The CarbSmart Podcast

Why Do We Equate Junk Food with Fun?CarbSmart Podcast Episode 11

28 years ago, I had a friend / massage client, my first career was as a massage therapist, whose husband ran a business as a jobber, buying out overstock and stuff from businesses that were closing down, and then selling it to places like Big Lots and Dollar Tree. I was at their house one day, giving Anna a massage, when her husband offered me a five pound bucket of cookies from a lot he'd just purchased.

I said, no thanks, I don't eat sugar or flour. He said, what? You don't have any fun anymore. It took every ounce of self-restraint. I had not to respond. I prefer sex. Thanks. I was reminded of this a while back when I was driving behind a Frito-Lay delivery truck beneath the Frito-Lay logo was the slogan.

Good fun.

Not an hour later watching Law and Order reruns, I saw an ad for blue bunny twist cones. Their slogan was. We make fun! And who hasn't heard of fun sized candy bars? We are surrounded by friends, acquaintances, and businesses who equate junk food With fun, and who do not hesitate to tell us so.

Have you turned down cake at a birthday party recently? Now I can do this without pushback, because I have a reputation as a hardcore nutcase low carber. No one expects me to eat cake, not at a birthday party, not at a wedding, not at any celebration. Fortunately, I also have a reputation for sprightly conversation, a sense of humor, the ability to tell a story entertainingly, and to listen to the stories of others, and a readiness to dance my butt off.

My friends have figured out that I am fun. My oddball diet, notwithstanding. But if you have not been doing this for nigh on 29 years, and made writing about it your career, chances are good that someone, somewhere, sometime, will try to convince you that passing up the junk food makes you a buzzkill. This is where I usually go into my suggestions regarding how to derail such pressure tactics, but I'll save that for another time.

Instead, I found myself thinking about how we came to equate junk food with fun, to the point where many people cannot imagine, say, enjoying an awesome movie, unless they also have a big bucket of popcorn or a bag of chips. How did this happen? For most of human history, I have a few ideas. First, for most of human history, sweets were expensive and hard to come by.

Links and Show Notes

Website

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Featured Recipe

Low-Carb Coconut Scotchies Recipe

https://www.carbsmart.com/low-carb-coconut-scotchies-recipe.html

Show Notes

https://www.carbsmart.com/podcast-11-why-do-we-equate-junk-food-with-fun.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Carpender Interviews Dr William Davis, Author of Wheat Belly & Super GutCarbSmart Podcast Episode 10

CarbSmart’s Dana Carpender interviewed William Davis, MD for her “3 Questions with” series.

Dr William Davis is a prolific writer and expert healthcare professional. He is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the Wheat Belly series including his latest book, Super Gut. He is known for his advocating of some basic principles of nutrition and efforts to address common nutrient deficiencies caused by the consumption of wheat products and the disruption of the human microbiome.

Dr. Davis spent an informative hour talking with CarbSmart’s managing editor Dana Carpender. Read Dana’s review of Wheat Belly and Super Gut.

Question 1

If people were unsure about the effects of a particular food on their blood sugar, they should take their blood sugar measurement an hour after eating it, and if their blood glucose was over 120 mg/dL they should never eat that food again. Is that still your feeling or have you modified that in any way?

Question 2

You have long advocated a low-carbohydrate diet but have said you're against a keto diet, at least as currently practiced. Since I have been in a mild state of ketosis for most of the past twenty-seven years, I'm curious as to why.

Question 3

Do you have any idea what the carb count of the Super Gut yogurt recipe you discuss in your Super Gut book is?

Bonus Question 4

Do you know of a particular species of bacteria that increases levels of dopamine?

Links and Show Notes

Website

https://CarbSmart.com

Dana’s Best & Easiest Sugar-Free Ketchup Recipe – New for 2024!

Show Notes

3 Question Interview with Dr. William Davis Author of Super Gut & Wheat Belly

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Let’s Go On A Low-Carb Memorial Day Cookout with Dana CarpenderCarbSmart Podcast Episode 9

Hey gang, you know what’s coming up? A holiday that doesn’t torpedo our diets! Boy, you gotta love Memorial Day weekend. Not only is it the official beginning of summer, not only do most of us have a long weekend off, not only will Miss Manners grant you permission to wear white shoes after this weekend, but it’s a holiday that isn’t centered around junk food.

Yippee! Indeed, what with all that cooking out, Memorial Day weekend is just made for low carbers. Add to that the fact that many of us have outdoor activities planned. Camping, hiking, biking, boating, volleyball, or just tossing a frisbee around, and you come up with a fun celebration where you might even drop a pound or two.

