Health

Years ago, some furious online detractor of low carb diets threw at me the accusation that I ate "pork rind cake." This is not true. I have never eaten a cake made from pork rinds, and had never heard of such a thing till the accusation was made. And though she subsequently posted a link to a recipe, that is the only time I have ever heard of pork rind cake in my near-decade on a low carb diet.

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.

In a few weeks, we here in the US celebrate (if that's the word) National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Front Porch Day. This is because a single zucchini seed will flood an entire neighborhood with zucchini. And heaven forbid a novice gardener should make the error of planting more than one zucchini seed! We're talking Revenge of the Killer Squash, here, as zucchini take over your town, loitering on the sidewalks, bumping into old ladies, scaring the children.

For most low-carbers, reading food labels comes as naturally as breathing. Sadly we have to be very suspicious of everything commercially made. That being said, our newest low-carb cohorts may not yet understand the dangers of blindly believing any and all claims made by food manufacturers.

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".

I have been on Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure diet plan now for six months. That is the longest I've ever successfully stayed on a diet. I've lost 47 lbs, hit my original goal weight and then my final goal weight. So I should be done with this diet, right?

The Atkins Diet is probably the most well known low-carb plan in existence. Dr. Robert Atkins devoted his life to teaching people about healthy living and weight loss. Despite his success with a myriad of patients, his efforts were scoffed at and deemed dangerous by so-called experts in the health field. Thankfully the medical community is starting to realize the benefits of low-carb living and are finally showing Dr. Atkins the respect he deserved while he was still alive.

Weight loss is a difficult venture. A simple search on the subject will leave your head spinning with information. Regrettably, you end up with a lot of misinformation and outright deception as well.

Ann Louise Gittleman, author of The Fat Flush Plan, when speaking of Jonny Bowdens book Living Low Carb, says “If there’s anything you want to know about low-carbing, this is the book for you! Jonny Bowden has created an invaluale and encyclopedic health resource that belongs on every shelf.” I couldn’t agree more.

When I was a kid, I ate a lot of noodles - generally Butoni wagon-wheels - with Ragu's original "Old World Style" jarred spaghetti sauce and the cheap grated Parmesan out of the green shaker. Loved it. Had it for lunch at least once a week!

If you've done very much Internet research at all regarding the low-carb lifestyle, you've probably come across a few people talking about The Golden Shot theory. The thinking behind this theory is that you really only get one good shot at weight loss on a low-carb diet. If you regain your lost weight, you may find yourself battling less effective weight loss efforts on your second go-round.