Advice

Many of us agree. Salt is easily the most popular seasoning. There's a good reason for this: Salt is an essential nutrient; without it we'll die. But just as Americans "know" that fat is bad for them, they "know" that salt is bad for them. The standard wisdom, parroted over and over again, is that limiting fat and salt intake will lower blood pressure, prevent heart disease, and improve health in general.

Bananas must have a killer press agent. Over and over folks ask, "But if I can't have bananas on my low carb diet, where will I get potassium?" It is true that bananas are a pretty good source of potassium; one medium banana has 422 milligrams, or about 12% of the RDA of 3.5 grams. However, that banana also has 27 grams of carbohydrate, with only 3 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 24 grams - about half of my daily maximum carb intake, and more than the 20 gram upper limit for those of you who are in the induction phase of the Atkins diet. Clearly we can't count on bananas for our potassium! But where will we get it?

Today, Low-Carbist Extraordinaire Dana Carpender unveiled her witty, clever, educational and FUN new podcast at www.DanasLowCarbForLife.com - The Dana Carpender Show! Dana's new show features a magazine-style format with a few features, the occasional interview and, of course, recipes, too.

Holidays bring a myriad of emotions. The joy of spending time with family and friends can be the highlight of the season. The flip side of this coin is that family gatherings tend to center around food, and the inevitable pressure to eat everything your Aunt Trudy made. After all, she made that sugary carb-loaded favorite just for you! Will it really hurt to have just one serving and save her fragile feelings?

Thanksgiving was Thursday. Maybe you took an Indulgence Day, maybe - like a growing (or, more accurately, shrinking) group of low carbers, you kept on low carbing right through the feast. I heard from a lot of people who had fauxtatoes and sugar-free pumpkin pie. Regardless, you probably have some leftovers kicking around. You're not going to be eating turkey sandwiches, or at least I hope you're not. So what to do with your leftover bird?

It wasn't vitamin C. Although it was known for centuries that a lack of fresh food would cause scurvy, and that certain foods, especially citrus fruits, cabbage, and sauerkraut, could prevent it, the factor responsible wasn't identified until a few years after our front-runner.

Writing a column on convenience foods goes against the grain for me - I'm always nagging people to just cook something, will you, for crying out loud?! A little simple, plain cooking is your best defense against bad food, not to mention a sky-high food budget. But I am aware that many people rarely eat anything that takes more preparation than three minutes in the microwave. Even folks who do cook occasionally have days when they just want something fast.

Gosh, I love cherries. Talk about Nature's Candy - cherries couldn't be sweeter or more delicious. I have a vivid memory of a summer afternoon in my youth, when I ate a whole pint of cherries while walking home from the grocery store. Even my pug, Dexter, loves cherries! (And really, it's hard to think of a more charming diversion than feeding cherries to a pug.)

Sadly, Ketatoes are no longer with us, though I still have a stash I hoarded when the Keto company went under. There is a substitute: Dixie Diners Instant Mashers. I've tried them in several of my recipes, and they work just like the Ketatoes mix.

I recently got an email from reader Karen Kosel asking exactly that; she followed up by posting me a website that said some really unpleasant things about Splenda - to be specific, that it may cause shrinkage of the thymus gland, which is part of the immune system, and may also cause enlarged liver and kidneys. For balance, they also concluded that sucralose (the chemical that makes Splenda sweet) was probably "not as toxic as aspartame".