Your Low-Carb Cookout Menu

Of course, you know that you can have all the grilled steak, burgers, and chicken you want, and ain’t that an improvement over the low-fat diet. But don’t forget about all the other grilling possibilities. How about a whole salmon stuffed with shredded scallions and herbs and paper-thin slices of lemon?

Tuna steaks, a boned, rolled leg of lamb, or how about pork chops? I’ve even been known to smoke a whole-brained turkey on my propane grill. Heavens. And it serves a crowd inexpensively. Hot dogs, brats, and smoked sausage are all popular grilling foods but approach these processed meats with caution. Anytime meat has been ground up and reformed, odds are that some sort of sugar has been added.

Hot Dogs, Brats, and Smoked Sausage

Doesn’t mean you can’t eat dogs, brats, or smoked sausage, but it does mean that you want to read the labels and choose the ones with the least added carb. Hot dogs run from one gram of carb per link All the way up to six grams, that’s a six hundred percent difference. For that extra five grams, you could have another light beer.

Brats and smoked sausage tend to run between one-half and one gram of carb per ounce. And you know you’re eating more than an ounce or two. So, choose the lowest-carb sausages you can find and eat them in moderation. Have half a brat, perhaps, and then a burger or some steak, too. You could smoke a rack or two of ribs, which gives you an excuse to spend five or six hours lazing around the patio, cold beverage in hand, occasionally adding wood chips to the fire, and splashing your ribs with mopping sauce.

Links and Show Notes

Website

https://CarbSmart.com

Dana’s Best & Easiest Sugar-Free Ketchup Recipe – New for 2024!

Show Notes: Let’s Go On A Low-Carb Memorial Day Cookout – CarbSmart Podcast Episode 9

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What Is A Keto Diet? Keto Basics with Dana CarpenderCarbSmart Podcast Episode 8

Welcome to today's episode of the CarbSmart Podcast, where your decision to embrace low-carb nutrition becomes a fun and delicious lifestyle. I’m your host, Dana Carpenter, here to guide you through the ins and outs of everything low carb. Today, we’re going back to basics. There’s been a lot of controversy about keto diets versus low-carb diets recently, so let’s talk about what a keto diet is.

This episode of the CarbSmart Podcast, hosted by Dana Carpender, explores the ketogenic diet—a low-carb, high-fat diet that aims to trigger ketosis in the body. Dana discusses the scientific principles behind ketosis, shares practical advice for adopting a keto lifestyle, and addresses common myths. Listeners will gain insight from Dana’s personal experiences and professional knowledge, gaining tools to make informed dietary choices.

Are you boggled by all of the discussion about a keto diet? Wondering what the heck a keto diet really is and really isn’t? Stick around because we’ll look at what it means and how it compares to other low-carb diets and plans.

Keto has been the diet buzzword for the past five years or so and with good reason. A ketogenic diet delivers. Most people who go keto lose weight while experiencing increased energy and reduced hunger.

Links and Show Notes

Visit our website with over 3,000 Free Articles and Low-Carb Recipes

https://CarbSmart.com

Our Featured Recipe

Low-Carb Toasted Almond and Coconut “Cereal” Recipe

Check out our CarbSmart Low-Carb Cookbooks

https://www.carbsmart.com/store

Show Notes

What Is A Keto Diet? Keto Basics with Dana Carpender: What You Need to Know – CarbSmart Podcast Episode 8

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CarbSmart Podcast Episode 7How Did I Get Here? Dana Carpender’s Journey of 29 Years on Low-Carb

You read her articles, you buy her cookbooks, you make her recipes, now you can listen to her CarbSmart Podcast! In the episode, Dana Carpender describes her Journey of 29 Years on her healthy Low-Carb lifestyle. Explore her ups and downs to becoming a Low-Carb author & guru.

Want to know how a girl who stole to support her sugar habit turned into a hardcore nutrition buff who has made her career writing about nutrition?

How I got here by Dana Carpender

My carb addiction started early, and so did other problems. I started seeing a shrink when I was 11. I also already had an unhealthy relationship with sugar. At Girl Scout meetings, I always went back to grab more cookies before I’d finish the first handful. I was afraid they’d run out.

Note, I am now eligible for Social Security, and they’re still making Oreos. That scarcity mentality was strange. I was the weird kid. Super bright, unmotivated, compulsively talkative, overweight. My social skills were, shall we say, lacking. All of this inspired my parents to turn to a psychologist when I was 11.

My mom and I joined Weight Watchers that same year. It’s worth noting that the original Weight Watchers program was generous with lean protein but limited carbs quite sharply. For the youth program, a few slices of bread a day with no alternatives such as rice, potatoes, or pasta, and one-half cup of higher carb vegetables per day, non-starchy vegetables were unlimited.

