I'm an avid fan of low carb diets and lifestyles. As all low-carbos know, it's next to impossible to find "snack food" to munch on in the middle of the day that either isn't starchy or isn't flavorless. Jerky and beef sticks seem to fit the bill but 99% (those that I've tried at least) are way high in salt, contain nitrites, and even trace amounts of sugar. Enter Nick's Sticks!
Quick low-carb lesson. Not all meat is good meat.
1. Salt ("sodium" as it's labeled on most packaging), is a body necessity, it adds flavor but also sucks water out of your cells. The result is that you're hungrier as a result. You're hungry because your body doesn't really differentiate between needing water or food - it's the same sense. Your mouth gets dry, you start to salivate, your tongue moves around (pressing into your lower jaw, amplifying the effect) and you look around for something to munch and put in your mouth. Not good when you're trying to eat less, healthier and diet!
2. Nitrites are bad, and they're all over processed meats (typically). Nitrites are used to combat botulism by doing funky things to amines (organic compounds in meat) effectively 'cooking' them to make them less likely to spoil. Problem is, the byproduct of this nitrite adding process is the creation of carcinogens. Anyone who knows anything about smoking knows that carcinogens are bad and cause cancer. So the reason nitrites are bad is because what they're doing to your jerky, they're also doing to your body! They're effectively (granted in teeny tiny doses) creating these carcinogens off the amines present in your own gut (and brain, and elsewhere) and jacking up your risk of cancer. Plus, they give the meat you're eating a 'tinny' taste, which isn't great on its own. Think hotdogs.
3. Processed meats use sugar to enhance flavor, and sugar is a low-carbo's worst enemy. There are two things in this world that taste good to humans - fat and sugar. If you eliminate one (and expect people to buy your product) you have to jack up the other. So when you see low-fat turkey breast slices, or low fat milk, etc., they have to add sugar in some form to bring the taste back up. Sugar is also used to hide the salty flavor. In soda, for example, salt is added to make you drink more of it. The sugar covers the salt taste up because who would drink caffeinated salt water?? Well, a few I guess. Anyhoo, jerky is known for its salt (and needs the salt to cure it in the first place), so when the salt is too high, enter sugar. Flavors like teriyaki are full-o-sugar.
4. Grain-fed cattle are less healthy for you then grass fed. To be frank, this one's entirely debatable. The theory is that grass-fed cattle have more Omega-3 fatty acid and less Omega-6. Omega-3 is the good one (think fish). It's essential and you can't make it yourself. Plus, people complain that grain-fed cattle are fed more (bad) hormones and are generally raised less humanely. I have no idea if that's true or not - it's just one side of the theory. Grass-fed cows are probably jacked full of hormones too. But no one can argue that a free-range cow is a bad thing.
Soooooo....
The reason I LOVE Nick's Sticks (take that in the correct context, pleeeease), is because:
1) Contains a lot of salt (it's cured beef after all) but less than most others. Two sticks of Nick's contains less sodium than one stick of another brand I really really enjoy.
2) Contains no nitrites. Says so right on the label, so it must be true! :) But you can taste it too. Rather, you can't taste it. So this is good. Not cancer causing (for now anyway).
3) 0g of sugar. Does contain 1g carb per stick though (2g per package). That's still incredibly low.
4) From grass-fed beef. If you don't buy into this one, that's okay. If you do, you're eating happier cows. Good for you.
That's the be-all, end-all of it. I love Nick's. They're tasty, fatty (in a good way), not incredibly salty, and the perfect low carb snack. Too bad they're so expensive. I want MORE!!
beef, water, Redmond Seasoned salt (sea salt, coriander, spices, mustard, black pepper, paprika, herbs), lactic acid, celery juice
