Take Heart Low-Carbers, The Dana Carpender Of Old Is Back

For those of you who are new to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog, you may or may not be aware of who Dana Carpender is. She's probably the most well-known and prolific low-carb author out there sharing the positive message of the low-carb lifestyle to the masses through her incredible cookbooks.

But last March, I was quite critical of her decision to change the name of her column from "Low Carb For Life" to "Cook Well, Eat Well." Soon thereafter, Dana released her very first cookbook ever that did not have the term "low-carb" in the title. That's not to say the book isn't "low-carb," but it certainly has not being marketed that way.

In this changing media climate regarding low-carb diets, I can certainly understand why she made these changes, but it was still disappointing that this great spokesperson for livin' la vida low-carb had to bow to the publishing gods and remove "low-carb" from the description of what and who she is. In my interview with her last year, she explained why she thinks low-carb is not as important as glycemic load. Okay, I can understand people who feel that way.

But what's the old saying about you can take the dog out of the hunt, but you can't take the hunt out of the dog? Sorry Dana, I'm not calling you a dog except to say you are STILL fighting VERY hard to get the low-carb message out there and your latest column proves it yet again.

If you haven't read it yet, then go RIGHT NOW to read the fantastic article "Take this low-fat diet and shove it." You'll be rolling in tears laughing at the low-fatties with this masterpiece from the Dana Carpender we all know and love.

Okay, okay, I can't resist sharing a few gems with you:

"Is diet season over? I'm weary of ads touting how low-fat this or that food is. If Jared tells me one more time that I ought to eat those sandwiches because they have only 6 grams of fat, I'm going to reach through the screen and smack him."

ROTFLMAO! Now, every time I see those obnoxious Subway commercials with Jared getting in an arguing match with Michael Strahan about those sandwiches having "less fat," I get this picture in my mind of a rabid Dana Carpender yanking her shoe off and throwing it at the television screen! LOL! You get 'em, Dana!

"Let me put it simply: There is no health benefit from a low-fat diet. Is that clear enough?"

Crystal clear to me, Dana! And this study she cites in her column confirms it. She goes on to talk about all the "high-fat foods" that are "healthful," including nuts, olive oil, chocolate, and beef. Not exactly the staples of a low-fat diet, wouldn't you say?

I LOVED this part of Dana's column the best:

"Fat has more than twice as many calories per gram as protein or carbohydrate...the idea behind a low-fat diet for weight control was that by cutting out fatty foods, you would automatically cut calories and thus lose weight. This idea makes sense in theory but turns out not to work so well in real life. As we cut our fat intake, our calorie intake went up, not down."

She's so right and this argument by low-fat supporters like Dr. Dean Ornish that since fat has over twice as many calories as carbs or protein never sat well with me. It totally neglects the satiety factor not just of fat, but protein too.

Dana ends her column with a bang: "Low fat is dead. Americans just haven't buried it yet."

For those of you who were concerned about whether the Dana Carpender of old has changed her message since her column name changed, hopefully this latest article from her will remove all doubts from your mind. It certainly has mine!

Check out more of Dana Carpender at her fantastic web site LowCarbohydrate.net, including her new blog featuring that classic Carpender commentary and her delicious low-carb recipes you can't live without. ENJOY!