same amount of "body" as angel hair pasta -- which is my preference, anyway.

I had been afraid that I might have the same reaction to the smell that my niece, Natalie, had, so I did not test it out that well. I could not smell them unless I put my nose in the bag. I did take a small wiff of the bag after I emptied it and it smelled like fish but I rinsed the noodles (and the bag) and did not wiff them again. If I did not get close, I did not smell them, so it was not overpowering or anything like that. By the time I ate them, the smell had completely disappeared. They did not even remotely smell of fish. Just as everyone that I read or watched on YouTube said, they take on the smell and flavor of what I cooked them with. They were really quite delightful, in my book. And now I know I can eat them with my craving reducing meals without worry. I have four more packages of them for now so will enjoy them over the next five or six days and plan on placing a larger order at a new web site I found: http://www.konjacfoods.com/

I am completely thrilled with the no-blood-sugar reaction -- and I am hoping for the plumbing help that I've heard about, as well. (And... uh... the plumbing has worked once already.) Two birds with one stone.

This is a few hours after having eaten them and I've also been watching for other reactions, in case there is some side effect, or something. I noticed that my tummy felt really full, almost before I was done eating them. And right now, I feel just a touch dizzy... which is not a sign I was looking for, but, I shall see how it goes. If all goes well, I'll try another package in a day or two and see how it goes then. It may be that I just need to get used to it -- or eat a smaller amount until I do get used to it.

I also had a smaller than usual salad with the meal, but about an hour later, I finished up the rest of the hamburger and cheese. Not a "No-No" on a low carb program.... but it is a little curious, I think. I've not had that reaction with any other low carb meal. Making sure to drink all the water for the day should also help.

Aside: I watched a video on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF7Yzv_T2Bg ) made by a guy who was taking glucomannan powder (the same thing the shirataki noodles are made from) and dumping it on a plate, onto which he also poured what appeared to be water from a bottle. He did not stir it. Then you get to listen to him tell us about a man he met at a hospital who had lost weight so quickly by eating only homemade glucomannan noodles that he needed to have his excess deflated balloon of skin surgically removed. For the most part you get to watch him burning what he calls noodles in a frying pan on high electric heat. He cuts them up into cracker shapes with his spatula as he talks and sprinkles a little ranch dressing on them for flavor. When the noodles are fried to his perfection he dumps them into a deep dish pot and tastes them from time to time saying how wonderful they are. It is oddly enlightening. One amazing thing is to watch him pick up the puddle of powder and water which has turned into a sort of pancake and put it into the pan for frying. I think you ought to watch it just for the pleasure!! I learned a lot from that video.

Oh, and by the way, there are also recipes for making your own noodles but they all contain lime water or baking powder along with the glucomannan powder and water, so I don't know how the guy's homemade noodles with only the powder and water would be -- or why they add the lime water. (That is not lime juice in water -- that is lime water -- meaning the mineral not the juice.)

Well, I waited and the light dizziness is now gone. Who knows what could have caused it. I thought back over what I had eaten and I ate so many ingredients from sources that I had never eaten before it could have been from anything. The grass fed beef was, surprisingly, not all that good, it must have been made from very odd and tough parts of the animal. The olives were bulk pack from the Dekalb Farmer's Market, which I had never tried before. And then there is the shirataki noodles. I shall try them again, in a smaller "dose," and see if I have the same reaction.

Anyway. I hope I find that the SNs work out because I like them... and I especially like the fact that there really are no carbs in them at all. The package says they have 3g of carb, and 3g of fiber which cancels it out... result: no carbs. My blood sugar non-reaction is proof enough for me.

Be back soon,

Marcia