Like Polly, people sometimes want a cracker. Sometimes we even need a cracker to serve ourselves or our guests some great dips.

Even people who control their diabetes on a very low carb diet sometimes want a cracker. But almost all the crackers you can find either have too many carbs or taste terrible.

Until recently the only low-carb crackers we could buy were largely made with fiber. Dr. Richard K. Bernstein wrote in the third edition of Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, published just two years ago, that, "I have found only three brands that are truly low-carb."

They are GG Scandinavian Bran Crisp Bread, Bran-a-Crisp (no longer available here), and Wasa Fiber Rye, available in most supermarkets in the U.S. But he also says -- and I certainly agree -- that, "To me they taste like cardboard."

Now, however, we have much better choices -- crackers that are even lower in carb content, have even healthier ingredients, and at the same time are much better tasting. Instead of using bran, the first ingredient of these crackers is flax seeds.

These flax crackers are considerably lower in net carbs than Wasa Fiber Rye and even lower than GG Scandinavian Bran Crisp Bread. They are also healthier because flax seeds have the best ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 oils of any oil or seed (chia seeds are close). To my taste test they are delicious, and different products are out there for different taste buds.

I found two brands of flax crackers in my local Whole Foods Market one day when I carefully went all around the store. They were stashed away in a raw foods section that I hadn't visited before. Both of these brands are raw food and organic.

It makes sense not to heat up flax, because of its low smoke point, 225 degrees Fahrenheit. No oil has a lower smoke point.

The two brands of flax crackers are Two Moms in the Raw and Matter of Flax. The three different varieties of the Two Moms "sea crackers" have 0 to 5 grams of net carb per ounce. The five different varieties of Matter of Flax crackers have from 2 to 4 grams of net carb per ounce.

Matter of Flax says that you can find its crackers in a long list of stores in 35 states. So far, the Two Moms crackers are available in only five states. However, both brands are available on the Internet.

You can even make your own flax crackers if you happen to have better cooking skills than I have. My friend Barry, the "Low-Carb Vegetarian," tells me how he does it.

You start with either golden or brown organic flax seeds or both, he says. He prefers the golden ones.

Soak the flax seeds over night or longer in the fridge, one part seeds to two parts water. Alternately you can grind the flax seeds into a flour in a food processor or coffee grinder without soaking them. But since flax oil spoils quickly, it's best to grind only enough for what you need and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers so the oil stays as fresh as possible to avoid it going rancid in the short term.

Flax crackers are best baked on a low heat using a food dehydrator, but they can also be made with cookie sheets in the oven or small batches in a toaster oven with pastry parchment paper. Excalibur makes the dehydrator that Barry uses.