It was the common wisdom of the time that if you wanted to lose weight, you gave up potatoes, spaghetti, bread, and sweets. I did lose weight on that plan, but at that age, the notion of a permanent change in eating habits wasn’t within my grasp.

Then came the Atkins Diet.

When I was 13, Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution first hit the market.

Links and Show Notes

Website CarbSmart.com

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Show Notes

How Did I Get Here? Dana Carpender’s Journey of 29 Years on Low-Carb – CarbSmart Podcast Episode 7

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Put up in a place where it’s easy to see the cryptic admonishment T T T. When you feel how depressingly slowly you climb, it’s well to remember that Things Take Time.– Piet Hein

CarbSmart Podcast Episode 6How's Your New Year's Resolution?

So how are those New Year’s resolutions coming? I’d like to add one to them if you don’t mind.

Be patient.

Yes, Things Take Time

Impatience is the death of most diet and exercise regimens, whether undertaken for the new year or at any other time.

All those stupid ads for diets, diet pills, and exercise equipment promise ridiculous results like, we guarantee you’ll lose two dresser pant sizes in 10 days or your money back.

Of course, they know that only a teeny fraction of purchasers will, a) follow their instructions to the letter, or b) bother to ship the thing back.

I’m here to tell you that losing one dress or pants size in ten days is rare, much less losing two. Furthermore, and this is important – whatever you do to lose that dress or pants size is what you must continue to do for the rest of your life if you want to maintain the loss. There is no finish line. But these ads put ridiculous ideas in people’s heads, like that they can undo two or three decades’ worth of neglect in two weeks.

Links and Show Notes

Website CarbSmart.com

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Show Notes

How’s Your New Year’s Resolution? Remember Things Take Time – CarbSmart Podcast Episode 6

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How to Succeed with Your Low-Carb Resolutions

I’m pretty sure I was supposed to have a flying car and a robot maid by now, but I’ll settle for a healthy body and a happy life. How about you? I think it’s the annual reminder of the relentless passage of time that makes New Year’s Day a great time to rededicate ourselves to achieving and preserving those things, in the interest of doing just that. Here are some suggestions for low-carb New Year’s resolutions.

I like New Year’s resolutions.

Yes, I know most people don’t keep them for very long. However, I also know that life change often requires repeated attempts. If I recall correctly, the average smoker tries to quit eight or ten times before successfully giving it up. What if, having failed once or twice, he or she said, “These resolutions just don’t work. Heck with it.”

I think it’s always a good idea to rededicate ourselves to actions that we know will benefit our lives. And if we don’t carry through the first or the fifth or the fifteenth time, it’s good to know we can try again, and it is to be hoped, quite smarter, incorporating knowledge we have gained from previous attempts.

So if you’re here for the first time, having just dedicated yourself to nutrition and weight loss, welcome to the wonderful world of low-carb. We have more fun here than people suspect. If you’ve done low carb before and are starting over, welcome back. I very much hope I can help.

#carbsmart #lowcarb #keto #ketodiet #ketorecipes #lowcarbdiet #newyearsresolutions #resolutions

© by Dana Carpender. Used by kind permission of the thankful author. What do you think? Please send Dana your comments at [email protected]

Links and Show Notes

Website CarbSmart.com

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Show Notes

https://www.carbsmart.com/podcast-06-hows-your-new-years-resolution-things-take-time.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We made it through Thanksgiving! It is now officially party season. There will be tree-trimming parties, cookie-baking parties, Festivus parties, Yuletide celebrations, Hanukkah get-togethers, New Year's Eve party, and even my sister's Twelfth Night party. Just general all-out merriment from now until at least January 2nd.

This means it is time for my annual rundown on drinking

Contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not turn into sugar in your bloodstream. However, it is carbohydrate-derived. Alcohol is what yeasts pee out after eating sugars. Doesn't that sound yummy? Hey, it doesn't stop me. Alcohol does behave like a carb in one important way.

Your body burns it preferentially. Just as eating carbohydrates shuts down fat burning, so does drinking alcohol. Or, as a medical journal article I read DONKEY'S years ago phrased it, "Alcohol profoundly inhibits lipolysis." Furthermore, at 7 calories per gram, nearly twice the calorie count of carbs, It can take you longer to burn through the booze.

This is why alcohol, despite some apparent benefits, is always an indulgence when you're trying to lose weight. Because alcohol is carbohydrate-derived, there are a fair number of alcoholic beverages that contain residual carbohydrates.

Beer is the worst offender

Your average can of beer has in the neighborhood of 15 grams of carbohydrates and dark beers and red beers can run considerably higher.

