Chapter 23

Ten Carb-Counting Web Sites

In This Chapter

Discovering free low-carb info on the Web

Glimpsing at the glycemic index and glycemic loads

Moving more with pedometer stepping

Digesting online nutritional data

I n this chapter, I list ten of my favorite informational Web sites that I know to be reliable. In living a low-carb, healthy, and active lifestyle, knowledge is golden. Learning as much as you can about nutrition, carb control, and caloric intake and output will make you not only a happier person but a healthier person, too. These Web sites give you the opportunity to build your bank of good carb knowledge. I bet you’ll discover some things you didn’t know about nutrition and the low-carb world. Most importantly, have fun with this!

In navigating the Internet for information, please keep in mind that just as you’re in charge of your low-carb lifestyle and what goes in your body, you’re also in charge of what goes in your head. It’s okay to be skeptical, because some folks posting information online are less than ethical and less than knowledgeable. At the other end of the spectrum, absolutely incredible and credible information is literally at your fingertips to help you and support you with your low-carb healthy lifestyle. So get online and be smart!

CarbSmart

CarbSmart (www.carbsmart.com) is a retailer of over 1,300 products for people living the low-carb lifestyle. CarbSmart serves both the United States and Canada and is dedicated to helping everyone currently following or considering a low-carb lifestyle. Not only is CarbSmart the shopping source for products supporting low-carb lifestyles, but it also offers a free online magazine. CarbSmart Magazine contains over 400 articles of interest to the new or experienced low-carber. I’ve known the owner of CarbSmart, Andrew DiMino, personally every since I started writing low-carb cookbooks. Andrew is a jewel, and you’re sure to be treated well at CarbSmart. No matter which low-carb lifestyle you follow, check out this site for great information and products and be sure to sign up for the free online magazine.

Fabulous Foods

Fabulous Foods (www.fabulousfoods.com) is an enormous general food and cooking Web site that offers a large array of low-carb articles and recipes (many with full color photos), as well as a free biweekly low-carb e-zine. If you’re looking for an active message board community, you’ll find that at Fabulous Foods, too; trading tips and recipes with other low-carbers is fun, as is offering each other support in your low-carb lifestyle. Editor Cheri Sicard, who coincidentally co-wrote U.S. Citizenship For Dummies (published by Wiley), told me that low-carbers make up the site’s largest niche audience. She started the low-carb e-zine about six years ago when she began a low-carb diet and couldn’t find enough interesting recipes. “In those days, low-carb products and information were scarce, outside of the Atkins books,” Cheri said. “I started to post the recipes on the site that I was using to lose weight. We never expected it to take off the way it did.”

The enthusiastic low-carb audience inspires the folks at Fabulous Foods to continually add new low-carb recipes and content to the site, so check back often or sign up for the free low-carb e-zine and get great low-carb content delivered to your e-mail inbox. I’ve been getting Cheri’s newsletter for several years now, and I’m always excited to see what’s new!

Low Carb Luxury

Low Carb Luxury (www.lowcarbluxury.com) doesn’t manufacture or sell low-carb products; rather, it’s the consumer voice of the low-carb, sugar-free, and specialty food industry. The company emphasizes the science, health, well-being, longevity, and strength of those living the low-carb, healthy lifestyle. This Web site has tons of useful free information, with a great guide for low-carb beginners. Even if you’ve been low-carbing for a while, you’ll probably find some new nugget of information here. Be sure to sign up for the free online magazine while you’re browsing the site. Low Carb Luxury is exceptionally well designed and easy to navigate.

Sassy Stepper

Sassy Stepper (www.sassystepper.com) is quite a character and was created to be your “Move More Motivator,” encouraging you to move more every day. Besides Sassy Stepper revealing the Secret Motivation of the Pedometer to you, I’ll reveal that Sassy Stepper is my creation, and this is my Web site. In my ten-plus years as a low-carber, I’ve learned the hard way that what you eat isn’t the whole picture to a successful low-carb lifestyle. You gotta move more, and pedometer stepping works for me. I think most of us take life way too seriously, especially when it comes to weight. So I created Sassy to try to lighten things up a bit and, with grins and giggles, get low-carbers all over the world to become Sassy Steppers and have fun losing weight, moving more, and being healthier than ever. So come join Sassy Stepper and me online and let’s have some fun and share some grins as well as some serious business about moving more with a pedometer in our healthy and active low-carb lifestyle. (For more about pedometer walking, see Chapter 5.)

Mendosa.com’s Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values

At www.mendosa.com, you find a directory of articles, columns, and informative links compiled by Rick Mendosa, a freelance journalist specializing in diabetes. There’s great free information on this site with tons of links to other informational sites — it’s a wealth of good information relating to your low-carb lifestyle as well as encouragement for you to keep up the good work! The big low-carb payoff on Rick’s page is the information available at www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm. This portion of the Web site has what I think to be the most comprehensive and most complete glycemic index and glycemic load lists currently on the Web. Don’t miss it. This list will help you make good food choices for your low-carb, healthy lifestyle. For more information on the glycemic index and glycemic load, see Chapter 2.

USDA National Nutrient Database

The Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) (www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp) and its predecessor organizations in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been compiling and developing food composition databases for over a century. The major focus of NDL is to maintain the USDA National Nutrient Database, a repository of information for 100 nutrients and over 7,300 foods.

NutritionData

The NutritionData (ND) Web site (www.nutritiondata.com) provides valuable nutrition facts and calorie counts for all foods and recipes. Created and maintained by fitness and health folks Ron and Lori Johnson, ND tells you, in simple terms, what’s good and bad about the foods you eat and helps you select foods that best meet your dietary needs. ND’s database contains over 7,000 foods in over 21,000 serving sizes.

Medline Plus

Medline Plus (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus) is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. On this Web site, you can find a plethora of information about health, wellness, and disease along with over 165 interactive tutorials. The Health Topics link provides you with a long list of places to start your search for information. Watch out: You can easily spend hours on this site. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. . . .

Food and Nutrition Information Center

The Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) (www.nal.usda.gov/fnic) is a leader in online global nutrition information. This site gives you calorie counts and levels of calcium, folate, saturated fats, and other nutrients for some 10,000 brand-name foods. One of my favorite parts of the FNIC site is the Consumer’s Corner that offers recipes and information about food and nutrition topics in the news.

Carbs Information

This Web site (www.carbs-information.com) is a gem, and I discovered it quite by accident and am delighted to be able to share it with you. You can find answers to hundreds of questions about carbs and diet nutrition and all kinds of useful links. For starters, the site answers questions and provides information about carbohydrates, dietary fiber, glycemic issues, low-carb diets and how they stack up, low-carb products, and net carbs. The site is easy to navigate, and I think it’ll be helpful in answering some question that may pop up for you on the low-carb lifestyle road. Enjoy poking around and seeing what you come up with — I did!