What to Drink on the Low-Carb Cruise

I’ve learned to keep a good supply of sparkling water at hand and use that to quench my thirst. It makes a huge difference. When I’ve gone on a Low-Carb Cruise, I always buy the unlimited soda package. I pay a flat fee for the week for all the soft drinks I can swallow, which otherwise run two bucks a can.

I don’t even drink soda. I hate it. I just do this so that I can suck down club soda while we’re all out in the bars and lounges at night. Not only does this help to moderate drinking, but it also prevents dehydration, which is a big contributor to hangovers. Since dehydration does indeed contribute to hangovers, downing a big glass or two of water before hitting the sack is a great idea.

Gulp down a couple of aspirin or ibuprofen with it, and your prospects for a good New Year’s Day become even brighter. Here’s another public service announcement, this one quite serious: Do not take Tylenol for hangovers. Both alcohol and acetaminophen are rough on the liver. Taking the two together can cause serious liver damage or even liver failure.

Pop a multivitamin with your aspirin to replace the water-soluble vitamins you’ve washed out. And I don’t have to tell you not to drive drunk, right? Many towns have free public transit on New Year’s Eve, so take advantage. Around here, the cabs run free, but it will only take you home, not to another bar. It’s a huge public service, and I laud them.

Links and Show Notes

Website CarbSmart.com

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Show Notes

https://www.carbsmart.com/podcast-04-low-carb-alcohol-guide.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If I posted a Thanksgiving article a couple of weeks ago, it must be the Christmas shopping season. Or Hanukkah. Or Kwanzaa. or Yule. or Saturnalia. Or Festivus, or let’s drink to the days getting longer again.

Whatever you want to celebrate is fine by me, so long as you count me in on the wine. So, let’s talk a little about low-carb gift giving. Low-carb gift giving? Sure, in a couple of ways. First, most low carbers know other low carbers. We’re a friendly bunch. Just go on the low-carb cruise someday. You’ll see. 

Links and Show Notes

Festive Low-Carb Food Gifts

Keto Snack Box Gift Basket by Bunny James

More Low-Carb Gift Baskets

Cheese Gift Baskets

Hickory Farms Beef Summer Sausage & Cheese Medium Gift Box

Bacon Freak Bacon of the Month Club here and here.

Other Bacon of the Month Clubs

Alaska Smokehouse Jumbo Smoked Salmon

Bacon Freak 6 Pack Dry Cured Gourmet Bacon Combo

Coffee Gift Baskets

Atlas Coffee Club World of Coffee Sampler, Gourmet Coffee Gift Set

Gourmet Tea Gift Sets

Website CarbSmart.com

https://CarbSmart.com

Find Hundreds of Articles and Delicious and Easy-to-Make Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

https://www.carbsmart.com/author/dana

Show Notes

https://www.carbsmart.com/podcast-03-low-carb-holiday-gift-giving.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Low-Carb Thanksgiving Tips & TricksCarbSmart Podcast Episode 2

Last-Minute Low-Carb Thanksgiving Tips & Tricks

Why would I bother having even a bite of candied sweet potato?

Planning for Thanksgiving

In case you hadn’t noticed, Thanksgiving is upon us, and it seems incumbent upon me to say something, and quickly. So here are a few ideas for making it to December without gaining several pounds.

Is Thanksgiving an Indulgence Day or a Normal Low-Carb Day?

First, decide whether you’re going to have an indulgence day for Thanksgiving, or if you’re going to do your best to de-carb your feast. Most of you will probably go for the indulgence, and I don’t blame you. Since this year it will be just me and that nice boy I married, I’ll be de-carbing the dinner.

Mentioned in the Podcast

Low-Carb Thanksgiving Recipes and Articles at CarbSmart.com

Dana talks about her wedding day and about Carbohydrate addiction in Hi! My Name is Dana, and I’m a Carbohydrate Addict

Low-Carb Side Dish Recipes at CarbSmart.com

Low-Carb Dessert Recipes at CarbSmart.com

Natural Mate Stevia All Purpose Natural Sweetener

Allulose – Monk Fruit Blend All-Purpose Sweetener

Swerve Ultimate Sugar Replacement Sweetener, Brown Sugar Substitute

Lakanto Sugar-Free Maple Syrup – Monk Fruit Sweetener

Wholesome Yum Zero Sugar Maple Syrup (Keto Maple Syrup) With Monk Fruit & Allulose

Pure Maple Extract for Baking and Flavoring

Links and Show Notes

Website

https://CarbSmart.com

Dana’s Best & Easiest Sugar-Free Ketchup Recipe – New for 2024!

Show Notes

https://www.carbsmart.com/podcast-02-low-carb-thanksgiving-tips-tricks.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.